Luke Littler averaged 104.70 as he began the defence of his Belgian Darts Open title with a convincing 6-2 win over Boris Krcmar on Saturday.
Two days after coming from 5-0 down to beat Gerwyn Price 6-5 to win the latest round of Premier League action in Dublin, Littler had more of a routine evening at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze.
Littler moved 4-0 ahead against Krcmar, taking out double 19 twice, although the two-time world champion did not have it all his own way after missing five match darts in the seventh leg against his Croatian opponent.
He rebounded with back-to-back 180s to start the eighth leg and though he was unable to finish with a nine-darter, the 19-year-old wrapped up the win to set up a last-16 tie against Niels Zonneveld, who edged out last year’s runner-up Mike De Decker 6-5 earlier in the second round.
“I love it here,” said Littler, who also landed six 180s en route to victory. “My first European Tour event was here. I want to win it again, and performances like that will put me up there.
“Coming off the back of that [Premier League] win in Ireland, it’s set me up well, and I can’t wait to go again tomorrow.”
Humphries survives scare but Bunting, Rock, Wade and Aspinall all out
Elsewhere, world No 2 Luke Humphries was given a major scare before seeing off Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4.
Luke Humphries came through a scare in the second round against Dirk van Duijvenbode
Humphries had raced into a 4-0 lead but his Dutch rival hit back and missed a dart to level at 5-5, allowing the Englishman to capitalise and close out victory with a 100.25 average.
Michael van Gerwen was also a 6-4 winner against Mickey Mansell, while Jonny Clayton had few alarms in beating Sebastian Bialecki 6-3.
But James Wade and Stephen Bunting were early casualties as they lost their second-round matches to Cristo Reyes and Andy Baetens respectively.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Josh Rock was not in good spirits after a drubbing against Price in Dublin
Josh Rock, still winless in his debut Premier League Darts campaign, continued his poor form as he lost to Kim Huybrechts to end the Saturday night action, while Nathan Aspinall was defeated by Ryan Joyce earlier in the afternoon.
2026 Lecot Belgian Darts Open results and draw
Saturday, March 21
Round Two
Afternoon Session
Ross Smith 6-4 Cameron Menzies
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Chris Dobey 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Searle 6-5 Ricky Evans
Martin Schindler 6-3 William O’Connor
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Damon Heta
Danny Noppert 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Evening Session
Cristo Reyes 6-2 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Andy Baetens 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Mike De Decker
Luke Littler 6-2 Boris Krcmar
Luke Humphries 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Josh Rock
Sunday March 22
Round Three
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Luke Littler vs Niels Zonneveld
Danny Noppert vs Ryan Searle
Jonny Clayton vs Ross Smith
Andy Baetens vs Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries vs Jermaine Wattimena
Kim Huybrechts vs Chris Dobey
Michael van Gerwen vs Daryl Gurney
Cristo Reyes vs Ryan Joyce
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
What’s happening on Premier League Night Eight in Berlin?
Night Eight of the BetMGM Premier League will take place in Berlin on Thursday March 26, as Littler begins his bid for a third nightly victory of 2026 against Bunting at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
League leader Clayton will take on Rock in the evening’s opener, Humphries and Van Gerwen also go head-to-head, while Price takes on Van Veen for a place in the semi-finals.
Quarter-Final fixtures for 14 of the 16 league nights are in draw bracket order, with fixtures for Night Eight and Night 16 determined by league standings heading into each night.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
