Luke Littler survives Jose De Sousa scare to seal winning Euro Tour debut at the Belgian Darts Open

Luke Littler marked his European Tour debut with a dramatic deciding-leg win over Jose De Sousa at the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze on Friday.

Littler was one of three Premier League stars in action on a bumper opening day at the Oktoberhallen, and the teenage superstar produced a stunning display of scoring to edge out former Grand Slam champion De Sousa.

The 17-year-old crashed in eight 180s and averaged 101, but he was forced to survive two match darts from the Portuguese star – who pinned his first five attempts at double to establish a 5-4 lead.

However, De Sousa paid the price for spurning two match darts in the penultimate leg, as Littler registered back-to-back maximums in a tense climax to seal his spot in Round Two.

“I’ve always said that I love playing in front of a massive crowd,” said Littler, who will now face Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday.

“I’m glad to get through. I know my scoring is there, so I’ll have a good rest tonight and come here tomorrow and practise those doubles.”

Day One of the season’s first European Tour event saw 16 First Round ties take place across two sessions, with Premier League duo Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall enduring contrasting fortunes.

Two-time World Champion Wright claimed a hard-fought 6-2 victory over Geert De Vos, punishing a sluggish start from the Belgian qualifier to set up a showdown against reigning champion Michael van Gerwen.

Aspinall, meanwhile, paid the price for an erratic display against Richard Veenstra, squandering 13 darts at doubles as the Dutchman won four of the last five legs to complete a 6-3 triumph.

James Wade will go head-to-head with world number one Luke Humphries in one of Saturday’s stand-out ties, after rallying from 4-2 down to edge out Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding leg.

Masters champion Stephen Bunting also won through a last-leg shoot-out against Belgian number one Van den Bergh, averaging 99 to deny the newly crowned UK Open champion on his homecoming.

Mike De Decker preserved home hopes, however, as he overturned a 4-2 deficit against Chris Landman to seal his spot in Round Two – where 2023 World Champion Michael Smith awaits.

Joe Cullen kicked off his Euro Tour campaign with a commanding 6-1 success over Martin Schindler with an average of 103.

Schindler’s World Cup partner Gabriel Clemens will renew his rivalry with Gerwyn Price on Saturday evening, after averaging 101 to open his challenge with a whitewash of debutant Host Nation qualifier Jeroen Caron.

Andreas Harrysson produced the performance of the day in Wieze, landing four ton-plus checkouts to dispatch a shell-shocked Gian van Veen with a sensational 107 average.

The unassuming Swede was merciless on the outer ring, firing in 106, 117, 124 and 132 finishes to set up a Second Round clash with two-time World Champion Gary Anderson.

Earlier in the day, Jermaine Wattimena stormed through to Round Two with a whitewash win over Daryl Gurney, denying the Northern Irishman a solitary dart at double in the process.

Chris Dobey will play tenth seed Danny Noppert in Round Two after averaging 95 and landing three 180s to overcome Croatian qualifier Romeo Grbavac.

Ryan Joyce reeled off three consecutive legs to complete a 6-3 win over 2023 UK Open champion Andrew Gilding, while Luke Woodhouse put in a clinical display to defeat Euro Tour debutant James Hurrell by the same scoreline.

Berry van Peer opened the afternoon session with a 6-3 victory over Germany’s Daniel Klose, as Brendan Dolan and Lukas Wenig eased past Host Nation Qualifiers Steven Strobbe and Born Van Put respectively.

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Belgian Darts Open 2024 Day One Results

Friday March 8

First Round

Afternoon Session
Berry van Peer 6-3 Daniel Klose
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Lukas Wenig 6-3 Born Van Put
Daryl Gurney 0-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 James Hurrell
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Steven Strobbe
Chris Dobey 6-3 Romeo Grbavac
Andreas Harrysson 6-1 Gian van Veen

Evening Session
Mike De Decker 6-5 Chris Landman
Martin Schindler 1-6 Joe Cullen
Jeroen Caron 0-6 Gabriel Clemens
Luke Littler 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Peter Wright 6-2 Geert de Vos
James Wade 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh 5-6 Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall 3-6 Richard Veenstra