The European Tour is back after almost a year with the Hungarian Darts Trophy.
The Friday afternoon session at the Papp László Sportaréna was opened by Johann Engström and William Borland, with the latter securing his place in Round 2 with a 6:4 win.
In the second match, Belgium’s Geert de Vos prevailed by 6:4 against Geert Nentjes. The European Tour debutant benefited from his opponent’s double trouble and finished 161, the highest finish of the day.
The first minor upset of the day was provided by Dutchman Richard Veenstra who defeated Keegan Brown by 6:4. After taking the lead by 5:1 Veenstra fended off the comeback attempt of “The Needle” and qualified for the second round battle with current World Champion Gerwyn Price.
The first appearance of a Hungarian followed in the fourth match when Janos Vegso met Joe Murnan. Although the Briton`s average was twelve point higher than the one of his opponent, the match went into the decider. Here Murnan prevailed, despite incessant support from the Hungarian crowd for the local hero. Jose de Sousa awaits “Midnight” in round 2.
Youngster Keane Barry, despite a poor start into the sixth game, beat Thomas Lovely by 6:3. The European Tour debutant averaged a solid 92 and will meet Dirk van Duijvenbode in Round 2.
The penultimate match of the afternoon session was the Eastern European duel between 19-year-old Czech Adam Gawlas and Croatian Boris Krcmar, which the Czech won by 6:5. Both averaged around 97 in the end. Gawlas, who jumped for joy after the win, will take on Jonny Clayton in round 2.
In the last match of the session, there was strong support from the crowd again as Hungarian Gabor Jagicza faced Welshman Lewis Williams. Despite a good start and a 131 finish in the first leg Jagicza lost by 3:6. Williams will take on Krzysztof Ratajski from Poland in round 2.
This Friday’s evening session was kicked off by the only German in the event, Florian Hempel, and his first round match against England`s Jake Jones. After the Super League finalist missed several matchdarts he had to decide the thriller in the decider. In round 2 Hempel will play World Matchplay Champion Peter Wright.
This close match was followed by two clear ones – to the disappointment of the Hungarian qualifiers. First Ross Smith from Great Britain defeated host nation qualifier Peter Strbik with a 6:0 whitewash and the first 100+ average of the tournament. Then Alan Soutar from Scotland had little trouble in his 6:1 win against Jozsef Rucska.
The fourth match of the evening was won by “Cool Hand” Luke Humphries by 6:3 against Madars Razma. Humphries will now prepare for his second round match with Devon Petersen.
Double World Champion Adrian Lewis then had to play World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks. In the end young Brooks won the high quality and thrilling match by 6:5 after both players missed half a dozen matchdarts.
The next former World Champion, Steve Beaton, was eliminated in the next contest. In a good match Beaton lost to John Michael from Greece by 5:6.
Australian Simon Whitlock did better and won his first round match against Darren Webster by 6:4. Whitlock averaged 99 and will meet his fellow countryman and World Cup partner Damon Heta in round 2.
In the last match of the first evening session “Superchin” Daryl Gurney defeated Dutchman Vincent van der Voort by 6:2. Gurney averaged almost 100 and will need that kind of performance again tomorrow when he will face three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen in his second round match.
The Hungarian Darts Trophy will continue tomorrow afternoon and evening with eight second round matches each. The event can be watched live on PDCTV.
2021 Hungarian Darts Trophy
Friday September 3
First Round
Afternoon Session
William Borland 6-4 Johan Engström
Geert De Vos 6-2 Geert Nentjes
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Keegan Brown
Joe Murnan 6-5 János Végső
Keane Barry 6-3 Thomas Lovely
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Boris Krcmar
Lewis Williams 6-3 Gabor Jagicza
Evening Session
Florian Hempel 6-5 Jake Jones
Ross Smith 6-0 Peter Strbik
Alan Soutar 6-1 Jozsef Rucska
Luke Humphries 6-3 Madars Razma
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Adrian Lewis
John Michael 6-5 Steve Beaton
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Darren Webster
Vincent van der Voort 2:6 Daryl Gurney
Bye: William O’Connor
Saturday September 4
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Rob Cross v Ross Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski v Lewis Williams
Brendan Dolan v Alan Soutar
James Wade v William O’Connor
Mensur Suljovic v William Borland
Devon Petersen v Luke Humphries
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Keane Barry
Nathan Aspinall v Bradley Brooks
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Jonny Clayton v Adam Gawlas
Joe Cullen v Geert De Vos
Damon Heta v Simon Whitlock
Jose de Sousa v Joe Murnan
Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney
Gerwyn Price v Richard Veenstra
Peter Wright v Florian Hempel
Michael Smith v John Michael
