The seeds tumble in Belgium but Price and Smith shine

At the Lecot Belgian Darts Open, Mike De Decker thrilled his local crowd by defeating Luke Humphries in the second round on Saturday. Luke Littler also started his championship defence with a victory.

De Decker defeated the world number one in the Oktoberhallen in Wieze last October, and he also astonished Humphries in the Boylesports World Grand Prix final.

After overcoming Humphries 6-4, De Decker will be the only Belgian player competing on the last day of the year’s first European Tour event.

The two played the first six legs together. De Decker broke in the seventh after missing two darts, but he recovered to win the next three, including a crucial 122 finish, to advance to the round of 16.

“To beat the number one of the world in my home country is amazing,” said De Decker, who averaged 100.45.

“I’m just glad to get through but today was a big game and I’m really glad that I played well and I won.

“The fans are really supportive for all the Belgian players, so to reach the Sunday is an amazing feeling.”

Martin Schindler, who defeated Belgian number one Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 in the round of 32, will be De Decker’s opponent in the third round on Sunday afternoon.

In 2024, Schindler won two European Tour event championships and finished with six doubles out of 13 attempts to make up for Van den Bergh’s poor performance.

With a 6-3 victory against Ryan Searle to start his title defence, reigning champion Littler advanced to the round of 16 and faced Luke Woodhouse.

Woodhouse defeated Gary Anderson 6-2 to secure his place on the final day at Wieze, taking out finishes of 170, 124, and 110.

“I’m happy to get the first win here, settle in and I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon,” said Littler, who won the Ladbrokes UK Open last Sunday and Thursday’s BetMGM Premier League night in Brighton.

“It’s very good to be back and I’ve got to play better than I did tonight – I’m sure Luke will be up for the task and I’ll be up for it as well.”

Ross Smith and Gerwyn Price were the highlights of Saturday’s second round at the Oktoberhallen, putting on impressive performances.

In a duel of the past European Champions, Smith defeated Rob Cross 6-2 with a tournament record average of 112.60, missing only one dart at a double.

Price, on the other hand, defeated World Youth Champion Gian van Veen 6-2 to maintain his undefeated record. He averaged 112.42 and won six doubles in eight tries.

The packed crowd serenaded Price with a rendition of “happy birthday” after the contest, and the Welshman said: “Because I’m 40 now, maybe double tops will be a bit better. I still feel 20 and look 21 so happy days!”

Price added: “He’s a fantastic player and I know I need to play those sort of averages to win, so thankfully I pulled it out of the bag.”

Australian number one Damon Heta, who defeated Michael Smith by hitting six doubles in 11 tries, will be Price’s opponent in the third round.

In the meantime, Ross Smith faces Matt Campbell in round three as the Canadian easily defeated Peter Wright 6-2 to advance to the final day. This comes after Smith narrowly defeated Cameron Menzies on Friday, sending another Scot packing in Wieze.

In a thrilling victory over Michael van Gerwen, Boris Krcmar of Croatia advanced to the last day of a European Tour tournament for the third time in a row, defeating the three-time World Champion 6-4.

Krcmar now faces James Wade, a finalist at the UK Open who defeated Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 after thwarting his comeback from a 3-0 deficit.

In other news, 2022 champion Dave Chisnall began his campaign with a resounding 6-3 victory over Ricardo Pietreczko. The European Champion defeated Nathan Aspinall in a decisive leg, and Chisnall will now face Ritchie Edhouse for a spot in the round of eight.

In Wieze, Stephen Bunting made a remarkable comeback, defeating Jermaine Wattimena after six straight legs after falling behind 3-0.

Bunting’s reward is a matchup with Daryl Gurney in the round of 16, who revenged his loss to the Dutchman at the UK Open last weekend by defeating Danny Noppert 6-2 with a five-leg surge of his own.

Runner-up at the Winmau World Masters Wessel Nijman averaged 99 in the loss, but Jonny Clayton overcame a hat-trick of 12-darters from Nijman to win a final leg decision.

Dirk van Duijvenbode, who also won a decisive leg after Chris Dobey rejected eight match darts in a thrilling finish to Saturday’s action, will be Clayton’s opponent in the third round.

The seeds tumble in Belgium but Price and Smith shine 

 

Daryl Gurney 6-2 Danny Noppert

Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Gary Anderson

Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko

Jonny Clayton 6-5 Wessel Nijman

Ross Smith 6-2 Rob Cross

Damon Heta 6-0 Michael Smith

Stephen Bunting 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Nathan Aspinall

Evening Session

James Wade 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld

Matt Campbell 6-2 Peter Wright

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Gian van Veen

Martin Schindler 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Mike De Decker 6-4 Luke Humphries

Luke Littler 6-3 Ryan Searle

Boris Krcmar 6-4 Michael van Gerwen

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 Chris Dobey

 

Sunday March 9

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)

Third Round

Mike De Decker v Martin Schindler

Damon Heta v Gerwyn Price

Ross Smith v Matt Campbell

Stephen Bunting v Daryl Gurney

Luke Littler v Luke Woodhouse

Dave Chisnall v Ritchie Edhouse

Boris Krcmar v James Wade

Jonny Clayton v Dirk van Duijvenbode