Austrian Darts Open: Mensur Suljovic into 2nd around as Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld undergo early exits

Mensur Suljovic advanced via to the second one around on house soil as he dumped Cameron Menzies out of the Austrian Darts Open on Friday.

The Austrian extremely joyful his adoring crowd with a ruthless show, pinning 75 according to cent of his makes an attempt at double to rejoice a convincing 6-2 victory.

Suljovic made a semi-final and a quarter-final all over this week’s ProTour double-header in Hildesheim, and he constructed on that momentum to arrange a showdown towards 3rd seed James Wade in the second one around.

Ian White claimed a big scalp within the type of 2023 global champion Michael Smith, operating out a 6-4 victor to arrange a gathering towards Daryl Gurney for a spot within the ultimate 16.

Dave Chisnall was once some other high-profile casualty on Friday night time, shedding 6-3 to Spain’s Cristo Reyes.

In different places, Peter Wright swept apart Austrian veteran Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 to check in his first Eu Excursion victory in 2026, which sees him via to stand protecting champion Martin Schindler on Saturday.

Alan Soutar additionally triumphed 6-2, seeing off a dark show from Raymond van Barneveld.

There have been blended fortunes in different places some of the Dutch contingent in Graz, with Dirk van Duijvenbode succumbing on the expense of Latvia’s Madars Razma, regardless of averaging over a ton in defeat.

Razma’s praise is a conflict towards most sensible seed Gian van Veen, whilst Niels Zonneveld will face ultimate yr’s runner-up Ross Smith after piling in a paranormal 135 checkout to sink James Hurrell in a decider.

Kevin Doets additionally inspired, averaging 99 to offload out his quick-fire compatriot Chris Landman, having celebrated his maiden PDC rating identify at Avid gamers Championship 11 on Monday.

Previous within the day, Niko Springer landed a trio of ton-plus checkouts – together with a wonderful 167 – to seal a 6-3 victory over Nick Kenny, and Wessel Nijman now awaits the German in a captivating tussle.

Then again, Springer’s fellow countrymen Gabriel Clemens and Ricardo Pietreczko crashed out on the first hurdle, shedding out to Ryan Joyce and Hungarian qualifier Patrik Kovacs respectively.

Poland Krzysztof Ratajski got here via a stiff check towards Aaron Hardy to arrange a blockbuster showdown towards three-time global champion Michael van Gerwen on Saturday, who will probably be some of the famous person points of interest on day two in Graz.

2026 Austrian Darts Open agenda/effects

Friday Would possibly 8

Spherical One
Afternoon Consultation
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Patrik Kovacs 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 James Hurrell
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Nick Zwittnigg
William O’Connor 6-3 Anton Ostlund
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Aaron Hardy
Niko Springer 6-3 Nick Kenny
Kevin Doets 6-3 Chris Landman

Night Consultation
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Rob Owen 6-5 Joe Cullen
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
Alan Soutar 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith

Saturday Would possibly 9

Spherical Two
Afternoon Consultation (1300 native time, 1200 BST)
Jermaine Wattimena v Andrew Gilding
Mike De Decker v Ryan Joyce
Rob Go v William O’Connor
Ryan Searle v Kevin Doets
Ross Smith v Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta v Cristo Reyes
Luke Woodhouse v Rob Owen
Chris Dobey v Kim Huybrechts

Night Consultation (1900 native time, 1800 BST)
Daryl Gurney v Ian White
Josh Rock v Patrik Kovacs
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic
Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert v Alan Soutar
Gian van Veen v Madars Razma
Martin Schindler v Peter Wright
Wessel Nijman v Niko Springer