Nathan Aspinall will take on world number one Luke Humphries in round two of the Hungarian Darts Trophy, as Niko Springer dumped out last year’s runner-up Gian van Veen on Day One in Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aspinall opened his bid for a third European Tour title of the year with a comprehensive six-leg blitz of Hungarian World Cup star Levente Sarai, sealing the deal with a magical 164 checkout on the bull.
“I’m really happy with that performance,”\u00a0admitted Aspinall, who finished with an average of 101.33 to set up a showdown with Humphries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Every time me and Luke play we have fantastic games, and he’s world number one for a reason. He’s a fantastic dart player, but so am I, and I believe I can do the job tomorrow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Stockport star was one of 16 players to set up round two ties against the seeded representatives, following a dramatic opening day of action at the MVM Dome on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joe Cullen and Luke Littler will go head-to-head in another blockbuster tussle, after 2022 champion Cullen survived three match darts against Lukas Wenig to begin his bid for further glory in Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,”\u00a0insisted Cullen, also a winner on the PDC ProTour earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Luke is obviously an unbelievable player, but I’ve beaten him this year and on my day I can beat anybody, so bring it on!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew Dennant will play reigning champion Michael van Gerwen on Saturday evening, having claimed the scalp of 2023 UK Open winner Andrew Gilding in the opening game of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gilding was one of several high-profile casualties on Day One in Budapest, as Dutch quartet Van Veen, Wessel Nijman, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jermaine Wattimena all crashed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen averaged almost 106 and landed six 180s in a compelling tie against Springer, although the unflappable German pinned six of his eight attempts at double to celebrate a clinical 6-3 triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Darren Beveridge and Tom Bissell overcame Nijman and Van Duijvenbode respectively to register maiden wins on the European Tour stage, before Wattimena was beaten in a decider by French trailblazer Thibault Tricole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Raymond van Barneveld will renew his rivalry with 2023 champion Dave Chisnall after making a winning start in the Hungarian capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch legend ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Hungary’s former World Series representative Nandor Major, as he preserved his hopes of qualifying for next month’s World Grand Prix and European Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the same section of the draw, Richard Veenstra advanced to a meeting with 2021 champion Gerwyn Price, after averaging 97 to complete a 6-3 success against Development Tour leader Cam Crabtree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rob Owen produced a terrific display of his own in Budapest, defying a ton-plus average from Ryan Searle to prevail in a last-leg decider and book a clash with Dutch number two Danny Noppert on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke Woodhouse will take on fifth seed James Wade after surviving a scare against home favourite Andras Borbely, who produced a spectacular 170 checkout in his 6-4 defeat to the Bewdley-born star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan Joyce also excelled in the finishing department, landing a brace of ton-plus checkouts during his 6-2 win over European Champion Ritchie Edhouse to set up a showdown against Martin Schindler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schindler’s compatriot Ricardo Pietreczko will lock horns with an in-form Josh Rock following his crushing 6-1 victory over Jim Williams, which culminated with a majestic 146 checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Cup champion Daryl Gurney produced a show-stopping 140 finish to dispatch Leon Weber by the same scoreline, and he will now go head-to-head with Rob Cross in one of Saturday’s stand-out encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Kim Huybrechts swept aside Danish debutant Andreas Hyllgaardhus, while Cameron Menzies returned to winning ways courtesy of an emphatic 6-1 victory over Hungary’s Nandor Pres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round Two will take place across a bumper double session on Saturday, headlined by a fascinating clash between Humphries and Aspinall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler will open his challenge for a third European Tour title of 2025 against Cullen in another eye-catching affair, as Van Gerwen kicks off his title defence against Dennant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Round One: <\/strong>Matthew Dennant 6-4\u00a0Andrew Gilding; Cameron Menzies 6-1 Nandor Pres; Ryan Joyce 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse; Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Jim Williams; Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Andreas Hyllgaardhus; Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Andras Borbely; Darren Beveridge 6-2\u00a0Wessel Nijman; Tom Bissell 6-5\u00a0Dirk van Duijvenbode; Thibault Tricole 6-5\u00a0Jermaine Wattimena; Rob Owen 6-5\u00a0Ryan Searle; Daryl Gurney 6-1 Leon Weber; Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Nandor Major; Richard Veenstra 6-3 Cam Crabtree; Joe Cullen 6-5 Lukas Wenig; Niko Springer 6-3\u00a0Gian van Veen; Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Levente Sarai<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nathan Aspinall will take on world number one Luke Humphries in round two of the Hungarian Darts Trophy,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3470,"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":[44,7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-3469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","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
RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n