Gary Anderson and Glen Durrant booked their place in the last 16 on an emotional afternoon at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
After wins on day one both Anderson and Durrant chalked up a second successive win at the tournament to seal qualification from their groups and leave the other qualification spot up for grabs via a shoot-out later in the week
But there was also support from around the darting world for Dutch youngster Berry van Peer who continued a very public battle with dartitis - the struggle to release the dart when stepping to the board.
Wayne Mardle led encouragement for the World Youth runner-up and his opponent Anderson was quick to put an arm around the 21-year-old's shoulder while referee called on the crowd to subdue their reaction as an emotional Van Peer was reduced to tears.
By the end of the match the crowd were singing Van Peer's name and despite a 5-1 defeat he will still have a chance to qualify if he can beat Cameron Menzies in the final game in Group H.
Menzies, one of eight BDO representatives in the field, stunned World Grand Prix runner-up Simon Whitlock to set up a contest with Van Peer while Anderson's quest for a first Grand Slam title will see him finish the group stage against Whitlock who now cannot qualify.
In Group E, defending BDO world champion Durrant underlined his status as a man to give the organisation only their second Grand Slam title with a clinical 5-3 victory over Alan 'Chuck' Norris.
The format of the tournament means the winners from the group matches on day one face off and with little between Norris and Durrant a solitary break proved crucial, 'Duzza' striking with a classy two-dart 75 combination in the seventh leg of the match.
He followed up with another impressive leg as Norris threatened a decider but five darts from 208 saw Durrant wrap up the victory and qualification for the knockout phase for the second successive year.
It means Norris will face a straight shoot-out with Peter Wright for the other spot in the group after 'Snakebite' made mincemeat of Aussie sensation Corey Cadby. Both Cadby and Wright lost on Saturday but Wright was unphased and with an average pushing 100 along with some trademark tidy finishing, chalked up the only whitewash of the tournament so far with a 5-0 win over the world youth champion.
In Groups F and G, both qualification places remain up for grabs but Stephen Bunting and Mensur Suljovic are the men in control of things after both recorded a second victory over the weekend.
Champions League of Darts winner Suljovic got the better of a high quality contest with Michael Smith to maintain his 100 per cent record. With both men averaging more than 100 the Austrian won the crucial ninth leg to pinch the contest.
He will next face James Wilson who kept himself in contention for progress with a 5-2 win over BDO No 1 Mark McGeeney who looked far from comfortable but could still progress.
McGeeney will need a big win against Smith to have any hope but 'Bully Boy' will not be too disappointed with defeat having performed even more impressively than during his opening win against Wilson.
And in the final match of the afternoon session Stephen Bunting picked up his second win by seeing off Dave Chisnall in a scrappy contest.
Group F looks like going all the way with very little in the leg difference and the final group games mean everyone still has a chance of a place in the next round.
Bunting is in control though after his 5-2 win over Chisnall and will next face former BDO world champion Scott Mitchell who kept alive his own hopes of progress with a gritty 5-3 win over young Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan.
The Grand Slam of Darts continues on Sky Sports throughout the week with coverage underway on Monday on Sky Sports Action from 7pm as the best of the PDC compete against the best of the BDO.
Keep up to date with the news as the tungsten enters its busiest time of year with the PDC World Championships just around the corner get all the latest at sky.mnosports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts.