HappyBet German Darts Championship review

Rio-born Portela, who has moved from his native Brazil to the UK in a bid to make his breakthrough in the sport, qualified for his first European Tour event recently and made a winning start to life on stage.

The 28-year-old defeated German youngster Martin Schindler 6-3 in their first round clash at Halle 39 in Hildesheim, taking out a 109 finish and hitting three 180s to move through to face Kim Huybrechts on Saturday.

Nottingham-based Paul Harvey also enjoyed a winning debut on the European Tour with an impressive 6-2 defeat of left-hander Ryan Meikle, hitting seven 180s and averaging 102.78 as he progressed to a second round tie with Benito van de Pas.

There was an agonising defeat for another debutant, though, as Michael Plooy lost out 6-5 to Christian Kist, who had seen the newcomer take out 146 and 160 to lead 3-1 early on.

Kist hit back to lead 5-3, and though Plooy forced a decider it was the former Lakeside champion who survived a missed match dart before taking out 106 to edge through.

Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski now plays UK Open runner-up Gerwyn Price following his 6-2 victory over Dutch youngster Ryan De Vreede, while Ireland's Mick McGowan defeated Greece's John Michael by the same scoreline to set up a second-round tie with Jelle Klaasen.

David Pallett averaged almost 100 as he defeated Finland's Veijo Viinikka 6-1, with John Bowles and Richie Corner enjoying 6-2 wins over Stefan Stoyke and Kirk Shepherd respectively.

The evening session of day one kicked off with Dimitri Van den Bergh securing a hard-fought win over Adam Hunt in a clash of two players who won on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour the previous weekend.

Hunt moved in to a commanding 4-2 lead before Van den Bergh strung together four legs in a row to secure the win, with the Belgian averaging over 96 on his way to booking a second round clash with Dave Chisnall.

Dutchman Jan Dekker also had to come from behind as he beat debutant Chris Quantock 6-5, battling back from 5-4 behind to secure a spot in the second round, where he will face Michael Smith.

The third match of the evening session saw Paul Nicholson return to the European Tour with a 6-2 win over Ryan Searle.

The former Players Champion hadn’t appeared on the European Tour for three years, but put in a professional performance with a 90 average to set up a tie with Cristo Reyes in round two.

There were also difficult wins for Mervyn King, Jamie Bain and Kevin Painter, who beat Michael Rasztovits, Chris Dobey and Stephen Burton in last-leg deciders on the £135,000 tournament's opening night.

Darren Johnson - a Players Championship runner-up recently - made light work of Robert Allenstein averaging 97.91 in a 6-1 victory to move through and face James Wade.

Jermaine Wattimena ended home hopes in style as he brushed past Bernd Roith in impressive style.

The Dutchman averaged 102.21 and hit 67% of his attempts at doubles to set up a second round encounter with world number one and World Champion Michael van Gerwen.

Friday March 24

First Round

Afternoon Session

Richie Corner 6-2 Kirk Shepherd

Ryan Meikle 4-6 Paul Harvey

David Pallett 6-1 Veijo Viinikka

John Bowles 6-2 Stefan Stoyke

Ryan De Vreede 2-6 Krzysztof Ratajski

John Michael 2-6 Mick McGowan

Diogo Portela 6-3 Martin Schindler

Michael Plooy 5-6 Christian Kist

Evening Session 

Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Adam Hunt

Jan Dekker 6-5 Chris Quantock

Paul Nicholson 6-2 Ryan Searle

Mervyn King 6-5 Michael Rasztovits

Darren Johnson 6-1 Robert Allenstein

Jamie Bain 6-5 Chris Dobey

Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Bernd Roith

Kevin Painter 6-5 Stephen Burton

Saturday March 25

Second Round

Afternoon Session (1200-1600 GMT)

Gerwyn Price v Michael Ratajski

Ian White v John Bowles

Jelle Klaasen v John Michael

Michael Smith v Jan Dekker

Cristo Reyes v Paul Nicholson

Kim Huybrechts v Diogo Portela

Stephen Bunting v David Pallett

Alan Norris v Richie Corner

Evening Session (1800-2000 GMT)

James Wade v Darren Johnson

Dave Chisnall v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Benito van de Pas v Paul Harvey

Peter Wright v Christian Kist

Michael van Gerwen v Jermaine Wattimena

Mensur Suljovic v Michael Rasztovits

Simon Whitlock v Kevin Painter

Joe Cullen v Jamie Bain

All games are the best of 11 legs