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Michael van Gerwen survived a scare as he came back from 4-2 down to beat fellow Dutchman Wessel Nijman 6-5 in the first round of the European Championship.
Nijman failed to take seven match darts in the 11th leg before Van Gerwen eventually punished him by finishing with a 70 in a 21-dart leg in Germany.
Three-time world champion Van Gerwen recently announced he would miss the Players Championship Finals in November to focus on his family, having revealed in May that he and his wife, with whom he has two children, were getting divorced.
He missed two darts at a double as he lost the sixth leg against Nijman to go 4-2 down but two 14-dart legs brought him level.
Nijman, who is 36th in the darts rankings, missed two doubles to take the ninth leg as world number three Van Gerwen went 5-4 up.
Van Gerwen failed to take three match darts in the next leg, with Nijman taking out 71 to level at 5-5 and set up a decider.
Nijman could not take seven chances to win and Van Gerwen, aiming for a record fifth European Championship title, took advantage to go through.
The European Championship is between the top 32 players from this season’s European Tour rankings and is taking place in Dortmund, with the final on Sunday.
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In the last of Thursday’s matches, Chris Dobey beat Stephen Bunting 6-3 and will play Van Gerwen next.
Welshman Gerwyn Price was knocked out with a defeat by Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney.
The pair were involved in a fiery encounter in Blackpool in July and, while Price was the winner on that occasion, Gurney won this time around as he secured a 6-3 victory.
Price’s compatriot Jonny Clayton was also beaten, finding himself on the end of a 6-3 defeat by England’s Ryan Searle.
Ross Smith and Peter Wright are both former winners of the title and faced each other in the first round.
England’s Smith, who won in 2022, emerged the winner as he beat his Scottish rival – the 2020 and 2023 champion – 6-2.
World Youth champion Gian van Veen also progressed as he beat Australia’s Damon Heta 6-3.
Home favourite Martin Schindler came back from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 against England’s Dave Chisnall, eventually taking a dramatic 6-5 win with double top.
