Ross Smith, Ritchie Edhouse, Mike De Decker, Ricky Evans and Boris Krcmar were amongst the star performers as the Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy began in Göttingen on Friday.
The 48-player event sees the Winamax European Tour return to the Lokhalle, with Friday’s first round seeing players competing for spots against the 16 seeded stars.
Former European Champion Smith averaged an impressive 106.44 as he raced past Germany’s Michael Unterbuchner 6-1, and he now plays UK Open finalist James Wade on Saturday.
“I’m happy with the win and the good performance, and bring on tomorrow,” said Smith. “I’m ready for James and I’m not bothered about who I play – I just concentrate on who I’m playing.”
European Champion Ritchie Edhouse enjoyed a 6-2 win over Kevin Doets, missing just two darts at a double as he set up a tie with Nathan Aspinall on Saturday.
Lecot Belgian Darts Open runner-up Mike De Decker made a strong start to the year’s second European Tour event, seeing off Grand Slam of Darts runner-up Martin Lukeman 6-3 to progress to a tie with Peter Wright.
Emotional Ricky Evans enjoyed his first stage win over Raymond van Barneveld with a 6-4 victory over the five-time World Champion.
The Kettering ace’s sister Elisha passed away at the start of March, and he admitted: “I didn’t care how I won – it’s not just beating Raymond, it means a lot to me.
“I’ve just won a game of darts after everything I’ve been through, so I’m the happiest man in Germany right now. I’m still in this tournament but this is huge for me.”
Boris Krcmar will take on world number one Luke Humphries in round two, following his 6-4 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode.
The experienced Croatian star knocked out Michael van Gerwen on his way to the final day of the Belgian Darts Open a fortnight ago, and posted a brace of 121 checkouts as he averaged over 100 to see off another Dutch star as he began his campaign at the Lokhalle in style.
“I feel good, I’m happy and now I must prepare for tomorrow,” said Krcmar. “The next round is one of the best players in the world but if I play my game I can beat anybody – and we will see tomorrow.”
Leading German Martin Schindler – a Players Championship winner on Tuesday – began his challenge with a 6-2 win over Adam Hunt, setting up a clash with fourth seed Jonny Clayton.
Ryan Searle showed no mercy to European Tour debutant Laurin Welk, whitewashing the Host Nation Qualifier to progress to a tasty tie with Gerwyn Price on day two.
Ryan Joyce will take on Dimitri Van den Bergh in round two following his clinical whitewash of Joe Cullen, finishing six doubles from nine attempts to punish seven misses from his opponent.
Home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko began his bid for further success on the Winamax European Tour with a 6-3 win over fellow German Daniel Klose, and he now meets Michael Smith on Saturday.
Connor Scutt agonisingly missed five match darts for his first win on the European Tour as he lost out 6-5 to World Youth Champion Gian van Veen, who came from 5-3 down to set up a clash with Josh Rock.
Wessel Nijman held off European Tour debutant Paul Krohne’s fightback from 5-2 down to prevail in a deciding leg as he moved into an all-Dutch tie with Danny Noppert in round two.
Jermaine Wattimena hit six doubles from 11 attempts in a 6-2 win over Finland’s Marko Kantele as he moved through to a second round tie with Chris Dobey.
Cameron Menzies will take on sixth seed Damon Heta on Saturday after defying a 170 checkout from Alan Soutar to win their all-Scottish affair 6-2, taking out 66% of his darts at a double as both players averaged over 99.
Andrew Gilding’s 6-2 win over Callan Rydz moves the former UK Open finalist through to a clash with third seed Rob Cross.
Following Saturday’s second round, the tournament concludes across a bumper double session on Sunday, with the afternoon’s third round being followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening session.
Live coverage from the European Darts Trophy will be streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through the DAZN Darts channel on Pluto TV.
Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ worldwide.
2025 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Trophy
March 21-23, Lokhalle, Göttingen
Friday March 21
First Round
Afternoon Session
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Marko Kantele
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Alan Soutar
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Callan Rydz
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Kevin Doets
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Paul Krohne
Ross Smith 6-1 Michael Unterbuchner
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Dominik Gruellich
Evening Session
Niko Springer 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Daniel Klose
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Joe Cullen
Ryan Searle 6-0 Laurin Welk
Ricky Evans 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Mike De Decker 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Martin Schindler 6-2 Adam Hunt
Gian van Veen 6-5 Connor Scutt
Saturday March 22
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Danny Noppert v Wessel Nijman
James Wade v Ross Smith
Rob Cross v Andrew Gilding
Damon Heta v Cameron Menzies
Chris Dobey v Jermaine Wattimena
Michael Smith v Ricardo Pietreczko
Josh Rock v Gian van Veen
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Joyce
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Gary Anderson v Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle
Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans
Peter Wright v Mike De Decker
Michael van Gerwen v Niko Springer
Luke Humphries v Boris Krcmar
Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
Nathan Aspinall v Ritchie Edhouse
Best of 11 legs
——ENDS—–
Images: Felix Höfer / PDC Europe
