Brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts enjoyed home wins as the 2020 European Tour season got underway on Friday with the first round of the Belgian Darts Championship.
The £140,000 tournament at Expo Hasselt has opened with wins for four Belgian hopefuls, as the Huybrechts brothers were joined in the last 32 by Dimitri Van den Bergh and Mike De Decker.
Former World Cup finalist Kim enjoyed a 6-2 win over Ryan Harrington to begin his bid for a third European Tour title.
The Antwerp thrower led 3-0 before Harrington hit back to 3-2, but he crucially missed four darts to level in leg six as Huybrechts capitalised on the let-off to close out victory, setting up a second round tie with Jeffrey de Zwaan.
Elder brother Ronny was in clinical form as he landed six doubles from nine attempts in a big 6-1 win over World Youth Champion Luke Humphries, and he now plays Michael Smith.
Two-time World Youth Champion Van den Bergh picked up a 6-3 win over Derk Telnekes, creating a second round meeting with 2019 Czech Darts Open champion Jamie Hughes.
Youngster De Decker, meanwhile, was a narrow 6-5 winner over Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp, setting up a tasty tie with world number one Michael van Gerwen on Saturday.
There was disappointment, though for Geert De Vos as the qualifier went down 6-2 to Danny Noppert, while Steve West whitewashed Jeffrey van Edgdom 6-0.
2019 Brisbane Darts Masters champion Damon Heta enjoyed a superb European Tour debut with a 6-0 whitewash of Michael Barnard, averaging an impressive 102.48 in the win.
Dirk van Duijvenbode also posted a ton-plus average, seeing off Luke Woodhouse 6-4 with six doubles from ten attempts and a 101.59 average in moving through to meet number two seed Ian White.
Germany’s Gabriel Clemens now plays Krzysztof Ratajski – the winner of last year’s final European Tour event in Gibraltar – in round two after defeating Callan Rydz 6-3.
Steve Lennon defied finishes of 151 an 124 from Rowby-John Rodriguez as he came from 3-2 down to win 6-3 and progress to a second round tie with James Wade.
Mervyn King was a 6-4 winner over Justin Pipe in a clash of former European Tour event winners, securing a meeting with Glen Durrant on Saturday.
Dutch debutant Martijn Kleermaker survived a fightback from 5-1 down by Stephen Bunting before claiming a 6-4 win in his first European Tour appearance, and he now plays Joe Cullen in round two.
Wesley Plaisier was another Dutchman to progress, edging out Slovenia’s Benjamin Pratnemer 6-5 in a tight contest to earn a meeting with world number three Gerwyn Price.
Recent Players Championship winner Ryan Searle was too strong for debutant Darren Penhall with a 6-3 success, setting up a second round tie with Mensur Suljovic.
Steve Beaton now plays Nathan Aspinall in round two after seeing off Hong Kong’s Kai Fan Leung 6-4, while Andy Hamilton made a winning return to the European Tour stage with a 6-5 defeat of Andy Boulton, moving himself through to a meeting with World Champion Peter Wright.
The Belgian Darts Championship will take place from February 28-March 1, with live streaming on PDCTV, as well as through a series of bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
Saturday’s second round will be followed on Sunday by the final day of action as the £140,000 tournament culminates. For tickets, visit www.pdc-europe.tv or purchase at Expo Hasselt.
Click here to sign-up for a £2.99 PDCTV weekend pass.
2020 Belgian Darts Championship
Friday February 28
First Round
Afternoon Session
Ryan Searle 6-3 Darren Penhall
Andy Hamilton 6-5 Andy Boulton
Steve Beaton 6-4 Kai Fan Leung
Ronny Huybrechts 6-1 Luke Humphries
Damon Heta 6-0 Michael Barnard
Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Benjamin Pratnemer
Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Mervyn King 6-4 Justin Pipe
Evening Session
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Mike De Decker 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Callan Rydz
Danny Noppert 6-2 Geert De Vos
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Ryan Harrington
Steve Lennon 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve West 6-0 Jeffrey van Egdom
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Derk Telnekes
Saturday February 29
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Michael Smith v Ronny Huybrechts
Joe Cullen v Martijn Kleermaker
Krzysztof Ratajski v Gabriel Clemens
Glen Durrant v Mervyn King
Rob Cross v Damon Heta
Ian White v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jermaine Wattimena v Danny Noppert
James Wade v Steve Lennon
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Nathan Aspinall v Steve Beaton
Gerwyn Price v Wesley Plaisier
Peter Wright v Andy Hamilton
Michael van Gerwen v Mike De Decker
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mensur Suljovic v Ryan Searle
Jonny Clayton v Steve West
