Wins for Dirk van Duijvenbode and Dimitri van den Bergh conclude opening day at Dutch Darts Championship

Dirk van Duijvenbode has advanced to the second round at the Dutch Darts Championship in Rosmalen. 'Aubergenius' recorded a liberating 6-3 victory over Callan Rydz.

At the seventh Euro Tour tournament of the season, Van Duijvenbode finally managed to record his first win of the season. The Dutchman has been struggling with a persistent shoulder injury for months now, but has been showing glimpses of his old top form at times. Van Duijvenbode started the game against Rydz very well. He took the first leg with a 15-darter. Rydz equalized with a 72 finish, but then the two-time TV finalist took distance with a 16-darter, 15-darter and a 14-darter for a 4-1 lead.

Victory came even closer when Van Duijvenbode managed to throw a 13-darter to make it 5-1. Rydz made it close by halving the deficit to 5-3, before Van Duijvenbode sealed the match with a 14-darter. On Saturday night he will take on Josh Rock in the second round.

It was a good day for the Dutch in Rosmalen. Apart from Van Duijvenbode, Niels Zonneveld, Marvin van Velzen, Jeffrey de Graaf, Danny Noppert, Jermaine Wattimena, Michael van Gerwen, Kevin Doets, Moreno Blom and Gian van Veen will also be in action in the last 32 of this tournament on Saturday. Dimitri van den Bergh is the only Belgian who managed to qualify for the second day of the Dutch Darts Championship. After his compatriot Mike de Decker lost to Kevin Doets earlier in the day, 'The Dreammaker' won 6-4 over Gabriel Clemens.

However, the reigning UK Open champion found himself trailing by a break after Clemens threw an 11-darter in the third leg. Van den Bergh made up for this break by throwing a 127 finish in the eighth leg. He then closed the match with two 15-darters, making him Ross Smith's opponent in the last 32.