Luke Littler, Chris Dobey and Raymond van Barneveld ease into round 2 at European Darts Grand Prix

Raymond van Barneveld has given himself an early birthday present on Friday evening by reaching the second round at the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen, with Luke Littler and Chris Dobey joining the Dutch legend.

The Hague native was trying to finally get his first win of the season on the European Tour a day before his 57th birthday. He succeeded thanks to a 6-2 victory over Franz Roetzsch.

Luke Littler also managed to qualify for the second round at the European Darts Grand Prix. 'The Nuke' booked an easy 6-0 win over German qualifier Arno Merk while averaging 101.43. It was Littler's first appearance on the European Tour since his claiming the title at the Belgian Darts Open in March. The Englishman failed to qualify for the two subsequent Euro Tour tournaments in Munich and Riesa.

Also, Chris Dobey managed to reach the second round at this event. The 33-year-old Englishman defeated Ian White 6-1. The latter was originally not supposed to play in this European Tour tournament, but was allowed to step in because Dimitri van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall had pulled out from this event.