Ryan Meikle, Chris Dobey and Joe Cullen through at International Darts Open
Chris Dobey, Joe Cullen and Devon Petersen all progress
Saturday 3 September 2016 13:09, UK
Ryan Meikle made a dream PDC European Tour debut with a 6-0 whitewash of Austria's Michael Rasztovits at the HappyBet International Darts Open on Friday,
Left-hander Meikle, a 20-year-old barber from Suffolk, who only turned professional when he won a Tour Card at PDC Qualifying School in January, opened his clash with Rasztovits with a 151 finish to settle any nerve on his first stage appearance.
He went on to punish the Austrian qualifier for 13 missed doubles by hitting six from 10 himself in a fine whitewash.
The victory proved even more valuable for Meikle when he learned that he now receives a bye through to Sunday's third round after his scheduled second round opponent Michael van Gerwen withdrew for medical reasons due to an ankle injury.
The £115,000 tournament at the Sachsenarena in Riesa will see the second round take place across two sessions on Saturday, with the third round on Sunday afternoon before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday evening.
Dutchman Yordi Meeuwisse also benefits from a second round bye, following the withdrawal of Daryl Gurney after the number 16 seed failed to recover from a broken finger on his throwing hand.
Meeuwisse marked his European Tour debut with a comeback win over another Northern Irish ace, Brendan Dolan, who paid the price for failing to close out victory after establishing a 5-2 cushion.
Chris Dobey produced the highest average of the opening day (102.33) in a superb 6-1 win over Polish qualifier Krzysztof Ratajski, who took out 98 to claim the opening leg before seeing the youngster land an 11-darter and two 13-dart finishes as he progressed to face Jelle Klaasen.
Joe Cullen averaged almost 99 as he overcame Dutch ace Jeffrey de Graaf 6-4 in a tight contest to move through to face Kim Huybrechts, having claimed the only break of throw against the European Qualifier in the tenth leg as a 177 left tops for the win.
Darren Webster defied the loss of his suitcase when travelling to Germany - which meant that he had to buy a new set of darts, and clothes, on Friday - to defeat PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Max Hopp 6-3 as he moved through to a meeting with Terry Jenkins.
Devon Petersen capitalised on 14 missed doubles from Kevin Painter in their contest as the South African claimed a 6-1 win to progress to a second round tie against Australia's Simon Whitlock.
Australian ace Kyle Anderson took out finishes of 167 and 120 and hit a pair of 14-dart legs as he overcame Dutch qualifier Vincent Kamphuis 6-2 to move through to a meeting with Benito van de Pas while Ronny Huybrechts was in set up a second round tie against Robert Thornton with a 6-3 defeat of Mark Frost,.
Andy Boulton, Jermaine Wattimena, Robbie Green, James Wilson produced a strong performance as he defeated Andy Hamilton 6-2, averaging almost 95 as he moved through to face last year's Riesa champion, Michael Smith, on Saturday.
Emerging German Rene Eidams also lost out on Friday, with a 107 finish his only response to a strong Steve West performance as the UK Qualifier progressed to face Peter Wright.
There was success for two other Host Nation Qualifiers as Mike Holz and Croatian-born Dragutin Horvat enjoyed first round wins.
Holz celebrated his European Tour debut with a narrow 6-5 win over Michael Barnard in a game where the lead changed hands three times before the Englishman hit a 141 finish to force a decider, only to see the host nation qualifier hit a 180 as he edged through to meet Austria's Mensur Suljovic.
Horvat, meanwhile, celebrated his first European Tour appearance since 2013 with a 6-4 win over Ricky Evans, who hit back from 5-1 down to trail just 5-4 but was unable to force a decider as the Croatian-born ace sealed victory with a 13-darter, setting up a tie with Gerwyn Price on Saturday.
