Johan Engstrom dumped defending champion Peter Wright out of the Nordic Darts Masters in Round One in Copenhagen on Friday.
Swedish star Engstrom stole the show on the opening day of the season’s fourth World Series event as he hit back from 5-3 down to stun Snakebite in a deciding leg.
The 47-year-old, a winner of two Nordic & Baltic ProTour titles this year, reeled off the last three legs in 13, 15 and 13 darts to seal a memorable scalp.
“I am really, really happy,” said an emotional Engstrom, who converted six of his nine attempts at doubles.
“I don’t have the words for this. Maybe Peter didn’t perform at his best, but my doubles were good, and I did it!
“This is one of the best wins of my career, and hopefully I can do even better tomorrow!”
Meanwhile, newly crowned US Darts Masters champion Rob Cross recorded the highest average in Nordic Darts Masters history as he saw off Jeffrey De Graaf in a thrilling contest.
The 2018 World Champion prevailed 6-4 with an average of 108.19 as he defied a trio of 12-darters and a 102.2 average from the Swedish World Cup star.
“I was very focused tonight and I needed to be,” insisted Cross.
“In my opinion Jeffrey was the toughest opponent I could have drawn. He’s been in very good form and credit to him, he caused me a lot of problems.
“I’m enjoying my darts and I’ve got a swagger about me right now. I just want to perform and I just want to win, so life is good at the moment.”
World number one Humphries began his bid for a maiden World Series title with a whitewash of Denmark’s Benjamin Drue Reus, averaging 100.2 to seal his progress in just over 11 minutes.
“I was a bit sceptical ahead of tonight, but that was a decent performance,” admitted Humphries.
“Since the Premier League final I haven’t had much time to practice and I didn’t really perform the way I wanted to in New York, but I felt good tonight and hopefully I can improve tomorrow.
“It was an amazing crowd. I expected a hostile atmosphere but after the experience I’ve had over the last few months, I’m used to that now, and I don’t let it affect me like I did at the start of the year.”
Top seed Gerwyn Price put in a stellar display in his 6-2 win over Latvia’s Madars Razma, averaging 102 with the aid of two ton-plus checkouts.
Michael Smith also registered a ton-plus average and landed four maximums in a 6-1 demolition of Finnish debutant Paavo Myller.
“I felt so relaxed and so comfortable tonight,” reflected Smith, who bounced back following his early exit in New York last weekend.
“Last week was one of the worst feelings I’ve had after a defeat. Today I had to prove a point. I wanted a big performance and luckily enough I got it.”
In the evening’s opener, 2022 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh began his bid for a second title in the Danish capital with an impressive 6-3 success against Dennis Nilsson, as the pair fired in nine 180s between them.
World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall also ran out an emphatic 6-2 winner against Finland’s Marko Kantele, pinning six of his nine attempts at double to cap off a clinical display.
Meanwhile, Stephen Bunting survived a scare on his first World Series outing in a decade, fending off a late fightback from Sweden’s Daniel Larsson – who recovered from 5-2 down to force a last-leg shoot-out.
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Nordic Darts Masters 2024 Day One Results
Friday June 7
First Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Dennis Nilsson
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Marko Kantele
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Madars Razma
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Daniel Larsson
Peter Wright 5-6 Johan Engstrom
Michael Smith 6-1 Paavo Myller
Rob Cross 6-4 Jeffrey de Graaf
Luke Humphries 6-0 Benjamin Drue Reus
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