ENGLAND made a fine start to the Keukenconcurrent Masters of Darts on Saturday, with only Phil Taylor tasting defeat, against Michael van Gerwen.
The tournament, in Hengelo, Holland, sees five Dutch stars taking on their English counterparts, with the first five nights seeing inter-country battles.
Mervyn King, who moved to the PDC earlier this week, opened the tournament with a victory over Jelle Klaasen in straight sets, dropping just three legs in the match.
Teenage star van Gerwen then took on 13-time World Champion Taylor, and showed no fear in taking his own 3-0 triumph, including finishes of 170 and 164 and hitting a 103 average.
All three sets went to a deciding fifth leg, with van Gerwen coming out on top each time to claim a fine win.
World Champion Raymond van Barneveld was the only other home player to win a set on the opening night, but lost 3-2 to Peter Manley in a decider.
Manley led 2-0 in sets before the Dutch captain hit back to level the match.
The final set went into a tie break, with Manley running out a 4-2 victory to take the game.
Colin Lloyd bounced back to form following two defeats in the Holsten Premier League Darts with a straight sets win over Roland Scholten, hitting six 180s and edging all three sets in a deciding leg.
The night's final game saw Wayne Mardle win 3-0 against Vincent van der Voort, with the Englishman showing good form to lose just four legs in the contest.
Keukenconcurrent Masters of Darts
Jelle Klaasen 0-3 Mervyn King (0-3, 2-3, 1-3)
Michael van Gerwen 3-0 Phil Taylor (3-2, 3-2, 3-2)
Raymond van Barneveld 2-3 Peter Manley (2-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-0, 2-4)
Roland Scholten 0-3 Colin Lloyd (2-3, 2-3, 2-3)
Vincent van der Voort 0-3 Wayne Mardle (1-3, 2-3, 1-3)
Sunday Fixtures
Vincent van der Voort v Peter Manley
Raymond van Barneveld v Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen v Wayne Mardle
Roland Scholten v Phil Taylor
Jelle Klaasen v Colin Lloyd
Picture courtesy Darts4You - Ans Westerdaal