Raymond van Barneveld’s run at the European Darts Open in Leverkusen, Germany, ended after the first round. The Dutchman lost to Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson 3-6 in legs on Friday.
Harrysson, ranked number 137 in the world, broke Van Barneveld in the first leg. The Swede even hit a 170 checkout in the fourth leg, taking a 3-1 lead with that maximum finish.
‘Barney’ averaged over 100 and narrowly missed finishes of 156 and 131, but Harrysson held his ground. The Swede maintained his lead and broke Van Barneveld once more in the ninth leg.
Harrysson will face Michael Smith in the next round. The 2023 world champion had a bye in the first round based on his PDC Order of Merit ranking.
Earlier in the day, three of the four Dutch players reached the second round. Jermaine Wattimena whitewashed home player Joshua Hermann: 6-0. Wessel Nijman defeated Brendan Dolan 6-3. Only Niels Zonneveld was eliminated after a 5-6 defeat against Germany’s Lukas Wenig.
Two more Dutch players will be in action later today. Dirk van Duijvenbode and Richard Veenstra will face Niko Springer and Daryl Gurney, respectively. Gian van Veen and Danny Noppert were already assured of a place in the second round.