Watch live darts tonight from the European Championships at bet365 from 19:00 BST
Tonight sees the first round of the PartyPoker.net European Championship reach its conclusion with all the action from Germany streaming online
bet365 are streaming the European Championship online from Germany throughout the week, starting tonight at 19:00 BST.
Reigning European Champion Phil Taylor made a winning start to the defence of his title with a 6-2 win over Co Stompe on Thursday night.
Taylor has won the previous two stagings of the European Championship and was in clinical mood at the Stadthalle in Dinslaken as he bids to claim Sunday's £50,000 first prize.
Stompe gave Taylor some edgy moments in the opening five legs, but three missed darts to level the game in the sixth allowed the Stoke legend to put daylight between the duo before winning the next two without reply to seal victory.
"It was a difficult game but a very good game too," he said. "I kept putting him under pressure and it worked for me.
"Co played well but I picked up on him missing doubles and under pressure he was doing that.
"The Dutch players are very competitive and Co epitomises that. He works hard at his game and it showed because he made me work very hard."
Taylor will now face Andy Smith in the second round on Saturday, after the Studley-based thrower knocked out Paul Nicholson 6-3 in Germany.
World number four Mervyn King crashed out of the tournament with a 6-3 defeat to Barrie Bates, who took a 5-0 lead and held off a brief fightback to claim victory.
Bates takes on Jamie Caven in round two, after the Derby man came from 2-0 down to see off Scotland's Gary Anderson 6-2 in their clash.
Jelle Klaasen also produced a spirited comeback to defeat Vincent van der Voort 6-4 in the battle of the Dutch aces, having included finishes of 142 and 92 in coming from 3-1 down to take the win.
Klaasen meets Mark Walsh in the second round, with the number eight seed having overcome Spanish debutant Antonio Alcinas 6-3, despite trailing the newcomer - who hit a 160 finish - 3-2 midway through the game.
Germany's Andree Welge also threatened an upset in his clash with world number five Terry Jenkins, coming from 4-2 down to level before the English star took the last two legs in style.
Simon Whitlock set up a tasty last 16 meeting with Jenkins on Saturday with his 6-3 win over two-time World Champion Dennis Priestley.
The first round concludes on Friday night at the Stadthalle in Dinslaken with the remaining eight matches, which include number two seed Raymond van Barneveld's meeting with Andy Hamilton.
World number three James Wade faces Colin Lloyd, Adrian Lewis takes on Wayne Jones and German pair Bernd Roith and Tomas Seyler are in action on home soil when they take on Denis Ovens and Michael van Gerwen.
PartyPoker.net European Championship
Thursday July 29 - First Round Results
Paul Nicholson 3-6 Andy Smith
Mark Walsh (8) 6-3 Antonio Alcinas
Terry Jenkins (5) 6-4 Andree Welge
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Dennis Priestley
Gary Anderson 2-6 Jamie Caven
Phil Taylor (1) 6-2 Co Stompe
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Mervyn King (4) 3-6 Barrie Bates
Friday July 30 matches (go to bet365 > Live Streaming > Darts to watch live from 19:00 BST/20:00 local time):
Bernd Roith v Denis Ovens
Mark Dudbridge v Robert Thornton
Adrian Lewis (7) v Wayne Jones
Tomas Seyler v Michael van Gerwen
James Wade (3) v Colin Lloyd
Raymond van Barneveld (2) v Andy Hamilton
Colin Osborne v Wes Newton
Ronnie Baxter (6) v Alan Tabern