After the final event of the European Tour in Hildesham just a fortnight ago, the 32 best performing players on the circuit made the short trip to Dortmund for the European Championship. Ross Smith reigned supreme last year, but won't be defending his title this time round after an early defeat.
Danny Noppert kicked off the tournament in style in what was a comfortable victory against Andrew Gilding. 'Goldfinger' has been renowned for his consistent performances all season, however didn't manage to win a single set against the Dutchman in the only whitewashing of round 1.
Noppert wasn't the only Dutchman on form in round one, as Gian van Veen demolished Damon Heta. GVV averaged an impressive 107.34, showing that he is capable of performing on the big stage at just 21 years of age.
Only two matches went the distance in round one, as Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen both held in their nerve in their respective deciding legs. MVG sneaked through against a relentless Madars Razma, who averaged 104.92 in the match, while 'Snakebite' defeated national hero, Gabriel Clemens.
Of the three competing Germans, Ricardo Pietreczko was the only player still in the tournament. Pietreczko, who won the last event of the European Tour last week in Hildesham, beat last year's winner Ross Smith 6-3.
Round one results:
Danny Noppert 6 - 0 Andrew Gilding
Nathan Aspinall 6 - 3 Ryan Searle
Dave Chisnall 2 - 6 Chris Dobey
Rob Cross 6 - 2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price 6 - 1 Keane Barry
Peter Wright 6 - 5 Gabriel Clemens
Michael Smith 6 - 1 Raymond van Barneveld
Martin Schindler 1 - 6 Stephen Bunting
Damon Heta 1 - 6 Gian van Veen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6 - 3 Joe Cullen
Josh Rock 2 - 6 Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton 4 - 6 Jose De Sousa
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3 - 6 James Wade
Luke Humphries 6 - 1 Brendan Dolan
Michael van Gerwen 6 - 5 Madars Razma
Ricardo Pietreczko 6 - 3 Ross Smith
A special mention has to go to Jose De Sousa, who hasn't been in the best of form over the past few years, but managed to overcome Jonny Clayton, a special performance from 'The Special One'.
With Michael Van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Luke Humphries etc still in the tournament, their promises to be some terrific tungsten on show in the coming days, but who will prevail victorious in Deutschland? Please lets us know any thought you may have on the 2023 PDC European Championship in the comments below...
Image Credit- Darts Actueel on Wikipedia and YouTube
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