Danny Noppert moved into a provisional qualifying place for the Unibet European Championship with victory in the opening round of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, while 13 other players also won to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Friday saw the start of the 13th and final European Tour event of 2019, after which the 32-player field will be confirmed for the European Championship, which will take place in Göttingen from October 24-27.
32 qualifiers were in action at the Victoria Stadium on day one, 26 of whom harboured hopes of forcing their way into qualifying positions for the European Championship.
The other six players competing on Friday were already assured of their qualifying places, they were Darren Webster, Steve Beaton, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Chris Dobey, Keegan Brown and Jamie Hughes.
The latest qualification table for the European Championship is displayed below.
The most significant result of the day saw Dutch number six Noppert survive a match dart from Keegan Brown to claim a vital 6-5 and give his qualification hopes a huge boost.
Noppert moves into the 32 spot on tournament count-back ahead of John Henderson, however he must beat World Championship runner-up Michael Smith, who is currently outside the provisional qualifying places, in Saturday's second round to continue his quest to Göttingen.
Dimitri Van den Bergh cemented his provisional qualification place by taking out a 135 finish on the bullseye to end the resilient challenge of Scott Taylor, claiming a 6-3 win.
The clash between two former European Tour event winners saw Kim Huybrechts end Justin Pipe's hopes with a 6-3 victory, while Jeffrey de Zwaan defeated Steve West by the same scoreline.
Two Host Nation Qualifiers will star in day two after Dyson Parody recovered from 5-2 down to beat Norway's Cor Dekker 6-5 and David Francis claimed a shock 6-4 win over Robert Thornton 6-4 to the delight of the Gibraltar fans.
Ryan Joyce and Jose De Sousa both missed double 12 for nine-dart finishes and posted ton-plus averages in their wins over Matt Clark and Darius Labanauskas.
Danish Darts Open runner-up Chris Dobey edged out William O'Connor 6-4, while 19-year-old Dutchman Wessel Nijman picked up his first win on the European Tour, hitting the winning double at the tenth attempt to beat Darren Webster 6-5 after Webster threatened a comeback from 5-1 down.
There were also wins for Michael Rosenauer, Paul Rowley and Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk on the opening day of the £140,000 tournament, which will see the winner claim the £25,000 top prize.
Saturday's second day of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy will be broadcast on video.pdc.tv, and through a series of bookmakers' websites listed below.
2019 Gibraltar Darts Trophy
Schedule of Play
Friday September 27
First Round
Afternoon Session
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Darren Webster
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Matt Clark
Dyson Parody 6-5 Cor Dekker
Paul Rowley 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Justin Pipe
Carl Wilkinson 6-3 Justin Hewitt
Steve Beaton 6-5 Tony Newell
Evening Session
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Steve West
Chris Dobey 6-4 William O'Connor
Danny Noppert 6-5 Keegan Brown
Michael Rosenauer 6-4 Antony Lopez
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 Scott Taylor
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
David Francis 6-4 Robert Thornton
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Saturday September 28
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Joyce
James Wade v Paul Rowley
Krzysztof Ratajski v Steve Beaton
Jonny Clayton v Kim Huybrechts
Rob Cross v Krzysztof Kciuk
Daryl Gurney v Carl Wilkinson
Dave Chisnall v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Michael Smith v Danny Noppert
Evening Session (1915 local time, 1815 BST)
Ian White v Michael Rosenauer
Jermaine Wattimena v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Mensur Suljovic v Wessel Nijman
Michael van Gerwen v Jose De Sousa
Peter Wright v Dyson Parody
Joe Cullen v Edhouse/Hughes
Glen Durrant v Chris Dobey
Gerwyn Price v David Francis
Sunday September 29
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Van Gerwen/De Sousa v Aspinall/Joyce
Wright/Parody v Suljovic/Nijman
Wade/Rowley v Clayton/Huybrechts
Chisnall/De Zwaan v Wattimena/Van den Bergh
White/Rosenauer v Smith/Noppert
Ratajski/Beaton v Cullen/Edhouse
Gurney/Wilkinson v Durrant/Dobey
Price/Francis v Cross/Kciuk
Evening Session (1915 local time, 1815 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday's games played in Draw Bracket order
Format
All games up to and including the quarter-finals are the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals the best of 13 legs and the final the best of 15 legs.
Watch Online
PDC European Tour events can be watched online through PDCTV-HD for all subscribers worldwide.
Live coverage with faster streams may also be available at the following bookmakers' websites:
bet365 - www.bet365.com - Worldwide
Bet90 - www.bet90.com - Brazil, Germany
Betfair - www.betfair.com - Brazil, Denmark, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales
Betfred - www.betfred.com - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
bwin - www.bwin.com - Worldwide
FDJ - www.fdj-gaming-solutions.com - France
Fonbet - www.fonbet.com - Armenia, Belarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Russian federation, Ukraine
Fortuna - www.fortunagroup.eu - Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
Legolasbet - www.legolas.bet - Sweden
Ligastavok - www.ligastavok.ru/ - Russia
Marathonbet - www.betmarathon.com - Belarus, Russian Federation, Spain, Ukraine
Nike - www.nike.sk - Slovakia
Olimp - www.betolimp.com - Kazakhstan, Russian Federation
Paddy Power - www.paddypower.com/ - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Stoiximan - www.stoiximan.gr - Cyprus, Greece, Romania
Supabets - www.supabets.com.gh - Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa
Superbet - www.superbet.ro/ - Romania, Poland
Tempobet - www.tempobet.org - Europe
Totogaming - www.totogaming.am/en/ - Armenia
Tipsport - www.tipsport.cz - Czech Republic & Slovakia
Unibet - www.unibet.com - Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom
William Hill - www.williamhill.com - Great Britain, Ireland, Spain
Winlinebet - www.winlinebet.ru - Russia
World Sports Betting - www.worldsportsbetting.co.za - Namibia, South Africa