Dimitri van den Bergh and Danny Noppert were the first two players to qualify for the last eight at the Poland Darts Masters in Warsaw on Friday night.
With an average of 105, Van den Bergh threw an excellent match, yet 'The Dreammaker' had to make up an early deficit against Karel Sedlacek.
The Czech ace got ahead 3-0, but with a 13-darter, 14-darter, and a 110 finish, the Belgian came back to 3-3. Via a 13-darter, 11-darter and a 94 finish Van den Bergh eventually put a 6-4 final score on the scoreboard.
Noppert led 3-0 himself in his match against Radek Szaganski. The latter reduced the deficit to 3-2, but with a 12 finish Noppert made it 4-2. In the end, he won 6-2 against his Polish opponent.
The World Series tournament will be broadcast by PDCTV and ITV4 delayed from 9pm. On Friday, the first round will be played from 18:00 to 23:00.
The rest of the tournament will take place on Saturday from 18:00 to 23:00. Then the quarterfinals are scheduled first, followed by the semifinals and finals.
The prize fund for this event contains a total of £60,000. However, the prize money won does not count toward the PDC Order of Merit or other money rankings.
All participants are guaranteed £1,250 in prize money. This amount could eventually rise to a sum of £20,000 in prize money for the winner.
World Series tournaments are PDC international events organized to promote the sport beyond its (Western) European borders.
Earlier this year, tournaments also took place in Bahrain, Denmark and the United States, and after the tournament in Poland, tournaments in Australia and New Zealand will also be completed.
Past World Series tournaments have included Dubai, Singapore, Japan, Scotland, China, Germany and Austria.
THE FREEZE KEEPS HIS COOL! Danny Noppert is the second PDC representative to move through to the quarter-finals in Warsaw, closing out a 6-2 win over Radek Szaganski to kick off his 2023 World Series campaign with a win! 📺 bit.ly/PolandMastersL… #PolandDarts | R1
