Scott Williams and Luke Woodhouse impress at Flanders Darts Trophy with little joy for home hopes

Scott Williams provided the first 100+ average of the tournament. 'Shaggy' handled Marko Kantele (6-3) in the first round, posting a 100.73 average at the Flanders Darts Trophy.

Williams had not actually qualified for this event, but was allowed to compete due to withdrawals by Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall. The Englishman started the match well by taking a 2-0 lead with two 14-darters.

The semifinalist of the last World Darts Championship then fell back, however, and saw the next three legs all go to Kantele. Williams then made it 3-3 with an 18-darter, before breaking his Finnish opponent again in the seventh leg. Williams then closed the match brilliantly with consecutive 164 finishes and an 11-darter.

Jitse van der Wal has crowned his return to the Euro Tour circuit with his first win on the Euro Tour. In the first round of the Flanders Darts Trophy, the Dutchman managed to win 6-2 over Sebastian Bialecki.

Bialecki threw out 90 in the first leg, but Van der Wal responded sharply by throwing an 82 check-out in the second leg. He then took advantage of a bad lay by the Pole by breaking Bialecki in the third leg with a 17-darter, before Van der Wal doubled the lead with a 13-darter.

Then immediately followed the second break. Bialecki was again not out in five innings, while Van der Wal did so with a 14-darter. After Bialecki missed a dart on the bullseye in the sixth leg, Van der Wal made it 5-1 with an 18-darter.

Van der Wal had four match darts in the seventh leg, but could not capitalize on them. Bialecki stayed in the match with a 23-darter. Van der Wal then finished the job with a 16-darter, allowing him to take on Josh Rock in the second round.

Alan Soutar surged past Jody Tobback who couldn't provide a shock in front of his home crowd. Tobback, who came through the Host Nation Qualifier on Thursday, threw an average of just 72.56

Tobback had three chances to win leg, but missed them all. Without deciding a leg in five innings, Soutar was able to easily take a 5-0 lead. The Scot's final chord was beautiful, though, as 'Soots' closed out the match with a 122 finish.

Luc Bogaert, just like Tobback a Euro Tour debutant, also could not provide a shock. The Belgian lost 6-3 to a fine playing Luke Woodhouse. 'Woody' recorded an average of 101.88, against a creditable 94.02 for Bogaert.