Home trio Gabriel Clemens, Ricardo Pietreczko and Nico Kurz delighted the Hildesheim crowd with victories in the Interwetten German Darts Championship on Friday, as Scott Waites landed a nine-darter in defeat.
The year's final European Tour event sees 48 players competing across the weekend at Halle 39, with the enthusiastic local crowd buoyed as three of their favourites enjoyed first round wins.
Clemens overcame Dutchman Danny Jansen 6-3, pulling clear from two-all to win four of the final five legs, including a key 102 finish, as he set up a tasty second round contest with top seed Dave Chisnall on Saturday.
Pietreczko proved too strong for Northern Ireland's Mickey Mansell as a 6-4 win moved him through to meet fellow German Martin Schindler in the last 32 - and secured his place in the forthcoming European Championship.
Youngster Kurz, meanwhile, enjoyed a 6-2 win on home soil over Dylan Slevin to set up a clash with Jonny Clayton, but fellow Host Nation Qualifier Marcus Kirchmann went down 6-3 to Steve Lennon on his European Tour debut.
Arron Monk held off Florian Hempel's fightback from 4-1 down to level their tie before the former World Youth Champion closed out a 6-4 victory over the German.
The day also featured a spectacular nine-darter from Scott Waites during his clash with George Killington, as the former Lakeside Champion raised the roof to move 5-4 up in their contest.
However, Waites - who had hit back from 4-2 down to lead - squandered four match darts in the final two legs as Killington snatched a dramatic victory.
? WAITES HITS A NINE-DARTER! ?
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) October 13, 2023
Scott Waites produces perfection in his first round clash with George Killington!
A first big stage nine-darter for the former Lakeside champion!
? https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 #ET13 pic.twitter.com/vQJVLoBEMx
Madars Razma's European Championship qualification hopes were dealt a blow as he lost a last-leg decider to Martin Lukeman - meaning that the Latvian could still be knocked out of the top 32 on the European Tour Order of Merit this weekend.
Chris Dobey moved into a provisional European Championship qualifying place - knocking Steve Beaton out in the process - after surviving three missed match darts from Lee Evans in the tie of the day.
Dobey looked to have squandered his chance to progress when, leading 5-4, he burst his score when on 60 by landing a treble 20 - with Evans taking out 112 to level only to then miss the bull and two darts at double eight in the decider to give the Masters champion a let-off.
James Wade moved through to a mouth-watering second round tie with Nathan Aspinall courtesy of a clinical 6-2 win over Jelle Klaasen - pulling clear with legs of 14, 13 and 11 darts.
Daryl Gurney takes on reigning European Champion Ross Smith on Saturday following his 6-2 win over Vincent van der Voort - with a 127 finish to move the Northern Irish star clear in leg five proving crucial.
Stephen Bunting came from 2-0 and 5-2 down to defeat Sweden's Jeffrey de Graaf in a dramatic finale to the first round, with the PDCNB Qualifier having taking out 120 and 116 to move clear before paying for a missed match dart in leg ten.
Gian van Veen hit back from 3-1 down to defeat James Wilson 6-4, turning the game with a 156 checkout and adding a 107 combination as he swept through to face Rob Cross.
Darryl Pilgrim impressed on his European Tour return, averaging 102.88 in a 6-1 demolition of North American Champion Jeff Smith, and he now plays Damon Heta on Saturday.
Boris Krcmar, Alan Soutar and Jules van Dongen also enjoyed victories in the opening session as they defeated Ryan Joyce, Karel Sedlacek and Patrik Kovacs respectively.
Krcmar will now meet Luke Humphries as the world number four makes his first outing since being crowned as BoyleSports World Grand Prix champion last Sunday, with the 16 seeded players entering the event in Saturday's second round.
The tournament is being broadcast live on Viaplay, DAZN and PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers' websites worldwide.
Click here to follow live scores and match stats.
2023 Interwetten German Darts Championship
Friday October 13
First Round
Afternoon Session
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Madars Razma
George Killington 6-5 Scott Waites
Steve Lennon 6-3 Marcus Kirchmann
Alan Soutar 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Nico Kurz 6-2 Dylan Slevin
Darryl Pilgrim 6-1 Jeff Smith
Jules van Dongen 6-2 Patrik Kovacs
Evening Session
Gian van Veen 6-4 James Wilson
Arron Monk 6-4 Florian Hempel
James Wade 6-2 Jelle Klaasen
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Vincent van der Voort
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Danny Jansen
Chris Dobey 6-5 Lee Evans
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Jeffrey De Graaf
Saturday October 14
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Rob Cross v Gian van Veen
Ryan Searle v Martin Lukeman
Danny Noppert v Jules van Dongen
Damon Heta v Darryl Pilgrim
Dirk van Duijvenbode v George Killington
Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting
Jonny Clayton v Nico Kurz
Ross Smith v Daryl Gurney
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Joe Cullen v Arron Monk
Dave Chisnall v Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall v James Wade
Martin Schindler v Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael van Gerwen v Steve Lennon
Peter Wright v Chris Dobey
Luke Humphries v Boris Krcmar
Michael Smith v Alan Soutar
Sunday October 15
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order