Kim Huybrechts and Andy Baetens celebrated success on the opening day of the Lect Belgian Darts Open, as a host of big names suffered early exits in Wieze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day One of the year’s third European Tour event saw 16 opening round matches take place at the Oktoberhallen, with Huybrechts and Baetens taking centre stage on home soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, two-time European Tour winner Huybrechts was arguably Friday’s stand-out performer, averaging 101.76 to record a terrific 6-4 victory over Germany’s Niko Springer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is what you play darts for,”\u00a0reflected Belgium’s former World Cup finalist, who will go head-to-head with Josh Rock in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The feeling you get when you play in front of your home crowd and you win \u2013 this is amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m feeling really good lately. I’m working very hard on my game with Eric [Clarys], and you have to work hard to be at the top level.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baetens also delivered the goods on home soil, defying a 101 average from Joe Cullen to deny the former Masters champion in a last-leg thriller, which sets up a meeting with fifth seed Stephen Bunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cullen was one of several high-profile names to exit in Wieze, as Wessel Nijman’s bid for back-to-back European Tour titles was thwarted by Poland’s number two Sebastian Bialecki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bialecki produced an impressive all-round display to topple the newly crowned European Darts Trophy champion, averaging 99.78 to create a tussle against Premier League table-topper Jonny Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raymond van Barneveld was another big-name casualty, as the five-time World Champion’s first European Tour appearance of 2026 culminated in a chastening 6-1 defeat at the hands of Boris Krcmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The enigmatic Croatian reaffirmed his big stage pedigree, averaging 101 and landing 116 and 121 finishes to set up a fascinating showdown against reigning champion Luke Littler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mickey Mansell also landed two ton-plus checkouts \u2013 including a sublime 161 outshot \u2013 in his 6-3 win over Michael Smith, and the Irishman now faces another former World Champion in Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cristo Reyes produced a magical moment of his own to seal a 6-4 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski, piling in a 160 outshot to triumph with a 102 average and advance to a meeting with James Wade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European Darts Trophy semi-finalist Niels Zonneveld also averaged over a ton in defeating the returning Jani Haavisto, which sets up an intriguing clash against Belgian number one Mike De Decker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dirk van Duijvenbode will renew his rivalry with world number two Luke Humphries in another stellar showdown on Saturday evening, courtesy of his resounding 6-3 win over Germany’s Lukas Wenig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dave Chisnall produced a five-leg burst to complete a 6-2 success against France’s Thibault Tricole, while Ricky Evans accounted for Scott Williams by the same scoreline earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chisnall \u2013 a winner of eight European Tour titles \u2013 now faces Chris Dobey for a place in the last 16, while Evans’ reward is a tussle against World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daryl Gurney dispatched Ian White 6-1 in a battle of the former European Tour winners, and the Northern Irishman now locks horns with Australian number one Damon Heta for a place at Finals Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Joyce will face Nathan Aspinall in a repeat of last year’s European Darts Trophy final tomorrow afternoon, after overcoming Czechia’s Adam Gawlas in a hard-fought contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Host Nation representatives Pascal Devroey and Francois Schweyen were unable to join Huybrechts and Baetens in Saturday’s action, losing out to Luke Woodhouse and Ryan Meikle earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William O’Connor and Cameron Menzies will complete the round two line-up, after closing out emphatic 6-1 wins over debutants Tyler Thorpe and Sietse Lap respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
German number one Martin Schindler awaits O’Connor for a place in round three, while Menzies will play former European Champion Ross Smith in Saturday’s opening fixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday’s double session will see the top 16\u00a0players on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder enter the fray, with Littler, Humphries and Van Gerwen amongst the star attractions at the Oktoberhallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong> Kim Huybrechts and Andy Baetens celebrated success on the opening day of the Lect Belgian Darts Open, as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-10775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One
<\/strong>Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Jani Haavisto
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Pascal Devroey\u00a0
Ricky Evans 6-2 Scott Williams
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Sietse Lap
William O’Connor 6-1 Tyler Thorpe
Ryan Meikle 6-4 Francois Schweyen
Mickey Mansell 6-3 Michael Smith
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Andy Baetens 6-5 Joe Cullen
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Boris Krcmar 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Ian White
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Niko Springer
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Lukas Wenig<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"