Daryl Gurney and Stephen Bunting enjoy emphatic starts at the Hungarian Darts Trophy

Daryl Gurney and Stephen Bunting stormed into the Second Round of the 2022 Hungarian Darts Trophy with ton-plus averages in Budapest on Friday.

The opening day of the season’s tenth European Tour event saw a clutch of big names get their campaigns off to an impressive start at the BOK Sportcsarnok.

Former Euro Tour event winner Gurney produced the performance of the day, averaging 105.3 to dispatch his fellow Northern Irish ace Nathan Rafferty 6-1.

Gurney was in merciless mood in the Hungarian capital, winning all six legs within five visits to the board to set up a blockbuster tussle against Michael Smith in Saturday’s Second Round.

Recent Euro Tour semi-finalist Bunting was also in scintillating form, averaging 103.6 in a 6-0 whitewash of Callan Rydz in the evening session.

Simon Whitlock will renew his rivalry with Michael van Gerwen in Round Two after safely seeing off home favourite Janos Vegso 6-2 with the aid of six maximums and high finishes of 122 and 147.

Whitlock squandered a host of match darts in the latter stages, but he regained his composure to move through to a meeting against top seed Van Gerwen, as he eyes a sixth straight win against the Dutchman.

Dave Chisnall turned on the style in a 6-1 demolition of Daniel Larsson, producing a sublime 137 checkout to set up a mouth-watering showdown against Jonny Clayton.

Chris Dobey claimed a crucial win in his bid to seal European Championship qualification, recording a 6-3 success over World Youth Champion Ted Evetts.

Ryan Meikle fired in a timely 11-darter to clinch a 6-4 win over German number one Gabriel Clemens, while Martin Lukeman maintained his impressive European Tour form to close out a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Ian White.

All four Hungarian representatives crashed out in round one, as William O’Connor prevailed in a scrappy contest against Pal Szekely and Jeffrey De Zwaan and Boris Krcmar also breezed past regional qualifiers Andras Borbely and Levente Sarai earlier in the day.

Josh Rock continues to impress on the big stage, posting four 180s and taking out a brilliant 121 finish to dump out Darius Labanauskas with a 6-4 success.

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez fired in four maximums en route to a convincing 6-2 success against Canadian veteran Jeff Smith, while Jim Williams survived four match darts in an edgy affair against Brett Claydon to set up a showdown against World Champion Peter Wright.

Karel Sedlacek defied a late rally to overcome WDF world finalist Thibault Tricole 6-4, as Madars Razma landed two ton-plus finishes as he reeled off four consecutive legs from 5-2 down to deny Germany’s Franz Roetzsch in a decider.

The Latvian was due to take on defending champion Gerwyn Price in the Second Round, but he now receives a Bye through to Sunday’s Last 16 after the Welshman withdrew from the event.

Raymond van Barneveld also received a Bye following Rowby-John Rodriguez’s withdrawal, and the five-time World Champion now takes on Jose De Sousa in a heavyweight Second Round clash.

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Hungarian Darts Trophy 2022 Day One Results

Friday September 2

First Round

Afternoon Session
Franz Roetzsch 5-6 Madars Razma
Brett Claydon 5-6 Jim Williams
Boris Krcmar 6-1 Levente Sarai
Jeff Smith 2-6 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Darius Labanauskas 4-6 Josh Rock
Thibault Tricole 4-6 Karel Sedlacek
Andras Borbely 2-6 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Nathan Rafferty

Evening Session
Ian White 4-6 Martin Lukeman
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Daniel Larsson
Pal Szekely 2-6 William O’Connor
Ted Evetts 3-6 Chris Dobey
Simon Whitlock 6-2 Janos Vegso
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Callan Rydz
Gabriel Clemens 4-6 Ryan Meikle