Thibault Tricole stuns Stephen Bunting at the Hungarian Darts Trophy as Van Barneveld rolls back the years

Thibault Tricole pulled off an unlikely comeback win over a wasteful Stephen Bunting in round two of the Hungarian Darts Trophy on Saturday.

Tricole found himself staring down the barrel at 5-2 down, but only for Bunting to squander a staggering eight match darts to allow the Frenchman to snatch victory in a last-leg decider.

Tricole, who is battling to retain his Tour Card in the final quarter of the season, will now feature in the Last 16 of a European Tour event for the first time.

Meanwhile, a vintage Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years with a ruthless display to thrash Dave Chisnall 6-1.

Van Barneveld stole the show on Day Two in Budapest, averaging 108 to demolish 2023 champion Chisnall and bolster his hopes of qualification for both the World Grand Prix and European Championship next month.

The five-time World Champion fired in five 180s and sealed the rout with a clinical 144 checkout to set up a Third Round tie with Gerwyn Price on Sunday.

“Today it just clicked,” admitted Van Barneveld. “I went back to the shorter stems a couple of weeks ago and I feel more positive.

“I often don’t manage to take my form from the practice room on to the stage, but today it worked and I’m really happy with this win.”

Price, the inaugural Hungarian Trophy winner in 2021, began his latest title challenge with a routine 6-2 win over Richard Veenstra.

“It wasn’t spectacular, but I did enough and I’ve got plenty more in the tank,” insisted Price, who defeated Van Barneveld at last weekend’s World Series of Darts Finals.

“I’m playing fantastic darts this year. I just need a little bit of luck, but there’s no reason why I can’t go and lift this trophy again.”

Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen kicked off the defence of his title with a 6-2 victory over Matthew Dennant, despite averaging just 85.8 in a low-key encounter.

Van Gerwen will now meet compatriot Danny Noppert in the Last 16 after he survived a match dart in edging out Robert Owen 6-5.

Luke Humphries defied a 99 average from Nathan Aspinall to begin his bid for back-to-back European Tour titles, landing 68, 72 and 130 combinations in the latter stages to seal a 6-4 success.

The world number one will now face World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker – who won through a one-sided affair against Tom Bissell 6-2 with six from ten on the doubles.

World Champion Luke Littler and Martin Schindler will also go head-to-head for a quarter-final spot, following comprehensive wins over Joe Cullen and Ryan Joyce respectively.

Littler converted six of his eight double attempts during his 6-1 thrashing of 2022 champion Cullen, while Schindler reeled off five consecutive legs to dispatch birthday boy Joyce 6-2.

Josh Rock defied checkouts of 124, 126 and 161 from Ricardo Pietreczko to triumph in a high-quality encounter and remain on course to reach a third consecutive European Tour final.

Rob Cross clinched a crucial win in his bid for European Championship qualification, averaging 102 and landing a 148 checkout en route to a 6-3 victory over Daryl Gurney.

Cross will now face Niko Springer in round three, after the German star followed up his superb win over Gian van Veen with a 6-1 demolition of Australian number one Damon Heta.

James Wade also impressed in front of a sell-out crowd, producing 135 and 156 checkouts in successive legs on his way to defeating Luke Woodhouse 6-3.

Kim Huybrechts withstood a late fightback from two-time World Champion Peter Wright to triumph in a gruelling last-leg decider.

Chris Dobey and Cameron Menzies will also lock horns for a place in the quarter-finals, after winning through hard-fought encounters against Darren Beveridge and Ross Smith respectively.

Hungarian Darts Trophy 2025 Day Two Results

Saturday September 20

Second Round

Afternoon Session
Martin Schindler 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Ross Smith 4-6 Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert 6-5 Rob Owen
Chris Dobey 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Rob Cross 6-3 Daryl Gurney
James Wade 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Peter Wright 5-6 Kim Huybrechts
Dave Chisnall 1-6 Raymond van Barneveld

Evening Session
Damon Heta 1-6 Niko Springer
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Matthew Dennant
Luke Littler 6-1 Joe Cullen
Luke Humphries 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Stephen Bunting 5-6 Thibault Tricole
Josh Rock 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Mike De Decker 6-2 Tom Bissell