Brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts enjoyed home wins as the 2020 European Tour season got underway on Friday with the first round of the Belgian Darts Championship.<\/p>\n
The \u00a3140,000 tournament at Expo Hasselt has opened with wins for four Belgian hopefuls, as the Huybrechts brothers were joined in the last 32 by Dimitri Van den Bergh and Mike De Decker.<\/p>\n
Former World Cup finalist Kim enjoyed a 6-2 win over Ryan Harrington to begin his bid for a third European Tour title.<\/p>\n
The Antwerp thrower led 3-0 before Harrington hit back to 3-2, but he crucially missed four darts to level in leg six as Huybrechts capitalised on the let-off to close out victory, setting up a second round tie with Jeffrey de Zwaan.<\/p>\n
Elder brother Ronny was in clinical form as he landed six doubles from nine attempts in a big 6-1 win over World Youth Champion Luke Humphries, and he now plays Michael Smith.<\/p>\n
Two-time World Youth Champion Van den Bergh picked up a 6-3 win over Derk Telnekes, creating a second round meeting with 2019 Czech Darts Open champion Jamie Hughes.<\/p>\n
Youngster De Decker, meanwhile, was a narrow 6-5 winner over Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp, setting up a tasty tie with world number one Michael van Gerwen on Saturday.<\/p>\n
There was disappointment, though for Geert De Vos as the qualifier went down 6-2 to Danny Noppert, while Steve West whitewashed Jeffrey van Edgdom 6-0.<\/p>\n
2019 Brisbane Darts Masters champion Damon Heta enjoyed a superb European Tour debut with a 6-0 whitewash of Michael Barnard, averaging an impressive 102.48 in the win.<\/p>\n
Dirk van Duijvenbode also posted a ton-plus average, seeing off Luke Woodhouse 6-4 with six doubles from ten attempts and a 101.59 average in moving through to meet number two seed Ian White.<\/p>\n
Germany’s Gabriel Clemens now plays Krzysztof Ratajski – the winner of last year’s final European Tour event in Gibraltar – in round two after defeating Callan Rydz 6-3.<\/p>\n
Steve Lennon defied finishes of 151 an 124 from Rowby-John Rodriguez as he came from 3-2 down to win 6-3 and progress to a second round tie with James Wade.<\/p>\n
Mervyn King was a 6-4 winner over Justin Pipe in a clash of former European Tour event winners, securing a meeting with Glen Durrant on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Dutch debutant Martijn Kleermaker survived a fightback from 5-1 down by Stephen Bunting before claiming a 6-4 win in his first European Tour appearance, and he now plays Joe Cullen in round two.<\/p>\n
Wesley Plaisier was another Dutchman to progress, edging out Slovenia’s Benjamin Pratnemer 6-5 in a tight contest to earn a meeting with world number three Gerwyn Price.<\/p>\n
Recent Players Championship winner Ryan Searle was too strong for debutant Darren Penhall with a 6-3 success, setting up a second round tie with Mensur Suljovic.<\/p>\n
Steve Beaton now plays Nathan Aspinall in round two after seeing off Hong Kong’s Kai Fan Leung 6-4, while Andy Hamilton made a winning return to the European Tour stage with a 6-5 defeat of Andy Boulton, moving himself through to a meeting with World Champion Peter Wright.<\/p>\n
The Belgian Darts Championship will take place from February 28-March 1, with live streaming on PDCTV, as well as through a series of bookmakers’ websites worldwide.<\/p>\n
Saturday’s second round will be followed on Sunday by the final day of action as the \u00a3140,000 tournament culminates. For tickets, visit www.pdc-europe.tv or purchase at Expo Hasselt.<\/p>\n
Click here to sign-up for a \u00a32.99 PDCTV weekend pass.<\/p>\n
2020 Belgian Darts Championship
\nFriday February 28
\nFirst Round
\nAfternoon Session
\nRyan Searle 6-3 Darren Penhall
\nAndy Hamilton 6-5 Andy Boulton
\nSteve Beaton 6-4 Kai Fan Leung
\nRonny Huybrechts 6-1 Luke Humphries
\nDamon Heta 6-0 Michael Barnard
\nWesley Plaisier 6-5 Benjamin Pratnemer
\nMartijn Kleermaker 6-4 Stephen Bunting
\nMervyn King 6-4 Justin Pipe <\/p>\n
Evening Session
\nDirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
\nMike De Decker 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
\nGabriel Clemens 6-3 Callan Rydz
\nDanny Noppert 6-2 Geert De Vos
\nKim Huybrechts 6-2 Ryan Harrington
\nSteve Lennon 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
\nSteve West 6-0 Jeffrey van Egdom
\nDimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Derk Telnekes<\/p>\n
Saturday February 29
\nSecond Round
\nAfternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
\nMichael Smith v Ronny Huybrechts
\nJoe Cullen v Martijn Kleermaker
\nKrzysztof Ratajski v Gabriel Clemens
\nGlen Durrant v Mervyn King
\nRob Cross v Damon Heta
\nIan White v Dirk van Duijvenbode
\nJermaine Wattimena v Danny Noppert
\nJames Wade v Steve Lennon<\/p>\n
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
\nNathan Aspinall v Steve Beaton
\nGerwyn Price v Wesley Plaisier
\nPeter Wright v Andy Hamilton
\nMichael van Gerwen v Mike De Decker
\nJeffrey de Zwaan v Kim Huybrechts
\nJamie Hughes v Dimitri Van den Bergh
\nMensur Suljovic v Ryan Searle
\nJonny Clayton v Steve West<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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