DEADLY DARYL SHINES IN BELGIUM
07/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
DARYL GURNEY hit the only ton plus average on the opening day at the Belgium Open as he beat Thibault Tricole in round one.
World No. 24 Gurney hit a glorious 105.99 average in a 6-1 win against ‘The French Touch’.
‘Superchin’ hit wonderful 124 and 130 finishes both on bull to go 3-1 ahead.
Two-time major winner Gurney then made it 4-1 with an 81 checkout.
The Derry thrower followed this up with consecutive 15 dart legs to seal the victory.
Elsewhere, Josh Rock suffered a shock first round exit to Boris Krcmar.
‘Rocky’ lost 6-3 to the Croatian despite averaging a remarkable 99.69 and hitting three out of four doubles.
Krcmar won FIVE straight legs to triumph over the UK Open semi-finalist.
Former World Champion Michael Smith survived a match dart to beat Ryan Joyce 6-5 in a high-quality encounter.
‘Bully Boy’ took out 50 percent of his doubles and hit a stellar 125 finish of Bull, 25 and Bull.
World Grand Prix Champion Mike De Decker avoided an upset as he beat Thomas Lovely 6-5.
De Decker averaged 86.33 and did not hit a single 180 as he avoided a scare.
‘The Real Deal’ survived two match darts from Lovely and took out an 80 checkout to win the match.
Darting legend Raymond van Barneveld got the better of Cameron Cabtree as he won 6-4 to set up a blockbuster second round match against James Wade.
Ross Smith hit two lethal ton plus finishes of 102 and 112 to beat Sybren Gijbels 6-5.
Ryan Searle will face defending champion Luke Littler in round two after he cruised to a 6-2 demolition against Darryl Pilgrim.
The second round of the Belgium Open will resume tomorrow at 12:00pm with the top 16 seeded players entering the tournament.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
2025 Lecot Belgian Darts Open
Friday March 7
First Round
Afternoon Session
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Cedric Waegemans
Matt Campbell 6-5 Cameron Menzies
Gian van Veen 6-4 James Hurrell
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Owen Bates
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Matthew Dennant
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Francois Schweyen
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Ross Smith 6-5 Sybren Gijbels
Ryan Searle 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Patrick De Backer
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Josh Rock
Michael Smith 6-5 Ryan Joyce
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Mike De Decker 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Martin Schindler v Jim Long
