European Darts Trophy Friday Afternoon Round-up | Gilding, Menzies and Joyce suffer early exits, Ratajski and Evans secure safe passageway while Doets averages over 117

There were some big upsets in the opening round of the European Darts Trophy. Andrew Gilding was the first on stage, and the first to fall after losing 6-3 to a very impressive Darius Labanauskas with Cameron Menzies also falling at the first hurdle.

After Gilding went ahead, ‘Lucky D’ showed his worth with a 126 outshot on the bull. The holds would continue for a couple more legs before Labanauskas edged ahead while averaging over 107. He missed his first darts at a double as Gilding looked to break back, but the chances were wasted and Labanauskas backed up the break with a hold.

Gilding gets back on track with a 14-darter before Labanauskas missed double 12 for a 101. ‘Goldfinger’ cannot get the 121 started and the Lithuanian is one leg away from returning on Saturday. He did this on tops while ending with a commendable 98 average.

Menzies would also later go tumbling out of the tournament against an impressive Paul Krohne, who picked up a first win on the Euro Tour with a 6-4 victory. The contest started with four breaks of throw. Menzies was clinical when throwing against the throw but not on it, keeping Krohne in the lead. It was the German who grabbed the first hold of throw before missing double 16 for a 132 checkout. He wins the leg to take a 5-2 lead.

In the next leg, Menzies comes close to taking out 160 before cleaning up himself to begin what looked like a possible comeback. After losing to Peter Wright at the UK Open, the Scot was desperate to get back to his best form. This would not come this weekend as Krohne sends the home crowd into delirium with his second match dart on a favourable double eight. Delight for the German, but more misery for Menzies.

Ryan Joyce reached the final of this event last year, but is out at the first round in this one with a 6-3 defeat against Lukas Wenig. The Grand Slam of Darts quarterfinalist should have broken the throw early on but wasted chances on double 10 opened the door for Joyce on double 16. He was on that target again, but this time Wenig slammed the door in his face. He then went on to make it three legs in a row. Joyce missed his opportunities uncharacteristically but was able to close the gap to one. For the second time in the match, Wening dragged a dart into the eight segment when aiming for double six but is able to get away with it.

Joyce finally shows some quality with a 122 checkout on double seven to close the scoreline to 4-3. He still needed a break and was just not able to muster up the scoring power to challenge ‘Luu.’ Wenig, who has also not been at the races, showed a bit of class with a 126 on the bull to move one leg away. Six more missed darts from Joyce allowed Wening to take his fourth match dart.

Krzysztof Ratajski produced a high level when facing off against former WDF world champion Shane McGuirk. The Irishman was making his debut on the European Tour and almost dragged himself back into the match but was unable to, losing 6-4.

After McGuirk missed tops to break, Ratajski took out 130 on double five, an ominous sign of things to come. He backed this up with a break after McGuirk failed to take out a 130 of his own. Those two 15-darters were followed by a 14-darter as the ‘Polish Eagle’ stamped his authority on the match. McGuirk gets his first leg on the Euro Tour but has a long way to come back. It was even more work when Ratajski pinned double 18 to move two away.

When 5-1 ahead, Ratajski starts to slip up at the business end of legs. Two match darts on double four missed before dragging another one low into double 13. McGuirk pins double 16 before closing the gap to 5-3 after Ratajski prevents himself from another match dart by missing the big number. He did get a fourth match dart on double 14 for a 124 checkout but could not convert. McGuirk takes out 87 in two and breaks the throw. He them missed two darts at double 19 to force a last-leg decider as Ratajski stops messing around and pins double 20 for the match.

Ricky Evans had no problem in taking down 18-year-old German debutant Florian Preis 6-0. Highlighted as one of Germany’s biggest talents, he was unable to show that today with Evans doing the bare minimum in winning. He began proceedings with a 70 checkout before a 17-darter backs up that break. Preis had efforts on the outer ring in legs three and five but was unable to put it to bed. ‘Rapid’ Evans cropped up to finish them off. Preis had one more chance to get a leg on the board, but three more missed doubles left a sour taste in his mouth. Evans put him out of his misery and advances into round two.

Kevin Doets was in sublime form when he took on Finnish debutant Jonas Masalin, winning 6-0 while racking up an incredible 117.12 average – a record for the tournament and one of the highest the Euro Tour has ever seen.

He began as he was to go on, with a 12-darter and an 87 checkout on double eight. Masalin was never in this match, but he could have been closer if he had taken one of his chances in the second leg. He did not get another opportunity in the match. ‘Hawkeye’ did not afford him anything. A 12-dart break in the fourth leg was a damming sight for Masalin, who was seeing his debut Euro Tour venture be over in the blink of an eye. Doets was threatening the tournament record, as well as the overall European Tour record held by Dave Chisnall. He missed double eight in the sixth leg for a 10-darter, which may have cost him the record, but he finished on double four to conclude a sublime showing.

While not as impressive, fellow Dutchman Niels Zonneveld produced some sublime ton+ checkouts enroute to a 6-1 win over Keane Barry. He began the match with a 100 checkout with two tops, just the target Barry was hoping to come back to. The Irishman suffered a painful defeat to Gerwyn Price at the UK Open, squandering a huge lead. He was in the match but only took out 10% of his opportunities. Zonneveld was also not at his best, but a 141 checkout put him in the right direction for success. He finished up on double 12 to advance.

Richard Veenstra also added his name to the winning enclosure with a 6-3 win over the returning Florian Hempel. The former regular on the PDC Tour has left the spotlight in recent times. He was making his first Euro Tour appearance since 2024, but it would not be a winning return. ‘Flyers’ began with a 106 checkout, which began a match of efficient finishing. He took a 3-0 lead before holding throw for the rest of the match. He almost won it with a 138 checkout but could not find the double. Hempel then took out 101 to keep his fleeting hopes alive. They were soon abolished as Veenstra confirmed his exit.