High-flying Hawkeye steals the show on the opening day of the PDC International Darts Open

Kevin Doets stole the show on the opening day of the International Darts Open in Riesa. It has been a breakthrough year for the Dutch-born Swedish resident, nicknamed Hawkeye, and he once again produced an outstanding display, whitewashing Tom Bissell with a superb ton-plus average to set up an intriguing second-round clash against familiar opponent Luke Woodhouse.

A month ago, the pair had never previously met, yet this encounter will mark their third meeting in as many weeks. Doets recently claimed his maiden PDC ProTour title by defeating Woodhouse on German soil.

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Former tournament champion Joe Cullen eventually came through a scrappy yet dramatic contest against Chris Landman. Cullen will hope to deliver an improved performance when he faces fellow Englishman Ross Smith in round two.

Following the late withdrawal of Gerwyn Price, former Lakeside champion Christian Kist was handed a place in the draw and will now face Ryan Joyce after Joyce defeated Jeffrey Sparidaans on Friday.

Another player to receive a late call-up following the withdrawal of Michael Smith was Rob Cross. After edging past Dirk van Duijvenbode, Cross now faces fellow major winner Mike De Decker.

Meanwhile, Daryl Gurney suffered a first-round exit against a resurgent Kim Huybrechts, who now takes on Chris Dobey.

Top seed Gian van Veen begins his bid for European Tour glory against Connor Scutt after Scutt comfortably defeated home nation qualifier Finn Behrens. The other leading Dutch contender in the field, Michael van Gerwen, who is still seeking his first International Darts Open title, will face Madars Razma after the Latvian eased past Eastern European qualifier György Jehirszki.

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Scotland’s latest World Cup representative, Cameron Menzies, recovered from a 4-1 deficit against Michael Unterbuchner to book a meeting with reigning World Cup champion Josh Rock.

English youngsters Bradley Brooks and Charlie Manby also made impressive starts, defeating Andrew Gilding and Niko Springer respectively. Brooks opens Saturday afternoon’s session against Jermaine Wattimena, while Manby faces Ryan Searle in the evening session.

Other winners on Friday included Karel Sedlacek, who impressively whitewashed Johan Engström, while home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko showed encouraging signs of improvement amid recent struggles with dartitis by overcoming Maik Kuivenhoven.

Dave Chisnall and William O’Connor also avoided potential upsets against home nation qualifiers. Chisnall will now face James Wade, while O’Connor takes on the in-form Wessel Nijman.

Rounding off the opening day, recent European Tour semi-finalist Niels Zonneveld comfortably defeated Keane Barry and now progresses to a meeting with Australian star Damon Heta. The second round begins at 12pm GMT on Saturday afternoon.

INTERNATIONAL DARTS OPEN (ET7)

Friday 22nd May (Afternoon Session)

Ryan Joyce 6-2 Jeffrey Sparidaans

Connor Scutt 6-1 Finn Behrens

Madars Razma 6-2 György Jehirszki

Bradley Brooks 6-4 Andrew Gilding

Cameron Menzies 6-5 Michael Unterbuchner

Karel Sedlacek 6-0 Johan Engström

Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven

Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Keane Barry

Friday 22nd May (Evening Session)

Dave Chisnall 6-3 Liam Maendl-Lawrance

Kevin Doets 6-0 Tom Bissell

William O’Connor 6-2 Paul Krohne

Joe Cullen 6-5 Chris Landman

Rob Cross 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-4 Cristo Reyes

Charlie Manby 6-3 Niko Springer

Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Daryl Gurney

Saturday 23rd May (Afternoon Session)

Jermaine Wattimena v Bradley Brooks

Damon Heta v Niels Zonneveld

Luke Woodhouse v Kevin Doets

Danny Noppert v Ricardo Pietreczko

Ross Smith v Joe Cullen

Mike De Decker v Rob Cross

Wessel Nijman v William O’Connor

Josh Rock v Cameron Menzies

Saturday 23rd May (Evening Session)

Chris Dobey v Kim Huybrechts

James Wade v Dave Chisnall

Ryan Searle v Charlie Manby

Christian Kist v Ryan Joyce

Gian van Veen v Connor Scutt

Michael van Gerwen v Madars Razma

Stephen Bunting v Krzysztof Ratajski

Martin Schindler v Karel Sedlacek

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