SIMON WHITLOCK 6 – 4 Kim Huybrechts
Simon Whitlock made an impressive start to his defence of the European Championship with a hard-fought win over Kim ‘The Hurricane’ Huybrechts on Thursday.
Whitlock, whose triumph in Germany last year was his first PDC major title, overcame the challenge of a tough opponent, sealing the win with a 110 finish.
“I’m extremely pleased to have come through that,” admitted Whitlock, the world number five.
“I knew I was in for a real battle when the draw came out and that’s exactly what happened. But I won’t be giving up this title easily, it was the proudest moment of my career when I won here last year and I would love to defend it.
“That’s a long way away yet but I’ve got past an excellent opponent in Kim and I’ll go away and prepare for the next one.”
Huybrechts held his throw in the first leg but Whitlock levelled despite missing double 16 for a 152 checkout.
The Australian fired in a 180 in the third leg, which he won against the throw, before holding to move into a 3-1 lead.
Whitlock pegged double 18 to grab a second break of throw but missed four darts at double ten in leg six, allowing Huybrechts to break back.
‘The Wizard’ hit his second 180 in the following leg but couldn’t prevent the Belgian from moving within a leg of parity.
And Huybrechts bedded double five to level the match at four legs apiece.
Whitlock almost wrestled back control in sensational style but just missed double 18 for a 147 finish after slotting in his third maximum.
But three missed darts at double from Huybrechts allowed the reigning champion to return for double nine, which he pinned to edge ahead once more.
Whitlock made no mistake on double 18 in what proved to be the final leg, hitting it to complete a three-dart combination shot of 110.
He will now face Colin Lloyd in round two on Saturday.
By Chris Murphy