Andrew Gilding pulls it out the bag as Brendan Dolan boosts World Cup of Darts hopes

The first session of the 2024 Dutch Darts Championship is concluded with Niels Zonneveld, Brendan Dolan, Mickey Mansell and Andrew Gilding all through.

Zonneveld started sharply in his match against Haupai Puha. After the first leg went to his opponent Puha, he successively hit 52, 68 and 41 to turn the deficit into a 3-1 lead. Puha then threw back a 54 check-out, before Zonneveld polished off 60 to make it 4-2.

Puha refused to throw in the towel and halved the deficit again with an 80 finish. After Zonneveld missed two chances to take the lead to 5-3, the New Zealander broke him back with a 50 finish and it was 4-4 after eight legs.

Then Puha took the lead for the first time since the first leg by throwing out 78. Zonneveld then had a bad leg of his own, but Puha did not get a single matchdart in six innings. With a 19-darter Zonneveld could force a last leg. In the last leg it could go either way. Puha got matchdarts first, but double 18 and double 9 were missed. Then Zonneveld threw out 56 for a spot in the second round, where Dave Chisnall will be the opponent.

Andrew Gilding held his nerve in the final match of the afternoon as Damian Mol couldn't continue a Dutch heavy afternoon falling 6-5.

After the first four legs of the match went with the darts, five breaks in a row just came. Mol threw a 120 finish and an 11-darter, among others, to take a 5-4 lead.

The 25-year-old Dutchman was then allowed to start the tenth leg, but had two throws without a treble. Although Gilding's scoring was not great either, 'Goldfinger' managed to force a final leg with a fine 164 finish. The last leg was poor from both sides, but it was Gilding who secured the win with a 21-darter. In the second round, the Englishman will again face a Dutchman, as Danny Noppert will be the opponent.

Brendan Dolan also secured a spot in the second round of the Dutch Darts Championship on Friday afternoon. The History Maker won 6-3 against Owen Bates in a disappointing match. Dolan only averaged 83.55, but Bates countered with a 78.22 average.

The Northern Irishman did good business early in the match by taking a 4-0 lead with a 127 finish and a 60 check-out. Bates then came back to 5-3, but Dolan ended the match with a 48 check-out.

For Dolan, a duel with Martin Schindler is scheduled for Saturday night in the second round. It is an important weekend for the former World Grand Prix finalist, because after this weekend it will become clear who will join Josh Rock at the World Cup of Darts in late June.

Dolan was 500 pounds ahead of his competitor Daryl Gurney prior to this weekend, who was straight into the second round of the Dutch Darts Championship. Dolan's victory basically creates little change in the situation because if Dolan loses to Schindler on Saturday and Gurney does win his second round, "Superchin" may represent his country at the country tournament.

Mickey Mansell forced a clash with former world champion Gerwyn Price by winning 6-2 over William O'Connor in his first match. The difference was made mainly on the doubles. Mansell recorded a finishing percentage of 46 percent (6/13), compared to only twenty percent (2/10) for O'Connor.