Belgian Open: Luke Littler wins in second round as four big names knocked out
Luke Littler started defending the Belgian Open with a second round victory – but four Premier League players were abandoned on Saturday.
World Champion, Who Winning last year’s Belgium title In Wieze, it is one of the 16 seeds to join the draw in the second round.
Although the 18-year-old beat Ryan Searle 6-3, four of the top 10 seeds fell on their first obstacle, including world No. 1 Luke Humphries.
Humphries and Rob Cross Nathan Aspinall was defeated by Littler in the final.
But they all lost on Saturday, while three-time world champion Michael Van Gerwen suffered the biggest shock, with the world’s third-ranked Croatian qualifier humbled 6-4 with the 45-year-old Croatian qualifier.
Humphries is the 2024 world champion, with an average of only 92.61 on Wieze as he was frustrated 6-4 by local favorite Mike de Decker (100.45).
Ross Smith (112.60) scored too strong against the fourth-ranked Cross in the world (98.80) as he beat last year’s runner-up 6-2, while Aspinal defeated Ritchie Edhouse 6-5.
The game ended Sunday with Littler playing the third round against British Luke Woodhouse, who beat Gary Anderson 6-2.
The fifth seed Stephen Bunting is one of only three seeds in the top half of the draw, followed by Daryl Gurney of Northern Ireland.
