'It was fighting, fighting and fighting' - Jermaine Wattimena reacts to abysmal doubles return in victory over Brendan Dolan

Jermaine Wattimena survived a scare against Brendan Dolan in the European Championships event in Prague, stealing an important break of throw near the climax of the match to set him up for a 6-4 victory, and a place in round two.

Between the pair, 31 darts at double were missed from a possible 41, with Wattimena getting away with one after boasting a dreadful 22% checkout rate. His scoring gave him the edge, and key missed doubles from his opponent at crucial times gave the Dutchman the slim advantage.

The Machine Gun broke the throw in the first set, earning a two-leg cushion before Dolan levelled the score with consecutive 65 and 75 finishes, both ending on tops. He then clinically took out 56 to go ahead for the first time in the match.

Wattimena fought back, breaking back after some heavy scoring and dodgy finishing to go 4-3 up, but he could not keep that advantage with the Northern Irishman punishing Wattimena for more missed doubles as he levelled it at 4-4.

In the ninth leg, Dolan missed multiple darts to go 5-4 up, before the Dutchman narrowly missed a dart at double 11 for a cracking 142 checkout. As close as it was, it allowed Dolan to come back, but again he squandered his chance, with Wattimena making no errors when cleaning up the 11 points he had left, punishing Dolan's six missed darts at double. He then pinned his first match dart at double 12 to seal a stubborn victory over a tricky opponent.

After the match, Wattimena described the match as a 'fight' with him lucky to get away with the 16 darts missed at double. He is now looking ahead at a second round tie against world number seven Chris Dobey. "Before he can make 5-4, I miss loads of doubles as well," Wattimena said. "Three darts for 3-1 up. But it was a difficult match. Always against Brendan. I'm happy I'm going through to the second round against Chris Dobey tomorrow. But it was fighting, fighting and fighting. I think I played two times in Europe against Chris Dobey, 107-111 average against him. So, not that bad. Hopefully, tomorrow again."

In last year's edition, Wattimena faced Dobey in a first-round tie. Replicating his improved form over the past year, he averaged a staggering 107.36 on a 6-0 whitewash win over the former Masters champion. He averaged over 20 points less in his next tie against Raymond van Barneveld, but managed to squeeze through before being overcome by runner-up Kim Huybrechts.

Wattimena will be hoping to complete a similar performance against Hollywood later today, as he searches for his maiden European Tour title. He is also in need of prize money to confirm his slot in the upcoming European Championships in Dortmund. Currently sitting in 29th, he is £2.5k ahead of van Barneveld in 33rd. A deep run in Prague would most likely confirm his place in the event, where he would be targeting a similar run to what he produced last year: a defeat in the final against Ritchie Edhouse.