Ryan Searle set up a showdown with world champion Luke Littler, and Mike De Decker booked a reunion with one of the world’s 1 Luke Humphries on the opening day of Lecott Belgian darts.
Searl began the challenge with a 6-2 victory against Daryl Pilgrim and booked a second-round meeting on Saturday evening with defending champion Littler, who won his debut last year.
Home favourite De Decker overcomes a huge fear of Thomas Lovely with Oktoberhallen. There, he survived two games of darts, down 5-4 before passing the final leg’s decider.
The 29-year-old will be straight on the big stage with Humphries for the first time as De Decker beat him to win a TV title at Boylesports World Grand Prix in October.
“This crowd has been amazing for the past four years and I’m so happy to get through it for them tonight,” De Decker retorted. “I just wanted to play well.
For more accessible video players, use the Chrome browser
Highlights of the World Grand Prix 2024 between Luke Humphreys and Mike De Decker
“I played really well behind the scenes, but I’m still trying to find confidence in the setup. I might ask Luke if I can play a double-in double-out tomorrow.
Daryl Gurney was the standout performer on Friday, landing a ton plus finish brace on an average of 106 to send out a Thibault Tricole 6-1, securing a second round clash with Danny Noppert.
Dutch duo Dirk van Duijvenbode and Gian Van Veen also congratulated their comeback victory by overturning a 4-1 deficit against Darius Labanauskas and James Hurrell.
Michael Smith is one of the other famous first-round winners, changing the sensational 125 finish on the Bull, leading to a 6-5 success against tenacious Ryan Joyce, with Raymond van Barneveld making progress and taking on the UK’s open-lensed James Wade on Saturday.
European champion Richie Edhouse ran a 6-4 winner against Owen Bates in high quality events and played Nathan Aspinel, who has been revived in the past 16 years, with his second round playing in two sessions on Saturday.
Saturday schedule and second round draw
Afternoon session (12pm)
Danny Knoppert vs Daryl Gurney
Gary Anderson vs Luke Woodhouse
Dave Chisnall vs Ricardo Pietreczko
Johnny Clayton vs Wessel Nyman
Rob Cross vs. Ross Smith
Damon Heta vs. Michael Smith
Stephen Bunting vs Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinel vs. Richie Edhouse
For more accessible video players, use the Chrome browser
Luke Humphreys hit nine darts but lost to Rob Cross in the quarterfinals of the Premier League on Thursday. Cross hit nine darts in the semi-finals against Nathan Aspinel
Evening session (6pm)
James Wade vs Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright vs Matt Campbell
Gerwyn Price vs Gian Van Veen
Dimitri van den Bergh v Schindler/long
Luke Humphreys vs Mike De Decker
Luke Rittler vs Ryan Searle
Michael Van Gerwen vs Boris Kurkumar
Chris Dobby vs Dark Van Deivenboard
Sunday, March 9th
Afternoon session (12pm)
Round 3
Evening session (6pm)
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
final
For more accessible video players, use the Chrome browser
Luke Rittler says his main goal is to reach the top four after beating Nathan Aspinel in the five night finals of Brighton’s Premier League
Where will the Premier League head next?
The Premier League continues on Thursday, March 13th at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, with Luke Humphreys and Lukritler clashing over the Titanic encounter. Watch Nottingham’s Premier League Darts Night, Live at Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 7pm – Stream now.
Sky Sports will once again become the home of the Premier League in 2025, and every night lives with world matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam darts and more! Stream darts and now offers top sports
