Steve Beaton turns on the style at the Baltic Sea Darts Open as Wade defeats Van Barneveld

Steve Beaton rolled back the years to demolish Adrian Lewis with a 106 average on Day One of the Baltic Sea Darts Open in Kiel on Friday, as James Wade dispatched Raymond van Barneveld.

The opening day of the season’s first European Tour event saw 16 First Round ties take place across two sessions, with Beaton producing the performance of the day at the Wunderino Arena.

Former Lakeside Champion Beaton averaged 106 and converted 60 per cent of his attempts at doubles in a high quality contest against two-time World Champion Lewis which saw all eight legs won in 15 darts or fewer.

Beaton’s reward is a Second Round show-down with Premier League star Nathan Aspinall on Saturday,

A resurgent Daryl Gurney will meet top seed Luke Humphries in Round Two following a 6-5 success over home favourite Gabriel Clemens.

Gurney established the early initiative to lead Clemens 3-1, only for the German number one to respond with an 11-darter and a 144 checkout to restore parity at four apiece.

However, the Northern Irishman held his nerve in the latter stages, surviving a match dart to secure just his second win in eight meetings against the World Championship semi-finalist.

Elsewhere, Wade produced a typically efficient performance to come through a heavyweight first round tie against Van Barneveld and set up a Second Round tussle with Peter Wright.

Van Barneveld drew first blood with a superb 121 checkout, but Wade punished an inconsistent display from the Dutch veteran to prevail 6-3.

Meanwhile, Niko Springer delighted his home crowd to set up a clash with reigning World Champion Michael Smith, averaging 97 and landing five maximums to defeat Jermaine Wattimena 6-4.

Lukas Wenig also advanced in style on Friday evening, converting a majestic 160 checkout to seal a 6-1 rout of Ryan Meikle, which sets up an all-German encounter against Martin Schindler on Day Two.

Florian Hempel was unable to make it a hat-trick of German winners on the opening day as he succumbed 6-2 to Richard Veenstra, who converted six of his eight attempts at double in a clinical display.

Stephen Bunting also enjoyed an impressive start to his 2023 European Tour campaign, conjuring up 120 and 152 finishes to overcome William O’Connor 6-4 with a 97 average.

Bunting will face Van Gerwen in another high-profile show-down, while Ritchie Edhouse will face Dimitri Van den Bergh for a place in the Last 16 after easing past Shaun Wilkinson in his opener.

Graham Usher made a winning start on his European Tour debut, punishing a below-par performance from Ryan Joyce to close out a 6-3 win, and his reward is a Second Round tie with Gerwyn Price.

Lewy Williams fired in back-to-back 11-darters to wrap up a 6-3 win over Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson, having also produced a spectacular 160 checkout in the opening leg of the contest.

Martijn Dragt celebrated his first Euro Tour victory in Friday’s curtain-raiser, closing out a 6-2 success against Ricky Evans to move through to a meeting against fourth seed Rob Cross.

Mario Vandenbogaerde also sealed his maiden victory on the European Tour stage at the fifth attempt, converting 101 and 126 finishes to edge out Niels Zonneveld in a hard-fought deciding-leg tie.

There were also victories for former World Youth Champions Arron Monk, Keegan Brown, Bradley Brooks and Ted Evetts during an entertaining afternoon session in Kiel.

Brown and Evetts advanced with 6-3 wins over Czech qualifier Filip Sebesta and Dutch debutant Jeroen Mioch respectively, while Brooks punished a profligate display from Josh Payne to storm to a 6-2 success.

Meanwhile, Monk landed five 180s and defied 21 missed darts at double to deny Brendan Dolan in a last-leg shoot-out and book a tussle against tenth seed Joe Cullen on Saturday afternoon.

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Baltic Sea Darts Open 2023 Day One Results

Friday February 24

First Round

Afternoon Session
Ricky Evans 2-6 Martijn Dragt
Niels Zonneveld 5-6 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Lewy Williams 6-3 Dennis Nilsson
Filip Sebesta 3-6 Keegan Brown
Jeroen Mioch 3-6 Ted Evetts
Arron Monk 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Jermaine Wattimena 4-6 Niko Springer
Bradley Brooks 6-2 Josh Payne

Evening Session
Shaun Wilkinson 2-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Ryan Joyce 3-6 Graham Usher
Ryan Meikle 1-6 Lukas Wenig
William O’Connor 4-6 Stephen Bunting
Florian Hempel 2-6 Richard Veenstra
James Wade 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
Gabriel Clemens 5-6 Daryl Gurney
Steve Beaton 6-2 Adrian Lewis