Ricardo Pietreczko sent defending champion Ross Smith crashing out of the European Championship at the first hurdle on Friday, while Michael van Gerwen defied a scare from Madars Razma.
Pietreczko, who recently landed his first PDC title at the German Championship, continued his terrific form on home soil as he averaged 104.3 to dispatch Smith 6-3 in Dortmund.
The 29-year-old raced into a three-leg lead and refused to relent, as the reigning European Champion saw his hopes of retaining the title ended.
Smith’s defeat means that he became the fifth consecutive defending champion to lose in the opening round of the tournament.
Four-time European Champion Van Gerwen, meanwhile, held off a tenacious display from Razma to edge through in a last-leg decider.
Van Gerwen led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 before Razma turned the contest on its head, only for the Dutchman to survive a match dart in each of the last two legs to avoid a shock early exit.
Van Gerwen produced 148 and 108 checkouts to establish an early advantage, but a spirited Razma maintained his relentless scoring; firing in a brace of 11-darters to restore parity at four apiece.
The Latvian then conjured up a 112 outshot in leg nine to move to the brink of victory at 5-4, before missing tops for 80 and 142 finishes in a thrilling finale.
Van Gerwen capitalised on his reprieve, firing in a brilliant 12-dart break in the decider to move through to Saturday’s Second Round, despite Razma averaging almost 105.
“I had to produce something special because Madars was absolutely phenomenal,” admitted Van Gerwen, who averaged 97 and hit 75 per cent of his double attempts.
“You have to give Madars credit. I don’t think anybody expected him to play this well, but I kept my nerve and that’s the most important thing.
“The longer format will hopefully help me, but you still have to perform. Everyone is playing well, so you can’t underestimate anyone. You have to be sharp from the beginning.”
Elsewhere, newly crowned World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries breezed through to Round Two with a 6-1 rout of Brendan Dolan.
Dolan avoided a whitewash with a terrific 148 checkout in leg six, but a merciless Humphries afforded the Northern Irishman just a solitary dart at double to prevail with a 97 average.
However, it was Gian van Veen who produced the performance of the night, dispatching sixth seed Damon Heta with a 107.3 average to cap off a dream debut.
The Dutch starlet was imperious throughout, recording the highest average by a European Championship debutant to complete a 6-1 demolition of the Australian number one.
Van Veen’s reward is a meeting with Daryl Gurney – who pinned six of his eight attempts at double to overcome Josh Rock 6-2 in an all-Northern Irish affair.
Reigning World Youth Champion Rock produced a ton-topping average in defeat but paid the price for his struggles on the outer ring, and Gurney profited to continue his resurgence.
“Josh has got so much quality so I knew I couldn’t relax,” admitted Gurney.
“I always feel the pressure when I’m playing in the first round of any major, so I’m just glad to get the win.
“I was fortunate in the first couple of legs, but I took my chances and that is what darts is all about.”
Krzysztof Ratajski celebrated his first win on the European Championship stage at the sixth attempt courtesy of a hard-fought 6-3 victory over Joe Cullen.
Poland’s number one missed double 12 for a nine-darter in leg two, before defying five 180s from a profligate Cullen to confirm a show-down against Humphries on Saturday.
Jose De Sousa punished a costly miscount from Jonny Clayton in the penultimate leg of their clash to move through to a Last 16 tie against James Wade.
The Portuguese star reeled off three straight legs from 4-3 down to deny Clayton, punishing the Welshman’s woes to return to winning ways on the big stage.
Meanwhile, 2018 winner Wade outlasted an out of sorts Dirk van Duijvenbode in a scrappy affair, winning the last three legs without reply to end his losing run on the big stage.
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European Darts Championship 2023 – Day Two Results
Friday October 27
First Round
Damon Heta 1-6 Gian van Veen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Joe Cullen
Josh Rock 2-6 Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton 4-6 Jose De Sousa
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-6 James Wade
Luke Humphries 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Madars Razma
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Ross Smith
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