Tom Sykes enjoyed a dream European Tour debut with victory over Niko Springer at the inaugural Slovak Darts Open last night, as the race for World Matchplay qualification continued in Bratislava.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 33-year-old has impressed since claiming his PDC Tour Card in January, and he reaffirmed his credentials with a sparkling 6-2 success against Hungarian Darts Trophy champion Springer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sykes averaged 103.64, pinned 60% of his attempts at double and converted a sublime 148 checkout to set up a showdown against German number one Martin Schindler on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat felt good,\u201d admitted Sykes, who sealed victory with a clinical 103 kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always nice when it works out! I know I\u2019ve got the game to beat anyone. We\u2019ll see what happens tomorrow; hopefully it\u2019s the same again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tyler Thorpe also delivered the goods in Bratislava, celebrating his maiden European Tour victory with a comprehensive 6-2 triumph against Karel Sedlacek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 23-year-old averaged 103.30 and crashed in four 180s to move through to a meeting against Chris Dobey, while also dealing a blow to Sedlacek\u2019s hopes of World Matchplay qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just over the moon to be fair,\u201d revealed Thorpe, featuring in his second European Tour event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love the attention, the crowd, all the noise. It\u2019s completely different to anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I can do it for the rest of the weekend, who knows how far I can go. Hopefully I can do it again, and again, and again, and we will see how far it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim Long joined Sykes and Thorpe in recording a milestone win at the Incheba Expo, dispatching Daryl Gurney 6-1 to register his first win on the European Tour stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Canadian veteran will now take on Nathan Aspinall for a place in the last 16, while Kevin Doets faces Australian number one Damon Heta, after averaging north of 102 in his 6-3 win over Owen Bates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poland\u2019s premier player Krzysztof Ratajski will meet Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen in another blockbuster tie, punishing a profligate display from Spanish number one Cristo Reyes to ease through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friday\u2019s opening day also saw Rob Cross begin his bid for back-to-back ranking titles with a 6-3 success against Slovakia\u2019s Juraj Holub, having prevailed at Players Championship 22 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top seed Gian van Veen now awaits a revitalised Cross on Saturday evening, as the pair go head-to-head in a battle of the European Champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scotland\u2019s World Cup star Cameron Menzies boosted his hopes of World Matchplay qualification with a crushing 6-1 win over Host Nation qualifier Gabriel Varaljay, which sets up an intriguing showdown against Gerwyn Price on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Menzies currently occupies the final provisional place in July\u2019s event, although his closest challenger Dave Chisnall also tasted victory on Day One, overturning a 5-4 deficit to edge past home favourite Adrian Dudek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim Huybrechts is another high-profile name in contention for a place in next month\u2019s Blackpool showpiece, after firing in five 180s to fend off the challenge of Keane Barry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Joe Cullen overcame a spirited display from Hungarian qualifier Peter Kelemen to record a 6-3 victory, while William O\u2019Connor produced a late spurt to sink Sweden\u2019s Jeffrey de Graaf by the same scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madars Razma claimed back-to-back European Tour victories at the expense of Dirk van Duijvenbode to book a meeting against another Dutch star Danny Noppert, conjuring a magnificent 154 finish along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, Slovenia\u2019s Benjamin Pratnemer denied World Championship quarter-finalist Justin Hood in a decider, and his reward is an encounter against Wessel Nijman on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Joyce \u2013 runner-up at last month\u2019s Baltic Sea Darts Open \u2013 came through an attritional affair against Johan Engstrom, and Welsh number one Jonny Clayton provides Joyce\u2019s next assignment on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Gilding also progressed in Slovakia, accounting for Mervyn King in a clash of the darting veterans, as Niels Zonneveld swept aside a struggling Jan Sliacky in his opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ROUND ONE RESULTS Tom Sykes enjoyed a dream European Tour debut with victory over Niko Springer at the inaugural Slovak Darts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14002,"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":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-14001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","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
<\/strong>Benjamin Pratnemer 6-5 Justin Hood
Tyler Thorpe 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Mervyn King
Kevin Doets 6-3 Owen Bates
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Jan Sliacky
William O’Connor 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Johan Engstrom
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Adrian Dudek
<\/strong>Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Keane Barry
Rob Cross 6-3 Juraj Holub
Jim Long 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Tom Sykes 6-2 Niko Springer
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Gabriel Varaljay
Joe Cullen 6-3 Peter Kelemen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Cristo Reyes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"