Arron Monk among winners in round one of Dutch Darts Championship
Arron Monk, Kevin Painter and Kyle Anderson all claimed victories in round one of the Dutch Darts Championship, as the European Tour event began in Maastricht on Friday.
Former world youth champion Monk struck two ton-plus checkouts to see off former World Grand Prix champion Robert Thornton and progress to the second round of the weekend's £135,000 event.
Monk, who was making his second European Tour appearance of the year, found himself 2-0 down before landing finishes of 118 and 122 to level the tie.
The pair exchanged legs to make it 3-3 before Monk rattled off the next three legs, pinning double ten to wrap up a vital win in the 28-year-old's career.
"I've always known I've had the ability, I just have to show it more often," said Monk, who won back his Tour card at the start of the year.
"I always go into every game thinking 'you can't beat me' and today it turned out that way, it's been coming.
"If I put as much practice in as the other guys I know I can compete with them regularly like I did today."
Former Players Championship Finals winner Kevin Painter enjoyed a winning return to European Tour action as he battled to a 6-5 triumph over Vincent van der Voort, with the Dutchman missing two match darts.
Austria's Rowby-John Rodriguez produced the performance of the day, averaging 100.71 in his 6-3 victory over Robert Marijanovic, though brother Rusty-Jake Rodriguez went down 6-2 to Ross Smith, while Kyle Anderson recorded the only whitewash of the day with a 6-0 win over Christian Bunse.
Barrie Bates rolled back the years to defeat Dutch favourite Jelle Klaasen and claim a first ever European Tour win, while Ryan Searle also enjoyed his first victory on the continent, overcoming Andy Boulton 6-3.
Jeffrey de Graaf was the only Dutchman to book his place in Saturday's action thanks to a 6-5 win over Paul Nicholson.
Jan Dekker, Dirk van Duijvenbode and World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey de Zwaan all suffered defeats on home soil at the hands of Ricky Evans, Josh Payne and Wayne Jones respectively.
Last weekend's German Darts Championship runner-up James Wilson lost 6-4 Cristo Reyes, though Reyes' fellow-Spaniard Toni Alcinas was defeated 6-3 by Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas.
European Matchplay finalist William O'Connor picked up a 6-2 victory over Karel Sedlacek, who became the first Czech player to compete on the European Tour.
Darren Johnson beat Kevin Munch 6-4 in the opening game of the day, while Ritchie Edhouse ground out his first European Tour win in over two years with a 6-4 success over Canada's Dawson Murschell.
Saturday's second round action sees the 16 seeded players enter the tournament.
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Friday September 7
First Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
- Darren Johnson 6-4 Kevin Munch
- William O'Connor 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
- Barrie Bates 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
- Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Robert Marijanovic
- Ryan Searle 6-3 Andy Boulton
- Ricky Evans 6-3 Jan Dekker
- Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Toni Alcinas
- Josh Payne 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Evening Session (6.15pm BST)
- Wayne Jones 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
- Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Paul Nicholson
- Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Dawson Murschell
- Kevin Painter 6-5 Vincent van der Voort
- Ross Smith 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
- Arron Monk 6-3 Robert Thornton
- Kyle Anderson 6-0 Christian Bunse
- Cristo Reyes 6-4 James Wilson
Saturday September 8
Second Round (Best of 11 legs)
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
- Steve West v Ricky Evans
- Mervyn King v Darius Labanauskas
- Dave Chisnall v Rowby-John Rodriguez
- Joe Cullen v Barrie Bates
- Darren Webster v Josh Payne
- Gerwyn Price v Darren Johnson
- Stephen Bunting v Jeffrey de Graaf
- Adrian Lewis v Wayne Jones
Evening Session (6.15pm BST)
- Max Hopp v Ross Smith
- Ian White v Arron Monk
- James Wade v Ritchie Edhouse
- Daryl Gurney v Ryan Searle
- Peter Wright v Kevin Painter
- Michael van Gerwen v William O'Connor
- Jonny Clayton v Kyle Anderson
- Simon Whitlock v Cristo Reyes
Sunday September 9
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
- Third Round (Best of 11 legs)
Evening Session (6.15pm BST)
- Quarter-Finals (Best of 11 legs)
- Semi-Finals (Best of 13 legs)
- Final (Best of 15 legs)