De Vreede overcame compatriot Jules Van Dongen, a Professional Darts Corporation Tour Card holder 3-1 and will now meet WDF world number one James Hurrell of England in the next round.

Hurrell was forced to dig deep in his second round encounter as he edged past Belgium’s John Desreumaux 3-2, clinching victory in a deciding set with a 141 checkout.

In the afternoon session men’s matches Scotland’s Cameron Menzies produced four maximums against England’s Ian Jones in a 3-1 win.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland’s Neil Duff averaged 88.77 in defeating Justin Thompson of Australia 3-0, while England’s Nick Fullwell beat Canada’s Rory Hansen by the same scoreline.

Defending champion Wayne Warren of Wales had been due to start his campaign today, however his match with England’s Lee Shewan was postponed due to a production technical failure, meaning if it had gone ahead as planned it would not have been televised live.

Organisers say they hope to play the match tomorrow.

In the day’s matches in the women’s tournament, England’s Kirsty Hutchinson overcame compatriot Jo Clements 2-0, while Priscilla Steenbergen of the Netherlands overcame countrywoman Anca Zijlstra by the same score.