Nathan Aspinall (Photo by Jan Thoden/PDC Europe)
Niko Springer’s hopes of winning back-to-back European Tour titles were shattered in a deciding leg by Richard Veenstra at the Swiss Darts Trophy.
German prospect Springer was victorious in last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy, and he was back in action as the year’s penultimate European Tour event began in Basel.
Despite an early 11-darter, Springer found himself 4-1 down to Veenstra before taking out 120, 94 and 86 to level.
The German ace then edged ahead in leg nine, but Veenstra checked out 156 to save the game and 76 to win the decider, moving him through to a round two clash with Rob Cross on Saturday.
Premier League star Nathan Aspinall eased through to a clash with Jonny Clayton in the last 32, whitewashing Andreas Toft Jorgensen without the PDCNB qualifier having a dart at a double.
Krzysztof Ratajski took a huge step towards securing his BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix spot with a 6-0 whitewash of Owen Bates – setting up a second round tie with Mike De Decker.
Raymond van Barneveld sealed his win over Swiss qualifier Ansh Sood with a 120 checkout, as the Dutchman maintained his World Grand Prix hopes by moving through to face Damon Heta.
William O’Connor also remains in the hunt to snatch World Grand Prix qualification, after averaging over 102 in a superb 6-1 win over Daryl Gurney, for whom a 117 checkout could only briefly stem the tide.
Reigning European Champion Ritchie Edhouse kept alive his hopes of defending the title with the narrowest of wins against Wessel Nijman, taking out 80 in the deciding leg to progress.
Edhouse now receives a second round Bye, after Ross Smith withdrew on Friday night for family reasons.
Ricardp Pietreczko produced three ton-plus finishes to see off Swedish ace Oskar Lukasiak 6-3, creating an all-German second round tie with World Cup partner Martin Schindler.
Mensur Suljovic finished six doubles from 11 attempts against Grand Slam of Darts finalist Martin Lukeman, and the Austrian ace now plays Chris Dobey on Saturday.
Chris Landman fended off Swiss debutant Denis Schnetzer’s comeback from 4-0 down as the Dutch thrower claimed a 6-3 victory to move into a tie with Stephen Bunting on Saturday.
Jermaine Wattimena ended the hopes of Swiss number one Stefan Bellmont with a 6-1 victory which sets up a tie with World Cup winner Josh Rock.
Dirk van Duijvenbode will meet Gian van Veen on Saturday, after seeing off another Dutchman, Jitse van der Wal, by a 6-2 margin.
Callan Rydz set up a tasty tie with world number one Luke Humphries by defeating Connor Scutt 6-1, averaging over 100 in an impressive display.
Luke Woodhouse came from 3-0 down against Lukas Wenig to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a dramatic deciding-leg win, meaning he now plays Dave Chisnall.
Niels Zonneveld won five of the final six legs in his tie against Czech qualifier Dalibor Smolik, progressing to a second round clash with Ryan Searle.
Cor Dekker came from 2-0 down to defeat Andrew Gilding 6-3, and the Norwegian World Cup ace will now meet Peter Wright in round two.
Ryan Joyce set up a tie with third seed James Wade after cruising to a whitewash win over Swiss qualifier Rocco Fulciniti, who was denied a dart at a double.
RESULTS
Round One: Callan Rydz 6-1 Connor Scutt; Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Dalibor Smolik; Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Owen Bates; Cor Dekker 6-3 Andrew Gilding; Ryan Joyce 6-0 Rocco Fulciniti; Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Lukas Wenig; Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak; Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Martin Lukeman; Chris Landman 6-3 Denis Schnetzer; Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Wessel Nijman; Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Ansh Sood; Richard Veenstra 6-5 Niko Springer; Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Stefan Bellmont; Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jitse van der Wal; Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Andreas Toft Jorgensen; William O’Connor 6-1 Daryl Gurney
