Both players though were lucky to win with Nicholson surviving four match darts in his first game closing out a 5-4 victory against Andy Jenkins with his highlight being a 10-darter and it went all the way to a decider despite 'The Asset' having 100 percent on the doubles.
Portela was even more lucky as he came from 4-1 down and seemingly on the verge against fellow debutant Adam Huckvale who went onto miss a subsequent nine match darts as the Brazilian went onto snatch a 5-4 victory and get on the board early.
The Icons of Darts League is a competition that runs on 24 different days from Monday April 6 through to Saturday May 2. Each playing week consists of six players. There are five players on each matchday with one player taking a rest.
Each day consists of four matches for each player with the player with the most wins claiming the group win for that day.
Andy Jenkins (93.8) 4-5 (95.58) Paul Nicholson
Diogo Portela (81.33) 5-4 (80.03) Adam Huckvale
James Hubbard v Andy Jenkins
Paul Nicholson v Diogo Portela
Adam Huckvale v James Hubbard
Andy Jenkins v Diogo Portela
Paul Nicholson v Adam Huckvale
James Hubbard v Diogo Portela
Andy Jenkins v Adam Huckvale
Paul Nicholson v James Hubbard