Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay

At the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Open in Leverkusen, Niko Springer easily advanced to round two by dominating Dirk van Duijvenbode with a clinical exhibition of doubling.

With his journey to the Dutch Darts Championship final last weekend, Springer set a new record for his young career, and the young German continued to build on that success when he returned home.

On Day One at the Ostermann-Arena, the 24-year-old overcame Van Duijvenbode’s lacklustre performance to win 6-1 and advance to face fourth seed Chris Dobey.

16 matches were played during the first round on Friday. Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson defeated five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 by punishing the five-time champion for 18 missing darts at double.

Harrysson, who also converted a 170 checkout on the way, will now go on Michael Smith, another former world champion who is currently vying for a spot in the World Matchplay.

Ryan Joyce and Ricardo Pietreczko both breezed to round two to overtake the Dutchman in the World Matchplay race, and Van Barneveld now holds the final provisional spot in July’s main event.

Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay 
Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay 

Pietreczko defeated his countryman and big stage rookie Moritz Bohrmann 6-2, while Joyce defeated a below-par Ricky Evans to validate his development.

Daryl Gurney defeated Richard Veenstra 6-2 in the final on Friday, while Jermaine Wattimena, who is also competing for World Matchplay qualifying, knocked out another rookie, Joshua Hermann.

Another decisive first-round victor was former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding, who defeated Host Nation Qualifier Kevin Knopf 6-1 on average of 97.

After defeating the comeback Brendan Dolan in his first round match, Wessel Nijman, a semi-finalist in Rosmalen last weekend, will face two-time World Champion Gary Anderson in an intriguing second round matchup.

Cameron Menzies, Anderson’s countryman, will join him in round two as he rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat 2015 runner-up Kim Huybrechts with a late burst.

Bradley Brooks, a former World Youth Champion, also began his campaign with a thrilling victory, overcoming Joe Cullen after giving up a 3-0 lead and surviving five match darts.

Ritchie Edhouse, the European champion, defeated Petr Krivka 6-2, repeating his triumph against the Czech qualifier at the German Darts Grand Prix in April.

Luke Woodhouse advanced by the same 6-2 score, putting on a strong performance in the closing moments of his match against Dragutin Horvat to advance to a matchup with top seed Stephen Bunting.

But when Horvat returned home, his compatriot Lukas Wenig won in a decider after overcoming a strong comeback from Niels Zonneveld.

In other news, Darryl Pilgrim defeated Madars Razma and Alan Soutar, respectively, on Friday afternoon, while Mickey Mansell defeated William O’Connor in a tiring last-leg shootout.

Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay 
Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay 

Harrysson stuns van Barneveld to leave the Dutchman looking over his shoulder for the Matchplay 

2025 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Open

Friday May 30

First Round

Afternoon Session

Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Madars Razma

Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Petr Krivka

Mickey Mansell 6-5 William O’Connor

Lukas Wenig 6-5 Niels Zonneveld

Matt Campbell 6-4 Alan Soutar

Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Joshua Hermann

Andrew Gilding 6-1 Kevin Knopf

Wessel Nijman 6-3 Brendan Dolan

Evening Session

Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Moritz Bohrmann

Cameron Menzies 6-4 Kim Huybrechts

Ryan Joyce 6-3 Ricky Evans

Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld

Bradley Brooks 6-5 Joe Cullen

Niko Springer 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Dragutin Horvat

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Richard Veenstra

Saturday May 31

Second Round

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Ross Smith v Matt Campbell

Ryan Searle v Andrew Gilding

Damon Heta v Mickey Mansell

Danny Noppert v Ritchie Edhouse

Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies

Gary Anderson v Wessel Nijman

Mike De Decker v Ryan Joyce

Gian van Veen v Daryl Gurney

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

Chris Dobey v Niko Springer

James Wade v Lukas Wenig

Peter Wright v Darryl Pilgrim

Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena

Michael Smith v Andreas Harrysson

Nathan Aspinall v Bradley Brooks

Martin Schindler v Ricardo Pietreczko

Stephen Bunting v Luke Woodhouse