Devon Petersen and Mervyn King were among 16 players to progress to round two of the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen on Friday.
Petersen enjoyed a 6-1 rout of Harry Ward, while King edged past Mindaugas Barauskas 6-5 to set up tantalising second round ties against Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen respectively.
As the third European Tour event of the year began in front of fans at the Glaspalast, the European Tour’s most recent winner Petersen continued his fine form to ease past a below-par Ward.
The South African number one defeated Price on his way to the German Darts Championship title in September and Petersen is eyeing another scalp of the newly-installed world number two.
“Whenever we meet there’s always fireworks,” said Petersen.
“The last time we played I got the better of it but I don’t expect to have it all my way.
“We’re both in great form and I’m looking forward to the match.”
King will also be looking for a repeat performance in his match with Van Gerwen, having inflicted a thumping 6-1 defeat on the world number one at the German Darts Championship.
“I beat him [Van Gerwen] last time but every game is different,” King admitted.
“We know Michael will play well as he always does, so it’s whether I turn up.
“If I play my best then he’s got a game on his hands.”
Van Gerwen and Price head up the 16 seeded players who will enter the tournament in the second round on Saturday as the race for the £25,000 winners’ prize continues, before Finals Day takes place on Sunday.
Friday saw 32 players travel to the Glaspalast, as four German players, Max Hopp, Gabriel Clemens, Nico Kurz and Ricardo Pietreczko enjoyed victories on home soil.
Former European Tour winner Kim Huybrechts got the better of John Henderson 6-2, while former Grand Slam of Darts champion Scott Waites won a last-leg decider against Jason Lowe
Steve Lennon and William O’Connor, who will represent the Republic of Ireland in November’s World Cup of Darts, defeated Madars Razma and Chris Dobey respectively.
A trio of Dutch players, Martijn Kleermaker, Maik Kuivenhoven and Derk Telnekes also progressed to round two.
Elsewhere, Adam Hunt shocked Damon Heta with a 6-1 win, while there were also victories for Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and newly-crowned Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner David Evans.
Click here to see match stats from all Day One matches.
The European Darts Grand Prix will be broadcast throughout the weekend on PDCTV, as well as through a series of bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
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2020 European Darts Grand Prix
Schedule of Play
Friday October 16
First Round
Afternoon Session
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Jonathan Worsley
Mervyn King 6-5 Mindaugas Barauskas
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 Luke Woodhouse
David Evans 6-3 Kai Gotthardt
Scott Waites 6-5 Jason Lowe
Nico Kurz 6-5 Stefan Bellmont
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Michael Unterbuchner
Devon Petersen 6-1 Harry Ward
Evening Session
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 John Henderson
Max Hopp 6-4 Pero Ljubic
Derk Telnekes 6-3 Robert Marijanovic
Steve Lennon 6-3 Madars Razma
Martijn Kleermaker 6-3 Markus Buffler
Adam Hunt 6-1 Damon Heta
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Steffen Siepmann
William O’Connor 6-3 Chris Dobey
Saturday October 17
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Daryl Gurney v Maik Kuivenhoven
Ian White v Scott Waites
Michael Smith v Derk Telnekes
Glen Durrant v Nico Kurz
Jose De Sousa v Ricardo Pietreczko
Dave Chisnall v Darius Labanauskas
Joe Cullen v Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes v Steve Lennon
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Martijn Kleermaker
Rob Cross v Adam Hunt
James Wade v Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price v Devon Petersen
Mensur Suljovic v David Evans
Michael van Gerwen v Mervyn King
Nathan Aspinall v William O’Connor
Vincent van der Voort v Max Hopp
Sunday October 18
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
Tournament Draw Bracket – Second Round Onwards
(6) Daryl Gurney v Maik Kuivenhoven/Jonathan Worsley
(11) Glen Durrant v Nico Kurz/Stefan Bellmont
(3) Ian White v Scott Waites/Jason Lowe
(14) Michael Smith v Derk Telnekes/Robert Marijanovic
(7) Dave Chisnall v Darius Labanauskas/Michael Unterbuchner
(10) Joe Cullen v Kim Huybrechts/John Henderson
(2) Gerwyn Price v Harry Ward/Devon Petersen
(15) Jose De Sousa v Ricardo Pietreczko/Luke Woodhouse
(5) Mensur Suljovic v Kai Gotthardt/David Evans
(12) Jamie Hughes v Steve Lennon/Madars Razma
(4) Krzysztof Ratajski v Markus Buffler/Martijn Kleermaker
(13) Rob Cross v Adam Hunt/Damon Heta
(8) James Wade v Steffen Siepmann/Gabriel Clemens
(9) Nathan Aspinall v Chris Dobey/William O’Connor
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Mervyn King/Mindaugas Barauskas
(16) Vincent van der Voort v Max Hopp/Pero Ljubic
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