Wessel Nijman stuns Luke Littler at the Baltic Sea Darts Open as Edhouse ousts Aspinall

Wessel Nijman sent Luke Littler crashing out of the Baltic Sea Darts Open with a 6-3 scalp in Round One in Kiel on Friday.

Day One of the season’s sixth European Tour event saw 16 matches take place across two sessions at the Wunderino Arena with Premier League stars Littler and Nathan Aspinall among the notable early casualties.

Littler, who has claimed the Belgian Open and Austrian Open titles this year, was condemned to just his second defeat in 15 European Tour matches by emerging star Nijman.

The 23-year-old won five of his six matches against Littler on the Development Tour in 2023, and he continued his remarkable record against the teenager with a landmark 6-3 win.

Littler, returning to action less than 24 hours after a 6-1 defeat to Michael van Gerwen in the Night 15 semi-finals in Leeds, averaged just 84 with three from ten on the doubles in a below-par display.

“For Luke it’s obviously very tough to play a Premier League night and then go to a European Tour event,” admitted Nijman, who will face Dutch icon Van Gerwen in Saturday’s second round.

“For me, this is like being in darts heaven! I took my chances tonight and I’m very happy with the win.

“Playing Luke on the Friday and then Michael on the Saturday – it doesn’t get any bigger, but if I play my own game I know I can make it tough for Michael tomorrow night.”

Ritchie Edhouse produced the stand-out performance of the opening round, averaging 106.5 to dump out World Matchplay champion Aspinall 6-2.

Edhouse, one of the form players of the season so far, continued his scintillating form to stun the world number four, converting 121 and 130 checkouts on his way to victory.

Germany’s World Cup pairing of Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens also suffered early exits on home soil, losing out to Belgian duo Mike De Decker and Andy Baetens respectively.

De Decker reeled off three consecutive legs from 3-3 to account for International Open champion Schindler, while reigning Lakeside champion Baetens denied Clemens in a last-leg shoot-out.

Raymond van Barneveld endured no such trouble however, averaging 99 to kick off his campaign with a crushing 6-1 win over Sweden’s Daniel Larsson.

The five-time World Champion won the last four legs in 14, 15, 12 and 14 darts to cap off a dominant display, and he will now play Danny Noppert in an all-Dutch affair on Saturday evening.

Gian van Veen will be another Dutchman involved in the second round, after following up a 121 checkout with an 11-darter to defeat impressive debutant Kevin Troppmann 6-4.

Daryl Gurney dumped out UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh in a heavyweight opening round tussle, punishing 14 missed darts at double from the Belgian to close out a 6-3 victory.

Meanwhile, Madars Razma fended off a valiant fightback from Chris Dobey – who recovered from 5-1 down to force a decider – and the Latvian’s reward is a tie against reigning champion Dave Chisnall.

James Wade returned to winning ways on the big stage with a 6-2 thumping of Niels Zonneveld, averaging 99 to set up a meeting with Joe Cullen.

Jermaine Wattimena averaged 101 to run out a 6-1 winner against Tuesday’s Players Championship 10 winner Brendan Dolan, while former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding swept aside a wasteful Thibault Tricole by the same scoreline.

Sebastian Bialecki compounded Jose de Sousa’s European Tour woes with a deciding-leg victory in Friday’s opener, as Luke Woodhouse produced a 12-darter to edge out Ryan Joyce in a high-quality tie.

Host Nation Qualifiers Franz Roetzsch and Moritz Hilger were also amongst the first-round winners, overcoming Haupai Puha and Matthew Dennant to preserve German hopes in Kiel.

However, Christopher Toonders was unable to replicate the feat of his compatriots, suffering a 6-0 whitewash at the hands of Maik Kuivenhoven – who now sets his sights on fourth seed Rob Cross.

Baltic Sea Darts Open 2024 Day One Results

Friday May 10

First Round

Afternoon Session
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Jose de Sousa
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-0 Christopher Toonders
Thibault Tricole 1-6 Andrew Gilding
Haupai Puha 4-6 Franz Roetzsch
Moritz Hilger 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Brendan Dolan 1-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Ryan Joyce
James Wade 6-2 Niels Zonneveld

Evening Session
Madars Razma 6-5 Chris Dobey
Kevin Troppmann 4-6 Gian van Veen
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Raymond van Barneveld 6-1 Daniel Larsson
Andy Baetens 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Martin Schindler 3-6 Mike De Decker
Luke Littler 3-6 Wessel Nijman

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