Former World Champion Adrian Lewis was joined by home stars Karel Sedlacek, Adam Gawlas and Vitezslav Sedlak in securing second round places at the Gambrinus Czech Darts Open as the PDC European Tour event began on Friday.
The £140,000 tournament in Prague sees 48 players competing across the weekend, with two-time World Champion Lewis amongst the star attractions on the opening day at Hala Kralovka.
Lewis overcame reigning World Youth Champion Ted Evetts 6-3 with a clinical display, opening up a 4-0 lead before fending off the youngster’s fightback to finish with six doubles from ten attempts.
The Englishman now takes on world number two Gerwyn Price in Saturday’s second round to continue his bid to win a first European Tour title since 2012.
The day also saw three of the six Czech player secure places in round two, with Sedlacek proving a hugely popular winner with his 6-3 defeat of Gabriel Clemens, meaning he faces Dirk van Duijvenbode on Saturday.
Emerging star Gawlas finished six doubles from 11 attempts as he battled past Dennie Olde Kalter to set up a tie with Damon Heta in the last 32.
Debutant Sedlak, meanwhile, will take on Michael van Gerwen in a dream second round tie after he came from 3-2 down to win 6-4 against Welshman Jon Worsley.
Dave Chisnall was in ruthless mood as he whitewashed Filip Sebesta without the local qualifier having a dart at a double, while Jose Justicia and Ritchie Edhouse overcame Miloslav Navratil and Ondrej Plsek respectively.
Nathan Aspinall was a 6-1 winner against World Cup winner John Henderson as he progressed to a tie with Dimitri Van den Bergh.
German Darts Grand Prix runner-up Martin Lukeman was a 6-1 winner against Martijn Dragt, averaging 98, and now plays Luke Humphries in a repeat of their European Tour final last month.
Ricky Evans impressed with six doubles from ten attempts in his 6-4 win over Northern Irish starlet Josh Rock, moving him through to a tie with Krzysztof Ratajski.
Martijn Kleermaker recorded a 55% finishing ratio in his 6-4 defeat of UK Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Bialecki to progress to a second round clash against Jose de Sousa.
Ross Smith will take on 2022 Masters champion Joe Cullen following a 6-4 defeat of Florian Hempel, while Rowby-John Rodriguez meets Premier League star Michael Smith following an impressive 6-2 win over Scott Waites.
America’s Jules van Dongen enjoyed a winning European Tour debut by defeating Brett Clayton 6-2, and he now plays reigning European Champion Rob Cross.
Vincent van der Voort won an all-Dutch first round contest with recent Development Tour event winner Geert Nentjes 6-2 to move into a meeting with Martin Schindler.
Mickey Mansell plays Brendan Dolan in an all-Northern Irish second round meeting after his 6-4 win over Jeffrey de Zwaan, as he finished 6/10 doubles.
Saturday’s second round sees the 16 seeded players enter the action against the first round winners, with the tournament to conclude on Sunday in Prague.
The tournament is being broadcast live on PDCTV, exclusively on DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
Follow live scores and match stats through Sportradar.
Gambrinus Czech Darts Open
Friday May 13
First Round
Afternoon Session
Martin Lukeman 6-1 Martijn Dragt
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Scott Waites
Jose Justicia 6-2 Miloslav Navratil
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jules van Dongen 6-2 Brett Claydon
Ritchie Edhouse 6-1 Ondrej Plsek
Ricky Evans 6-4 Josh Rock
Vitezslav Sedlak 6-4 Jon Worsley
Evening Session
Ross Smith 6-4 Florian Hempel
Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Filip Sebesta
Nathan Aspinall 6-1 John Henderson
Adam Gawlas 6-4 Dennie Olde Kalter
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Ted Evetts
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Geert Nentjes
Saturday May 14
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Ricky Evans
Brendan Dolan v Mickey Mansell
Luke Humphries v Martin Lukeman
Rob Cross v Jules van Dongen
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Nathan Aspinall
Jose de Sousa v Martijn Kleermaker
Daryl Gurney v Dave Chisnall
Michael Smith v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Damon Heta v Adam Gawlas
Martin Schindler v Vincent van der Voort
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Karel Sedlacek
Jonny Clayton v Jose Justicia
Michael van Gerwen v Vitezslav Sedlak
Gerwyn Price v Adrian Lewis
Joe Cullen v Ross Smith
Ryan Searle v Ritchie Edhouse
Sunday May 15
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
Format
All games up to and including the quarter-finals are the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals the best of 13 legs and the final the best of 15 legs.
Prize Fund
Winner: £25,000
Runner-up: £10,000
Semi-Finalists: £6,500
Quarter-Finalists: £5,000
Last 16 losers: £3,000
Last 32 losers: £2,000
Last 48 losers: £1,000
Total: £140,000
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