Scott Williams comeback sees off Luke Woodhouse as Gabriel Clemens and Jim Williams reach round 2 at 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy

Jim Williams, Scott Williams and Gabriel Clemens have become the first three men to book themselves a spot in round 2 at the 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest on this Friday evening session.

In the opening tie of the session, two men who weren't even initially supposed to be competing at the tournament did battle. Due to cancellations of Luke Littler and Ryan Joyce, plus a provisional suspension for Leighton Bennett however, both Alan Soutar and Jim Williams, along with Niels Zonneveld, were flown in.

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Once the darts started flowing, it was Williams who seemed most intent on making the most of his surprise appearance in Budapest. Averaging 97.88 compared to Soutar's 91.59, the Welshman was comfortably the better player. After Williams started strongly by taking the opening two legs in 13 and 15 darts, Soutar got on the board in leg 3. As it turned out though, that proved the one bright spark for the Scot as Williams ran out a comfortable 6-1 winner.

In the next battle, World Darts Championship semifinalist Scott Williams faced off against Luke Woodhouse, for whom a win was vital in the race for World Grand Prix qualification. In a nip and tuck opening to the match, the first six legs all went with the darts. With the scores locked at 3-3 though, Woodhouse took a big step towards round 2 by breaking the Williams throw in 12 darts with a 124 on the bull.

Another ton plus checkout followed for Woodhouse in the next leg as held throw to move just one from the victory. After he then missed bull for the match in the following though, Williams kept the tie alive and a few moments later, forced a decider. In the 11th and final leg, Williams had the darts, and the first chance at victory. After missing the bull and making a mess of the 25 on his return though, Woodhouse was gifted three clear darts at tops. He failed to take advantage though and a upon his third opportunity, Williams made no mistake to complete the comeback.

Against Dirk van Duijvenbode, Gabriel Clemens started like a house on fire. Averaging more than 108 after three legs, the German somewhat unsurprisingly win them all to move 3-0 up. Van Duijvenbode got on the board in leg 4. Sadly for 'Aubergenius' though, this proved nothing more than a consolation as Clemens raced to a 6-1 win.

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