Larry Butler (27.85) 3 – 2 (26.15) James Hurrell – Scoresheet

On an opening day that brought shocks in both the men’s and the women’s events, US #1 Larry Butler survived James Hurrell’s brave fightback to secure his place in the Last 32.

After taking a strange first set (in which all five legs went against the throw) Butler picked up the pace to win the second 3-0.  The Englishman wasn’t finished, though, and closed the gap in a four-leg third set.

The first three legs of the fourth set went with the darts, which meant that Butler – with the help of his third 100+ checkout of the contest – was now just one leg from victory.  Hurrell, however, was destined to take the match to a decider.

Kicking off the last set with a timely maximum, the 2015 Winmau World Masters runner-up needed just fifteen darts to move ahead, and quickly doubled his lead.  Hurrell then made it 2-1, but Butler was now throwing for the match, and he made full use of the advantage, holding on for an impressive victory.

“The Eagle” now faces 16th seed, Dutchman Ryan de Vreede on Monday evening.  The pair open the session at 6pm local time (1.00pm Eastern/12.00pm Central).

While the former World Matchplay Champion was keeping the American flag flying, our near-neighbor from the north, Jeff Smith, made sure that Canada would have at least one representative in the Last 32.  Smith eased to a 3-0 triumph against English-born Dutchman Matthew Medhurst.

The shocks I mentioned earlier were the defeats of men’s #7 seed, Darryl Fitton (to the very experienced Dennis Harbour), and former women’s World Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova (to Anca Zijlstra).  No such worries for the top seeded Lisa Ashton and Glen Durrant, who both safely negotiated the first hurdle. Other winners today were Craig Caldwell and Jim Williams.

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