Wright Resists Dolan In Flanders

Red Dragon Darts

Peter Wright survived a scare to begin his bid for back-to-back European Tour titles on the opening day of the inaugural Flanders Darts Trophy.

Friday’s first round also saw newly crowned German Darts Champion Wright return to action following his exploits in Hildesheim last weekend, as he locked horns with fellow veteran Brendan Dolan.

The Scot served up a delightful 160 finish to establish a 3-1 cushion, but he was forced to recover from 5-4 down to break Dolan’s resistance, wrapping up proceedings with a 12-dart hold in the decider.

Elsewhere, Dirk van Duijvenbode continued his revival with a merciless 6-2 thrashing of Jonny Clayton, averaging 103.67, hitting seven 180s and pinning six of his 11 attempts at double to cap off a stellar display.

Raymond van Barneveld also produced glimpses of his vintage best in whitewashing his compatriot Maik Kuivenhoven, averaging 110 for much of the contest.

The Dutch icon won the first four legs in 12, 15, 13 and 12 darts, while landing an eye-catching 130 finish on the bull to set up an all-Dutch showdown against Danny Noppert on Saturday evening.

James Wade turned on the style in his comeback win over Cameron Menzies, converting 60% of his darts at double to overturn a 3-1 deficit and move through to a meeting against second seed Dave Chisnall.

Joe Cullen hammered in six 180s to defeat Callan Rydz 6-4 and progress to a tie against Ryan Searle, after Kevin Doets reeled off four straight legs from 4-2 down to topple Francois Schweyen.

Ritchie Edhouse will take on Luke Humphries in Saturday’s second round after impressing with a 104.63 average in his 6-3 success against Daryl Gurney – a semi-finalist in Hildesheim last weekend.

Luke Woodhouse and Jermaine Wattimena also averaged over 100 in wins over Host Nation Qualifiers Luc Bogaert and Brian Raman, while Scott Williams landed eight 180s to see off a tenacious Marko Kantele 6-3.

Gabriel Clemens sank a clinical 107 checkout to win through a deciding-leg clash against Martin Lukeman, as Robert Owen claimed the scalp of Krzysztof Ratajski, punishing a profligate display from Poland’s number one.

Earlier in the day, Alan Soutar eased to a six-leg sweep of debutant Jody Tobback, while Jitse Van der Wal ran out a convincing 6-2 winner against Sebastian Bialecki to secure his maiden victory on the European Tour stage.

The second round will take place across two sessions on Saturday, with world number one Humphries, teenage sensation Luke Littler and three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen all entering the fray.

Live coverage of all 2024 European Tour events will be streamed through Viaplay, and through DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ worldwide.

2024 Flanders Darts Trophy

Friday September 6

First Round

Afternoon Session

Jitse Van der Wal 6-2 Sebastian Bialecki

Scott Williams 6-3 Marko Kantele

Alan Soutar 6-0 Jody Tobback

Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Luc Bogaert

Robert Owen 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Brian Raman

Gabriel Clemens 6-5 Martin Lukeman

Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Daryl Gurney

Evening Session

Kevin Doets 6-4 Francois Schweyen

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jonny Clayton

Mike De Decker 6-2 Richard Veenstra

Raymond van Barneveld 6-0 Maik Kuivenhoven

James Wade 6-4 Cameron Menzies

Andrew Gilding 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Peter Wright 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Joe Cullen 6-4 Callan Rydz

Saturday September 7

Second Round

Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Ryan Joyce v Alan Soutar

Gian van Veen v Robert Owen

Josh Rock v Jitse Van der Wal

Chris Dobey v Kevin Doets

Damon Heta v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Dave Chisnall v James Wade

Ross Smith v Mike De Decker

Ryan Searle v Joe Cullen

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

Stephen Bunting v Scott Williams

Gerwyn Price v Luke Woodhouse

Danny Noppert v Raymond van Barneveld

Michael van Gerwen v Gabriel Clemens

Martin Schindler v Peter Wright

Luke Humphries v Ritchie Edhouse

Ricardo Pietreczko v Andrew Gilding

Luke Littler v Jermaine Wattimena

——ENDS—–




charrishulme
charrishulme
An independent consultant, coach, author and analyst in the sports and business sectors. I am regularly retained to advise and coach professionals in a variety of fields.
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