Raymond van Barneveld enjoys whitewash win at the German Darts Grand Prix as Plaisier stuns Williams

Raymond van Barneveld enjoyed a whitewash win over James Wilson on the opening day of the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix as Wesley Plaisier produced the performance of the day to defeat Jim Williams.

Van Barneveld, making his first European Tour appearance since 2019, swept aside former World Masters finalist Wilson 6-0 with a 95 average and 55 per cent on the doubles to set up a Second Round clash with Damon Heta on Sunday.

Van Barneveld’s Dutch compatriot Plaisier registered the highest average of the First Round (104.05) as he knocked out recent Players Championship event winner Williams 6-3 with a 128 checkout along the way.

German duo Max Hopp and Martin Schindler delighted the Munich crowd with victories over Alan Soutar and Jermaine Wattimena respectively.

Hopp, a former Euro Tour event winner, defied a bout of ‘double trouble’ to battle his way to a 6-4 win, while recent ProTour finalist Schindler landed three maximums on his way to a 6-3 success.

Dave Chisnall and Ryan Meikle both averaged 98 in a high quality climax to the evening session, with Chisnall progressing by a 6-4 scoreline with the aid of six 180s.

Jeffrey de Zwaan landed a timely 98 checkout in the deciding leg to edge out Dutch counterpart Vincent van der Voort 6-5.

Scott Waites continued his impressive record of winning every First Round match he has competed in on the European Tour by thrashing Dragutin Horvat 6-1 to set up a show-down with Peter Wright on Sunday.

Danny Baggish became the first American to compete on the PDC European Tour and enjoyed a winning debut by seeing off Switzerland’s Thomas Junghans 6-2.

Croatia’s Boris Krcmar began the day with a 6-3 win over Luke Woodhouse, while Martin Lukeman dispatched Czech youngster Adam Gawlas by the same scoreline.

Chris Dobey defeated former World Masters champion John O’Shea 6-2, notably winning a leg in 30 darts after a marathon of missed doubles between the pair.

Berry van Peer continued his bright start to the season by averaging 95.7 in a 6-4 triumph over Sweden’s Daniel Larsson, while former World Youth champion Keegan Brown overcame Adam Hunt 6-2 with a 95.2 average and a high checkout of 129.

Madars Razma battled his way to a 6-4 victory over Kim Hubrechts with a 150 checkout to his name and goes through to face Jose de Sousa.

UK Open semi-finalist Keane Barry will face Gerwyn Price in Round Two after dispatching Host Nation qualifier Lukas Wenig 6-4.

WATCH THE GERMAN DARTS GRAND PRIX STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)

German Darts Grand Prix 2022 Day One Results

Saturday April 16

Afternoon Session
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Daniel Larsson 4-6 Berry van Peer
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Wesley Plaisier 6-3 Jim Williams
Keegan Brown 6-2 Adam Hunt
Dragutin Horvat 1-6 Scott Waites
John O’Shea 2-6 Chris Dobey

Evening Session
Kim Huybrechts 4-6 Madars Razma
Alan Soutar 4-6 Max Hopp
Danny Baggish 6-2 Thomas Junghans
Keane Barry 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
Martin Schindler 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 James Wilson
Ryan Meikle 4-6 Dave Chisnall