Rodriguez denies Noppert on opening night at European Darts Matchplay

Rowby-John Rodriguez dumped out Danny Noppert in a dramatic deciding-leg on the opening night of the Interwetten European Darts Matchplay, to set up a second round showdown against top seed Gerwyn Price in Trier.

Rodriguez survived four match darts over the course of three legs as he fought back from 5-3 down to edge out UK Open champion Noppert, as the £140,000 event kicked off on Friday. The pair exchanged ton-plus finishes in the early stages before Noppert seized the initiative with back-to-back 14-darters, but the Dutchman was unable to complete the job, as Rodriguez kept his cool to prevail with a clinical two-dart 78 kill in the decider. World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz produced a superb display of combination finishing to deny Jon Worsley a maiden win on the European Tour stage. Rydz opened his account with a double-double 96 finish, before firing in 124 and 125 checkouts to complete a 6-3 success, with seventh seed Damon Heta now awaiting Rydz in an intriguing tie. Polish teenager Sebastian Bialecki claimed a landmark first win on the European Tour stage, conjuring up a brace of ton-plus finishes to dethrone the veteran Mervyn King. King drew first blood with a spectacular 11-darter, but UK Open quarter-finalist Bialecki rallied, following up a 112 outshot with a 14-darter to set up a second round match against Stephen Bunting. Cameron Menzies produced the performance of the first round, averaging 101 in a 6-3 success against Niels Zonneveld, and he will now face Luke Humphries, who is eyeing his fourth European Tour title of 2022. Host-nation qualifiers Florian Hempel and Lukas Wenig delighted the partisan crowd at Arena Trier with wins over Bradley Brooks and Steve Lennon respectively, although Dragutin Horvat was convincingly beaten by Latvia’s Madars Razma. Wenig advances to face Chris Dobey, while Hempel will play an in-form Dimitri Van den Bergh in a repeat of their World Championship tussle last December. Three-time European Tour event winner Ian White will play defending champion Joe Cullen for a place at Finals Day, firing in successive 14-darters to wrap up an emphatic 6-1 win over Joe Murnan. German Darts Grand Prix runner-up Martin Lukeman will lock horns with second seed Ryan Searle in round two, after recording a hard-fought 6-4 win over John Michael in Friday night’s opener. Elsewhere, Scott Williams defied a superb comeback from Poland’s Radek Szaganski to set up a mouth-watering clash against Jonny Clayton for a place in Sunday’s third round. Players Championship 17 winner Williams led 3-0 and 5-2, but Szaganski responded with a brace of 12-darters to force a decider, only for the Englishman to seal his progression with a 16-dart hold. Wesley Plaisier produced another inspired big stage display to come through a high-quality clash against Jamie Hughes, continuing his fine form on the European Tour. The Dutchman took out a stunning 167 checkout in leg three, before wrapping up a 6-4 success with a 111 combination, and his reward is a second round tie against fourth seed Jose De Sousa. Jermaine Wattimena eased through to a second round date against eighth seed Nathan Aspinall, dispatching European Tour debutant Ross Montgomery 6-1 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, James Wilson opened Friday’s action with a battling 6-3 win over Sweden’s Johan Engstrom to create a showdown against Rob Cross, a three-time finalist on the European Tour in 2022. Jeffrey de Zwaan, Luke Woodhouse and German number one Gabriel Clemens will begin their campaigns on Saturday, after receiving byes through to round two following the withdrawals of Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.