RYAN MEIKLE enjoyed a dream PDC European Tour debut with a 6-0 whitewash of Austria's Michael Rasztovits at the HappyBet International Darts Open on Friday, as Chris Dobey, Joe Cullen and Devon Petersen impressed in first round wins in Riesa.
Left-hander Meikle, a 20-year-old barber from Suffolk, 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 ten 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.
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 in 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 so far of 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 amongst six in a row 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.
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.
Jim Walker set up a second round meeting with Ian White with a clinical six doubles from nine attempts in his 6-3 win over Host Nation Qualifier Maik Langendorf, who hit back from 4-0 down to trail just 4-3 at one stage before the Scot secured victory.
There was, though, 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.
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.
Ronny Huybrechts was in strong form to set up a second round tie against Robert Thornton with a 6-3 defeat of Mark Frost, for whom a 154 checkout was not enough as he never recovered from seeing the Belgian take an early 3-0 lead.
Andy Boulton enjoyed a 6-3 comeback win over Jamie Caven as he opened Friday's evening session in style, with the Derby ace taking out 142 in the opening leg and leading 2-0 and 3-1 only to see the Scottish-based ace claim five successive legs and set up a meeting with Alan Norris.
Jermaine Wattimena raced into the second round with a 6-2 win over Jeffrey de Zwaan in their all-Dutch clash, taking a 3-0 lead before the youngster finished 146 in cutting the gap to one leg, but the former World Championship qualifier claimed another treble to seal the win.
Robbie Green kicked off the tournament with a 6-4 win over James Richardson, who hit five 180s and led 2-1 but was unable to reverse his rival's mid-game surge as a four-leg burst without reply set the Merseyside ace up for the win and a second round meeting with Stephen Bunting.
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.
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.
TOURNAMENT UPDATE (12pm BST): Michael van Gerwen has withdrawn from the HappyBet International Darts Open for medical reasons due to an injured ankle. As the tournament draw has been made, van Gerwen's scheduled second round opponent, Ryan Meikle, will receive a Bye through to the third round. The game involving Jelle Klaasen and either Krzsztof Ratajski or Chris Dobey has been moved to the evening session.
FURTHER UPDATE (3pm BST): Daryl Gurney withdrew from the HappyBet International Darts Open on medical advice due to a broken finger. The Northern Irish ace had travelled to Riesa and had hoped to be cleared to play, but his hand has not recovered sufficiently. As a result, Yordi Meeuwisse now receives a Bye through to the third round.
Online coverage of the HappyBet International Darts Open will be available through www.LIVEPDC.TV for all subscribers worldwide.
Live coverage with faster streams is also available at the following betting websites:
www.betfair.com - UK, Ireland, Spain & Denmark
www.tempobet700.com - Worldwide
www.fonbet.com/en/ - Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia
Live Scores will be available at the new-look PDC Live Scores website, http://live.dartsdata.com .
HappyBet International Darts Open
Friday September 2
First Round
Afternoon Session
Robbie Green 6-4 James Richardson
Andy Hamilton 2-6 James Wilson
Maik Langendorf 3-6 Jim Walker
Ryan Meikle 6-0 Michael Rasztovits
Yordi Meeuwisse 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Jeffrey de Zwaan 2-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael Barnard 5-6 Mike Holz
Ronny Huybrechts 6-3 Mark Frost
Evening Session
Andy Boulton 6-3 Jamie Caven
Krzysztof Ratajski 1-6 Chris Dobey
Kyle Anderson 6-2 Vincent Kamphuis
Dragutin Horvat 6-4 Ricky Evans
Jeffrey de Graaf 4-6 Joe Cullen
Max Hopp 3-6 Darren Webster
Kevin Painter 1-6 Devon Petersen
Rene Eidams 1-6 Steve West
Saturday September 3
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Ian White v Jim Walker
Stephen Bunting v Robbie Green
Mensur Suljovic v Mike Holz
Alan Norris v Andy Boulton
Robert Thornton v Ronny Huybrechts
Gerwyn Price v Dragutin Horvat
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Benito van de Pas v Kyle Anderson
Terry Jenkins v Darren Webster
Michael Smith v James Wilson
Dave Chisnall v Jermaine Wattimena
Jelle Klaasen v Chris Dobey
Peter Wright v Steve West
Simon Whitlock v Devon Petersen
Kim Huybrechts v Joe Cullen
NB: Ryan Meikle and Yordi Meeuwisse received Byes following the withdrawals of Michael van Gerwen and Daryl Gurney respectively.
Match Stats
| Ave | 180s | Finishing | Ave | 180s | Finishing | |||
| 93.65 | 3 | 6/13 | Robbie Green | 6-4 | James Richardson | 94.64 | 5 | 4/12 |
| 80.55 | 3 | 2/10 | Andy Hamilton | 2-6 | James Wilson | 94.66 | 1 | 6/10 |
| 81.15 | 0 | 3/14 | Maik Langendorf | 3-6 | Jim Walker | 84.68 | 0 | 6/9 |
| 83.50 | 1 | 6/10 | Ryan Meikle | 6-0 | Michael Rasztovits | 76.08 | 1 | 0/13 |
| 94.82 | 4 | 6/16 | Yordi Meeuwisse | 6-5 | Brendan Dolan | 90.32 | 2 | 5/13 |
| 81.63 | 3 | 2/10 | Jeffrey de Zwaan | 2-6 | Jermaine Wattimena | 86.21 | 0 | 6/17 |
| 84.61 | 2 | 5/13 | Michael Barnard | 5-6 | Mike Holz | 87.35 | 2 | 6/16 |
| 93.41 | 3 | 6/13 | Ronny Huybrechts | 6-3 | Mark Frost | 85.54 | 0 | 3/6 |
| 80.64 | 1 | 6/25 | Andy Boulton | 6-3 | Jamie Caven | 81.98 | 1 | 3/13 |
| 93.69 | 1 | 1/1 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 1-6 | Chris Dobey | 102.33 | 3 | 6/8 |
| 91.58 | 3 | 6/17 | Kyle Anderson | 6-2 | Vincent Kamphuis | 78.71 | 2 | 2/9 |
| 94.81 | 3 | 6/19 | Dragutin Horvat | 6-4 | Ricky Evans | 93.22 | 3 | 4/8 |
| 90.85 | 3 | 4/20 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 4-6 | Joe Cullen | 98.88 | 2 | 6/21 |
| 90.07 | 1 | 3/9 | Max Hopp | 3-6 | Darren Webster | 90.26 | 1 | 6/20 |
| 80.12 | 0 | 1/15 | Kevin Painter | 1-6 | Devon Petersen | 85.36 | 1 | 6/16 |
| 85.16 | 2 | 1/12 | Rene Eidams | 1-6 | Steve West | 83.65 | 1 | 6/15 |