Darts: Soutar wins Flanders Darts Trophy via whitewash; van der Wal wins first European Tour match

Bialecki shot 90 in the first leg, but van der Wal responded with an 82 checkout in the second. He then took advantage of a weak leg from the Pole, stopping Bialecki with a 17-darter in the third leg, before van der Wal extended the lead with a 13-darter.

The second break followed immediately afterwards. Bialecki again failed to make it through five innings, while van der Wal threw a 14-darter. After Bialecki missed the bullseye in the sixth leg, van der Wal hit an 18-darter to make it 5-1.

Van der Wal had four match darts in the seventh leg but was unable to capitalise. Bialecki stayed in the match a little longer with a 23-darter. Van der Wal then finished off his task with a 16-darter to set up a second round match against Josh Rock.

Scott Williams achieved the first 100+ average of the tournament. Shaggy defeated Marko Kantele (6-3) in the first round and achieved an average of 100.73.

Williams had not actually qualified for the tournament, but was able to compete due to the withdrawals of Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall. The Englishman started the match well and took a 2-0 lead with two 14-darters.

The semi-finalist of the last World Darts Championship then fell behind and Kantele won the next three legs. Williams then levelled the scores at 3-3 with an 18-darter before breaking his Finnish opponent again in the seventh leg. Williams then finished the match brilliantly with 164 finishes and an 11-darter.

Jody Tobback had little fun on his debut on the European Tour. The Belgian lost 0-6 to Alan Soutar in front of his home crowd. Tobback, who qualified via the Host Nation Qualifier on Thursday, threw an average of just 72.56

Tobback had three chances to win a leg, but missed them all. Without being able to decide a leg in five innings, Soutar easily took a 5-0 lead. The Scot’s final chord was beautiful, however, as Soots ended the match with a 122 finish.

Luc Bogaert, like Tobback a debutant on the European Tour, was also unable to pull off a feat. The Belgian was beaten 6-3 by a well-playing Luke Woodhouse. The Englishman averaged 101.88, while Bogaert averaged 94.02.

By Sylke Puck