European Darts Open: Winning start for James Wade

The £135,000 tournament sees the PDC's European Tour making its debut at the Ostermann Arena in Leverkusen, where 48 players were aiming to claim the £25,000 top prize.

Friday's first round, featuring the 32 qualifiers, included an impressive 6-1 win for world number five James Wade as he overcame former Austrian Darts Open winner Justin Pipe.

Left-hander Wade, a European Tour winner in Gibraltar and Hamburg previously, now meets top-10 rival Dave Chisnall in Saturday's second round.  

Dutchman Van der Voort will come up against World Champion and close friend Michael van Gerwen on Saturday after he picked up an impressive 6-2 win over Cristo Reyes in their first round tie.

Spain's Reyes had won through to the semi-finals of last weekend's Austrian Darts Open, but was unable to match Van der Voort's strong finishing as six doubles from nine attempts sent the Dutchman through.

King won four of the final five legs of his clash with Kim Viljanen to knock out the Finnish ace - a quarter-finalist last week - in the first round, moving himself through to face Ian White.

Former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist finished 50 percent of his chances at a double as he saw off Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2, progressing to a tie with another Austrian, Mensur Suljovic, in round two.

Jerry Hendriks defied finishes of 145 and 104 from debutant German qualifier Christian Bunse to claim a 6-4 victory as he moves through to face Daryl Gurney.

Robert Allenstein won through to the last 32 for the second time in four European Tour appearances as he won his all-German clash with Dragutin Horvat 6-3, sealing victory with a 103 finish to move through and face Rob Cross.

Huddersfield's Peter Jacques came from 2-0 down to defeat Kyle Anderson 6-3, with a 120 checkout in leg nine securing a second round date with May's Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner Michael Smith.

Robbie Green set up a second round tie with number two seed Peter Wright as he edged out Martin Schindler 6-5 in a deciding leg, taking out finishes of 126 and 115 earlier in a tight contest as he hit six doubles from eight attempts.

Aden Kirk - the giant-killer at the 2014 UK Open - enjoyed a winning debut on the European Tour with a 6-5 defeat of Dutch qualifier Michael Plooy, meaning that he now plays Alan Norris in round two.

Dimitri Van den Bergh produced an assured display to whitewash Matt Clark 6-0 and create a second round meeting with Simon Whitlock on Saturday.

Former UK Open finalist Mark Walsh took out finishes of 116 and 118 on his way to a 6-2 defeat of Nathan Aspinall, setting up a tie with Gerwyn Price.

James Richardson impressed with a 101 average and a 130 checkout in a 6-2 defeat of Mark Webster as he moves through to meet Benito van de Pas in the second round.

Former European Tour finalist John Henderson will now play Kim Huybrechts in round two following his solid 6-2 defeat of Ray Campbell, with the Northern Irish ace sharing the opening four legs before the Scot pulled clear.

Krzysztof Ratajski reached the second round for the fifth time on the European Tour this year, hitting six doubles from ten attempts and winning five legs in a row in a 6-1 defeat of Mark Barilli.

Host nation qualifier Steffen Siepmann reached the last 32 for a second time on the European Tour this year by defeating Jermaine Wattimena in a deciding leg, following up finishes of 100 and 107 by taking out 96 for victory.

Devon Petersen earned a reprieve for seven missed match darts before he finally secured victory over Richard North with a narrow 6-5 triumph, after the Hampshire-based thrower himself had crucially missed a host of chances to lead 5-3.

South African ace Petersen now plays Dutchman Jelle Klaasen in Saturday's second round.

Friday's first round results:

Mark Walsh 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
James Richardson 6-2 Mark Webster
John Henderson 6-2 Ray Campbell
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Mark Barilli
Steffen Siepmann 6-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Aden Kirk 6-5 Michael Plooy
Robbie Green 6-5 Martin Schindler
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-0 Matt Clark
James Wade 6-1 Justin Pipe
Jerry Hendriks 6-4 Christian Bunse
Christian Kist 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
Peter Jacques 6-3 Kyle Anderson
Mervyn King 6-3 Kim Viljanen
Vincent van der Voort 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Robert Allenstein 6-3 Dragutin Horvat
Devon Petersen 6-5 Richard North   

Saturday fixtures
Second round (afternoon session - 12pm-4pm BST)

Daryl Gurney v Jerry Hendriks
Gerwyn Price v Mark Walsh
Alan Norris v Aden Kirk
Joe Cullen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Benito van de Pas v James Richardson
Kim Huybrechts v John Henderson
Simon Whitlock v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stephen Bunting v Steffen Siepmann   

Evening Session (6pm-10pm BST)

Dave Chisnall v James Wade
Michael Smith v Peter Jacques
Ian White v Mervyn King
Mensur Suljovic v Christian Kist
Peter Wright v Robbie Green
Michael van Gerwen v Vincent van der Voort
Jelle Klaasen v Devon Petersen
Rob Cross v Robert Allenstein   

All games are the best of 11 legs