By Sarah Leaver
Match 1: Kim Huybrechts vs Arno Merk
The first game of the night (and the competition) saw Kim Huybrechts take on Armo Merk. A quick-fire opening set saw the German take the lead from 64 after a pressure-piling 174 from Huybrechts.
Merk, making his debut in the competition, continued to dominate, taking four consecutive legs. His confidence shone through – and despite missing double 12 for the crucial third leg, a poor display from Huybrechts allowed him to clinch the second set.
The third set saw Huybrechts begin to fight back, breaking Merk’s leg-winning streak, but a 180 from the German showed that he was still right in the game, taking out double 16 to level the playing field.
The resurgence of Huybrechts meant that the match went to a fourth set and despite Merk’s slight hiccup, he recovered to find his form again to take out 25 and reach the second round of the World Championship.
Match 2: Michael Smith (28) vs Lisa Ashton
The first seeded player of the tournament in Michael Smith took on the Women’s World Matchplay Champion Lisa Ashton in the second match of the night. An evenly fought first set saw both players take two legs each before Smith piled on the pressure to take the first set.
Smith began to really show his form in the second leg, with the world number 28 taking 3 legs in a row to win the set – even with a 180 from Ashton and numerous missed doubles from the Bully Boy.
From this point on, Bully Boy began to bulldoze the Lancashire Rose, but Ashton still had some fight in her, capitalising on Smith’s six (!) missed match darts to get a leg back on her opponent.
But Ashton was only delaying the inevitable, with Smith finally hitting his eighth match dart to win the round.
Match 3: Luke Littler (1) vs Darius Labanauskas
The newly crowned world number one Luke Littler started his title defence against Darius Labanauskas, who managed to begin his own campaign with a bullseye finish to win the first leg.
The 18-year-old had a slow start in the first round, falling behind twice to the Lithuanian before picking himself back up both times, but Littler eventually found his form to take the first set.
After missing a 65 finish and the chance to break throw, Littler punished Labanauska to take the first leg of the second set. The Lithuanian caught up twice but every time Littler pinned him back to win the set.
Labanauska continued to fight against the reigning World Champion, winning the first leg before once again being pegged back by Littler, who then won three consecutive legs. Littler eventually won the match 3-0 but an unsettled start from the 18-year-old will give confidence to his future opponents.
Match 4: Madars Razma vs Jamai van den Herik
The final match of the night saw two more unseeded players, as well as another debutant in Jamai van den Herik who, despite losing the first leg, managed to bring himself back up to break throw and put himself up two legs to one.
A few poor darts from van den Herik allowed Madars Razma to take over and win the first set, who then carried on to win the first leg of the second set – but van den Herik refused to buckle, winning two legs in a row, and eventually winning the set.
A to-and-fro third set – a similar theme throughout the match – saw Razma gain the advantage once again in a game full of trebleless visits, but again van den Herik refused to back down, winning the first leg of the fourth set.
The quality increased at this point, with a number of 180 finishes and (finally) some trebles. Razma brought the game to 2-2 and left himself one leg away from the second round of the competition.
Nearly hitting the nine-dart finish to win the match, Razma finished his lacklustre performance with double-tops to win the set and the match.
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