Bull tamed by Spaniard

Rodriguez: Shock victory

European Championship:
First round results
M Walsh (Eng) 6-4 C Osborne (Eng)
M King (Eng) 6-4 W Jones (Eng)
C Rodriguez (Spn) 7-5 T Jenkins (Eng)
W Mardle (Eng) 5-0 A Welge (Ger)
P Taylor (Eng) 5-1 J Barry (Ire)
R Thornton (Sco) 5-3 J Part (Can)
M Suljovic (Aut) 5-1 R Scholten (Ned)
R Baxter (Eng) 6-4 V van der Voort (Ned)

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• Order of Merit
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• Darts Schedule/Results

Carlos Rodriguez sprung a big upset at the European Championship when he took out world number five Terry Jenkins in the opening round in Frankfurt.

The Barcelona thrower stunned 'The Bull' with finishes of 130, 110 helping him to win in extra legs 7-5.

Rodriguez showed no nerves despite making a first appearance on the big stage, and it was Jenkins who suffered the most as he missed a hatful of doubles on his way to defeat.

Another big-name casualty in the first round was world champion John Part, who fell to a 5-3 defeat against former BDL world number one Robert Thornton.

The Canadian led 3-2 but then lost three legs on the spin to tumble out of the tournament as the Scotsman made it through to round two in Germany.

"That's the first time I've played John and I was really looking forward to the game, he's world champion and to beat him is tremendous," said Thornton.

Scholten struggle

Thornton plays Austrian Mensur Suljovic in the next round after he took out a struggling Roland Scholten with a comprehensive 5-1 win.

Although it looked a shock on paper, Dutchman Scholten has been struggling with a neck and shoulder problem which has been getting worse and he was far from his best on stage.

"I'm very happy to be through to the second round but it was a hard game under the circumstances, it was very hard for Roland but he kept trying," said Suljovic.

Tournament favourite Phil Taylor made no mistake in taking out Irish qualifier Jacko Barry 5-1 to sail through to the second round.

'The Power' gave the Dublin lorry driver no chance with a 106 average throughout the six legs and two 12 and one 11-darters during the victory.

"I'm very happy with the win and the 106 average," said Taylor. "There was a lot of pressure with it being a short format in the first round."

"Jacko didn't start as well as he can do. Later on he got into his game and showed how good he is but I managed to find my scoring at the right time."

King faces Power

Mervyn King is next for Taylor after he came from 3-0 behind to defeat Wayne Jones 6-4 in a high-quality contest at the Sudbahnhof.

After King managed to peg it back to 3-3, Jones hit a superb 161 to go ahead again, but checkouts of 104 and 130 helped King to go through after averaging 102.

Mark Walsh won four legs on the spin to defeat recent German Darts Trophy winner Colin Osborne 6-4 with a superb average of 104.10.

A 125 outshot was the highlight for Walsh as he came from 4-2 down to rally through to the second round.

Ronnie Baxter also produced a fine comeback as he won the battle of the gunslingers against Vincent van der Voort 6-4.

Two of the quickest throwers on the circuit produced an all-action finale to the evening and despite being 2-0 and 4-2 behind 'The Rocket' reeled off four consecutive legs to go through.

An exhibition 100 finish including two double tops from Baxter was the highlight as he now goes on to face surprise winner Rodriguez.

Wayne Mardle was the most comfortable winner of the night as he secured the only whitewash with a 5-0 victory over Andree Welge.

'Hawaii 501' was far too good for the German number two from Bremen but will need to step up his game a notch against second round opponent Walsh.