Holly Thackeray | October 28, 2015

The darts European Championship is certainly a marathon not a sprint, and there are a host of fantastic fixtures set for the first enthralling day in Belgium.
There’s a two-hour and 40 minute tea break following the opening day’s frantic afternoon session, but the evening roster is more than worth returning for on Friday night.
So, Coral experts bring you the best of the rest from the 1st round and some rather brilliant bets to ward off the winter blues…

Former champion Lewis looks great value at 15/8 to be King of the oche (player to win match, most 180s and highest checkout. If any of the markets are tied, bets will be settled as losers), especially after his recent Auckland Masters victory. Yet, the Englishman is not infallible as evidenced by his World Grand Prix second round flop, so recent Players Championship finalist Van de Pas may fancy his chances at 21/10 to progress.

Maximums man Chisnall did narrowly defeat the Gentle in their only previous meeting by a narrow one-leg margin, but may be better value for punters at just 5/4 to clock-up over 3.5 180s.

Though, Jenkins (7/4 to charge to triumph) will not go down without a fight and, as two of the pair’s previous four fixtures have ended 6-3 in Wade’s favour, back another repeat of that result at 9/2.


Veteran Van Barneveld has outfoxed his opponent nine times from 13 before, but it could be a close battle worth backing at 11/2 for the fray to finish 6-5 with the Hague-born hitman victorious.

Pitted against the Dutch Destroyer, decorated giant The Power is 1/5 to make his recent conqueror pay. The Stoke-born superstars is unlikely to make the same mistake twice, but Van der Voort is generous at 7/2 to pounce again if he does.

Competitor and compatriot the Black Cobra (6/1) is just 19 and a recent PDC convert, but will be up against it in Hasselt.

See what else is going on in the world of darts
Betting tip: Suljovic is superb at 13/8 to beat Chisnall