DAY two of the Belgian Open saw multiple deciding legs, seeded players dropping out and the round of 16 being confirmed.
The headline shocks came in the shape of the missing Michaels of with both Van Gerwen and Smith losing to Peter Wright and Mike De Decker respectively.
Smith’s exit was the biggest mismatch, with home hero De Decker breaking Smith’s throw three times over the eight legs, and checking out at a second attempt at D20 to win 6-2.
Van Gerwen’s loss was less dramatic, and extends the Dutchman’s dry spell , slumping to opening defeats in the UK and Belgian Opens, as well as successive Premier League losses.
After a game of holds and a mostly even game, MVG missed D10 to take it to a decider, while Wright seized the chance to take the match by smashing D20.
Luke Littler and Krzysztof Ratajski shared nine sets, with Littler winning six rather comfortably to set up a tie against Damon Heta.
There was a rematch of the 2023 World Championships quater-final, as Gerwen Price played Gabriel Clemens.
That match was remembered for the Welshman’s headphone antics, but this was a much more composed version of Price, as he ran out the 6-4 winner.
Stephen Bunting took a deciding leg against Josh Rock, with a calm Bullseye finish that took over 30 seconds for him to compose himself for.
Rob Cross also went to a decider, taking a 15 dart leg out on D6 against German Lukas Wenig.
The other matches settled in deciding legs saw Danny Noppert, Ryan Searle, Dave Chisnall and Ricardo Pietreczko into Sunday’s finals session.
The full draw for the round of 16 and beyond can be found here, with the action starting at midday (UK time).
