Darts results: Raymond van Barneveld to face Gerwyn Price in Munich

The year's fourth £175,000 PDC European Tour event began at Zenith on Saturday with two dramatic sessions of first round action, headlined by van Barneveld's 11-leg thriller with Ian White.

The pair shared four ton-plus checkouts during the game, with a 161 from White bettered in quality by a 131 from van Barneveld to send the tie into a decider in leg ten - with the Englishman waiting on 46 for the match.

The deciding leg saw both players miss their chance to claim victory as the drama rose to fever pitch in front of an enthralled German crowd, with White's four missed match darts allowing van Barneveld back on double two.

The Dutch legend now faces another former world champion, Price, in a tasty second-round contest. Van Barneveld won twice when they met in last year's Grand Slam of Darts before the Welshman took victory in the World Darts Championship.

Gilding cruises into Clayton clash

The opening day in Munich also saw reigning UK Open champion Andrew Gilding and 2022 European champion Ross Smith enjoy big wins.

Gilding, last month's UK Open winner, enjoyed a 6-1 first round win over Poland's Tytus Kanik as he progressed to a tie with Premier League star Jonny Clayton on Sunday.

Smith meanwhile was a 6-1 winner over Germany's Florian Hempel as he moved through to a tie with Joe Cullen in round two, impressing with a 101 average.

Chris Dobey was also in superb form as he raced past Spain's Tony Martinez, dropping just one leg to create a tie with Premier League rival Dimitri Van den Bergh in the last 32.

Munich's Liam Maendl-Lawrence delighted his home crowd with a memorable 6-5 win over Robert Owen, denying the Welshman a first European Tour victory for almost six years with a 129 checkout in the deciding leg.

Maendl-Lawrence had been in the crowd at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix, but followed up last week's European Tour debut by moving through to a clash with Danny Noppert after resisting Owen's fightback from 5-3 down in a 40-minute epic.

Germany's Dragutin Horvat finished six doubles from 11 attempts to defeat Scott Waites 6-4, and the qualifier now plays Dave Chisnall, who won the year's first European Tour event in February.

Jeffrey de Zwaan snatched a 6-5 win over Brendan Dolan with a superb 150 checkout for a 12-darter as the Dutchman set up a contest with top seed Luke Humphries.

Sheffield-based teacher Adam Warner enjoyed a dream European Tour debut, taking out 142 and 112 and landing two 12-darters in his 6-4 win over Belgium's Mario Vandenbogaerde.

The new PDC Tour Card Holder now faces world champion Michael Smith in Sunday's second round.

German Darts Grand Prix: Schedule and results

Saturday April 8
First Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

• Jules van Dongen 1-6 Berry van Peer
• Alan Soutar 2-6 Lee Evans
• Matt Campbell 3-6 Callan Rydz
• Mario Vandenbogaerde 4-6 Adam Warner
• Andy Boulton 3-6 Keane Barry
• Scott Waites 4-6 Dragutin Horvat
• Brendan Dolan 5-6 Jeffrey De Zwaan
• Andrew Gilding 6-1 Tytus Kanik

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

• Jim Williams 6-3 Vincent van der Voort
• Daryl Gurney 4-6 Cameron Menzies
• Simon Whitlock 5-6 Steve Beaton
• Ross Smith 6-1 Florian Hempel
• Robert Owen 5-6 Liam Maendl-Lawrance
• Ian White 5-6 Raymond van Barneveld
• Chris Dobey 6-1 Tony Martinez
• Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak

Sunday April 9
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

• Josh Rock v Berry van Peer
• Dave Chisnall v Dragutin Horvat
• Dirk van Duijvenbode v Callan Rydz
• Rob Cross v Keane Barry
• Jonny Clayton v Andrew Gilding
• Joe Cullen v Ross Smith
• Nathan Aspinall v Cameron Menzies
• Jose de Sousa v Steve Beaton

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

• Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chris Dobey
• Danny Noppert v Liam Maendl-Lawrance
• Michael Smith v Adam Warner
• Gerwyn Price v Raymond van Barneveld
• Damon Heta v Gabriel Clemens
• Peter Wright v Lee Evans
• Martin Schindler v Jim Williams
• Luke Humphries v Jeffrey De Zwaan

Monday April 10
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

• Third Round

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

• Quarter-Finals
• Semi-Finals
• Final

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