There were eight Team Unicorn winners on the opening day of the Austrian Darts Trophy in Vienna.
Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis withdrew from the £81,000 tournament, so it looks like being wide open in Austria – the first of the new PDC European events.
All the 1st Round winners are guaranteed at least £1,000 prize money, with the 2nd Round being played over two sessions on Saturday.
And remember, there is £15,000 for the winner on Sunday night.
Joe Cullen recorded a terrific 6-4 win over World Grand Prix runner-up Brendan Dolan and he is now chasing the scalp of Simon Whitlock in the 2nd Round.
Raymond van Barneveld was made to battle to keep his place in the tournament.....Barney was pushed all the way in a really entertaining all Unicorn affair with Arron Monk, before he edged home 6-4.
And he will face Unicorn stablemate Colin Osborne, who came through 6-4 against Richie Howson.
In fact, all five Team Unicorn Premier League stars were winners on Friday in Austria.....they flew by special charter from Liverpool after playing at the Echo Arena.
Gary Anderson beat Scott Rand 6-4 and now plays Co Stompe, James Wade set up a 2nd Round clash with Steve Beaton after a 6-3 win over Prakash Jiwa.
Andy Hamilton saw off Roland Scholten 6-3 and will now play Dave Chisnall, while Kevin Painter will take on Mark Dudbridge after ‘The Artist’ was a comfortable 6-2 winner against Johnny Haines.
Terry Jenkins will take on old adversary Denis Ovens on Saturday after avoiding an upset with a 6-4 victory over Dietmar Burger.....and Wes Newton had to produce his best to see off Boris Krcmar 6-4, and he will now face Steve Evans in round two.
It was a day to remember for highly-rated youngster Michael Smith, as he banged in a memorable 9-darter in his 6-4 victory over Jamie Caven.
But it was a day to forget for Paul Nicholson, who went 3-0 down to Dean Winstanley and couldn’t recover as he lost 6-3....Unicorn German ace Michael Rosenauer put up a good fight against Richie Burnett, but was beaten 6-4.
Selected 1st Round results (Team Unicorn players in BOLD):
Gino Vos 6-3 Wayne Jones
Mark Webster 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Colin Lloyd 6-3 Ian White
Richie Burnett 6-4 MICHAEL ROSENAUER
Dean Winstanley 6-3 PAUL NICHOLSON
JOE CULLEN 6-4 Brendan Dolan
WES NEWTON 6-4 Boris Krcmar
TERRY JENKINS 6-4 Dietmar Burger
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Martin Kurecka
GARY ANDERSON 6-4 Scott Rand
Simon Whitlock 6-4 Mareno Michels
JAMES WADE 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
ANDY HAMILTON 6-3 Roland Scholten
COLIN OSBORNE 6-4 Richie Howson
Mark Dudbridge 6-5 John Part
Michael Smith 6-4 JAMIE CAVEN
RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD 6-4 ARRON MONK
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Andy Smith
KEVIN PAINTER 6-2 Johnny Haines
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Mervyn King
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC