Former World Champion Adrian Lewis was joined by home stars Karel Sedlacek, Adam Gawlas and Vitezslav Sedlak in securing second round places at the Gambrinus Czech Darts Open as the PDC European Tour event began on Friday.
The £140,000 tournament in Prague sees 48 players competing across the weekend, with two-time World Champion Lewis amongst the star attractions on the opening day at Hala Kralovka.
Lewis overcame reigning World Youth Champion Ted Evetts 6-3 with a clinical display, opening up a 4-0 lead before fending off the youngster’s fightback to finish with six doubles from ten attempts.
The Englishman now takes on world number two Gerwyn Price in Saturday’s second round to continue his bid to win a first European Tour title since 2012.
The day also saw three of the six Czech player secure places in round two, with Sedlacek proving a hugely popular winner with his 6-3 defeat of Gabriel Clemens, meaning he faces Dirk van Duijvenbode on Saturday.
Emerging star Gawlas finished six doubles from 11 attempts as he battled past Dennie Olde Kalter to set up a tie with Damon Heta in the last 32.
Debutant Sedlak, meanwhile, will take on Michael van Gerwen in a dream second round tie after he came from 3-2 down to win 6-4 against Welshman Jon Worsley.
Dave Chisnall was in ruthless mood as he whitewashed Filip Sebesta without the local qualifier having a dart at a double, while Jose Justicia and Ritchie Edhouse overcame Miloslav Navratil and Ondrej Plsek respectively.
Nathan Aspinall was a 6-1 winner against World Cup winner John Henderson as he progressed to a tie with Dimitri Van den Bergh.
German Darts Grand Prix runner-up Martin Lukeman was a 6-1 winner against Martijn Dragt, averaging 98, and now plays Luke Humphries in a repeat of their European Tour final last month.
Ricky Evans impressed with six doubles from ten attempts in his 6-4 win over Northern Irish starlet Josh Rock, moving him through to a tie with Krzysztof Ratajski.
Martijn Kleermaker recorded a 55% finishing ratio in his 6-4 defeat of UK Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Bialecki to progress to a second round clash against Jose de Sousa.
Ross Smith will take on 2022 Masters champion Joe Cullen following a 6-4 defeat of Florian Hempel, while Rowby-John Rodriguez meets Premier League star Michael Smith following an impressive 6-2 win over Scott Waites.
America’s Jules van Dongen enjoyed a winning European Tour debut by defeating Brett Clayton 6-2, and he now plays reigning European Champion Rob Cross.
Vincent van der Voort won an all-Dutch first round contest with recent Development Tour event winner Geert Nentjes 6-2 to move into a meeting with Martin Schindler.
Mickey Mansell plays Brendan Dolan in an all-Northern Irish second round meeting after his 6-4 win over Jeffrey de Zwaan, as he finished 6/10 doubles.
Saturday’s second round sees the 16 seeded players enter the action against the first round winners, with the tournament to conclude on Sunday in Prague.
The tournament is being broadcast live on PDCTV, exclusively on DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
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Images: Kais Bodensieck/PDC Europe
