The Hungarian Darts Trophy day one roundup

After defeating home favourite Janos Vegso on Friday’s opening night in Budapest, Simon Whitlock will rekindle his rivalry with Michael van Gerwen at the Hungarian Darts Trophy.

Whitlock was one of several high-profile names in first-round action at the BOK Sportcsarnok, and the World Cup winner from Australia delivered as the European Tour returned after a two-month hiatus.

The 53-year-old began his campaign with a 6-2 triumph over host-nation qualifier Vegso, racking up six maximums and converting 122 and 147 finishes in consecutive legs.

Whitlock squandered a number of match darts in the closing stages, but regained his composure to advance to a showdown with top seed Van Gerwen, who is aiming for a sixth consecutive title.

Daryl Gurney, on the other hand, delivered the performance of the day in Budapest, averaging 105.3 to defeat fellow countryman Nathan Rafferty 6-1.

Gurney was brutal in Budapest, winning all six legs in five visits to the board to set up a showdown with Michael Smith for a place in Sunday’s final stages.

Stephen Bunting was also on fire on Friday, averaging 103.66 to beat Callan Rydz and book a match with former UK Open winner Nathan Aspinall in the second round.

Bunting’s St Helens teammate Dave Chisnall cranked on the style in a 6-1 thrashing of Daniel Larsson, hitting a spectacular 137 checkout to set up a mouth-watering clash with Jonny Clayton.

Chris Dobey won a critical match in his quest for European Championship qualifying, defeating World Youth Champion Ted Evetts 6-3, and will now face Dirk van Duijvenbode tomorrow afternoon.

Ryan Meikle won 6-4 over German number one Gabriel Clemens with an 11-darter, and now faces Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday afternoon.

Martin Lukeman, meanwhile, continued his excellent European Tour form with a 6-4 victory over Ian White, earning him a date with Masters champion Joe Cullen.

All four Hungarian representatives were eliminated in round one, as William O’Connor won a gritty match against Pal Szekely to set up a meeting with 13th seed Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Earlier in the day, Jeffrey De Zwaan and Boris Krcmar both defeated regional qualifiers Andras Borbely and Levente Sarai to set up clashes with Rob Cross and Luke Humphries, respectively.

Josh Rock continues to dazzle on the big stage, hitting four 180s and a spectacular 121 finish to defeat Darius Labanauskas and set up a showdown with Australia’s number one Damon Heta.

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez will face UK Open champion Danny Noppert for a place in the last 16. He fired four maximums his route to a 6-2 victory against Canadian veteran Jeff Smith.

Jim Williams survived four match darts against Brett Claydon to face World Champion Peter Wright, while eighth seed Ryan Searle faces Karel Sedlacek, who held off a late rally to beat France’s Thibault Tricole.

Madars Razma landed two ton-plus finishes, including a 108 skin-saver in the penultimate leg, as he came back from 5-2 down to defeat Germany’s Franz Roetzsch.

The Latvian was scheduled to face defending champion Gerwyn Price in the second round, but he now has a bye following the world number one late withdrawal. 

Following Rowby-John Rodriguez’s withdrawal, Raymond van Barneveld received a Bye and will now face Jose De Sousa in a heavyweight second round fight.

The event will end on Sunday with the third round in the afternoon session, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final in the evening session, with the seeded stars taking the field on Saturday.

 

Schedule of Play

Friday September 2

First Round

Afternoon Session

Madars Razma 6-5 Franz Roetzsch

Jim Williams 6-5 Brett Claydon

Boris Krcmar 6-1 Levente Sarai

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-2 Jeff Smith

Josh Rock 6-4 Darius Labanauskas

Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Thibault Tricole

Jeffrey De Zwaan 6-2 Andras Borbely

Daryl Gurney 6-1 Nathan Rafferty

 

Evening Session

Martin Lukeman 6-4 Ian White

Dave Chisnall 6-1 Daniel Larsson

William O’Connor 6-2 Pal Szekely

Chris Dobey 6-3 Ted Evetts

Simon Whitlock 6-2 Janos Vegso

Stephen Bunting 6-0 Callan Rydz

Ryan Meikle 6-4 Gabriel Clemens

 

Bye: Raymond van Barneveld

 

Saturday September 3

Second Round

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Damon Heta v Josh Rock

Danny Noppert v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Ryan Searle v Karel Sedlacek

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Chris Dobey

Michael Smith v Daryl Gurney

Krzysztof Ratajski v Ryan Meikle

Dimitri Van den Bergh v William O’Connor

Jonny Clayton v Dave Chisnall

 

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

Rob Cross v Jeffrey De Zwaan

Jose de Sousa v Raymond van Barneveld

Luke Humphries v Boris Krcmar

Joe Cullen v Martin Lukeman

Peter Wright v Jim Williams

Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock

Nathan Aspinall v Stephen Bunting

 

Bye: Madars Razma