Luke Littler opened his bid for a third consecutive Belgian Darts Open title in style last night, as Andy Baetens and Kim Huybrechts preserved home hopes in Wieze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler boasts a sensational record on Belgian soil, and the world number one delivered another dominant display at the Oktoberhallen to eliminate Croatian trailblazer Boris Krcmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old cantered into a 4-0 lead with an average north of 115, before kicking off the final leg with back-to-back 180s – eventually sealing his progress with a 104.70 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I love it here,”\u00a0admitted Littler, who also landed six 180s en route to a 6-2 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My first European Tour event was here. I want to win it again, and performances like that will put me up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Coming off the back of that [Premier League] win in Ireland, it’s set me up well, and I can’t wait to go again tomorrow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke Humphries also joined Littler in advancing to Finals Day, as the 16 seeds entered the fray during an action-packed double session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries was forced to withstand a terrific fightback from Dirk van Duijvenbode in his opener, registering a ton-plus average and pinning six of his 12 double attempts to complete a 6-4 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen also made a winning start in Wieze, converting a crucial 114 combination to overcome a spirited Mickey Mansell by the same scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were three Belgian representatives in action on Day Two, as Baetens and Huybrechts delighted their home crowd with 6-4 wins over Premier League duo Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baetens punished a profligate Bunting to continue his charge on home soil, while Huybrechts rattled off four consecutive legs from 4-2 adrift to deny World Cup champion Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Belgian number one Mike De Decker was unable to join his compatriots in the last 16, relinquishing a 5-3 lead against a nerveless Niels Zonneveld, who now meets Littler in the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Danny Noppert produced the performance of the day to confirm his last 16 berth, averaging 106.17 and landing a hat-trick of 11-darters in his 6-3 success against an excellent Luke Woodhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noppert’s reward will be a meeting with World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle, who converted a clutch 122 checkout to seal a deciding-leg victory over Ricky Evans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martin Schindler celebrated his first European Tour victory of 2026 in accounting for William O’Connor, and the German number one will now take on Baetens for a quarter-final spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonny Clayton and Ross Smith will go head-to-head in another fascinating tie, following hard-fought wins over Sebastian Bialecki and Cameron Menzies respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cristo Reyes claimed the scalp of James Wade to maintain his terrific start to 2026, dispatching the ten-time TV title winner 6-2 to progress to a tie against Ryan Joyce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joyce produced a typically clinical display to defeat Nathan Aspinall 6-3, as Chris Dobey dumped out Dave Chisnall by the same scoreline to continue his pursuit of a maiden European Tour title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Jermaine Wattimena recovered from a sluggish start to see off Ryan Meikle and create a tussle against Humphries, while Daryl Gurney will mark his 40th birthday with a clash against Van Gerwen, after recording his first career victory against Australian number one Damon Heta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remaining 16 players will battle it out on Sunday afternoon, before the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a bumper evening session at the Oktoberhallen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong> Luke Littler opened his bid for a third consecutive Belgian Darts Open title in style last night, as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10802,"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-10801","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 Two<\/strong>
Ross Smith 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Searle 6-5 Ricky Evans
Martin Schindler 6-3 William O’Connor
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Damon Heta
Danny Noppert 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
<\/strong>Cristo Reyes 6-2 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Andy Baetens 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Mike De Decker
Luke Littler 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Luke Humphries 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Josh Rock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"