The international darts open started on Friday in Riesa as the worlds best begin their Euro Tour campaigns for 2022. First round action began and saw a major shock with Polish world cup participant Krzysztof Kciuk defeating 2018 world champion Rob Cross 6-1.
Kciuk came into the match as a huge underdog with many feeling Cross was unlucky to not have been awarded a place in this year’s premier league. However, he made a very strong start to his European tour campaign averaging 92.04 in his match against Cross.
He was also impressive on his doubling with a 46.2% checkout percentage really showing where the match was won. Kciuk’s reward is a place in the second round where he will face reigning premier league champion Jonny Clayton for a place in the third round.
World number 16 Ryan Searle crashed out of the tournament on Friday as he lost 6-4 to Englishman Ritchie Edhouse in the final match of the afternoon session. He did not perform to what we know he can do with an 85.76 average for Searle and only 26.47% on his checkouts.
It was a very scrappy game in Riesa with Edhouse closing out his victory with a 76-checkout hitting double eight with his first dart to knock “Heavy metal” out. Edhouse also took out an impressive 157 checkout which was the highest either player hit in the match.
Ritchie Edhouse faced Gerwyn Price on the opening night of the world championship on December 15th and it’s the same task for him in Germany on Saturday with a place in the third round on the line. With a victory over Ryan Searle under his belt, can he go one further and knock out “The Iceman”.
The crowd got their fair share of seeing home grown talent with a total of 7 German players taking part in round one action on Friday.
Nico Kurz took on Gabriel Clemens in the only all German affair of the day with 25-year-old Kurz coming through a 6-3 winner.
Clemens is so far the only German in the top 32 of the PDC order of merit with the “German Giant” 22nd in the rankings.
But it was Kurz who came out on top with Kurz hitting more 180s and 140s and having a higher checkout success showcasing his dominance within the match. He will face Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second round of the tournament.
Everyone will have begun their International Darts Open campaigns with the second-round action kicking off on Saturday.
Current world champion Peter Wright will begin his Euro Tour campaign as he faces Luke Woodhouse, with Wright looking to become world number one in the rankings. He has made a strong start to 2022 with a pro tour title and a premier league win on night one in Cardiff.
Another player who has made a good start to 2022 is Joe Cullen with victories in pro tour events three and four as well as his Masters victory in Milton Keynes. He will face Latvian Madars Razma in his second round which could be tricky for “The Rockstar” with Razma very impressive on his doubles in his opening match against Wayne Jones.
—–ENDS—–
Report By Harry Masterson
Lead Image: PDC Europe
Round One Results:
Brian Raman 6-3 David Schlichting
Niko Springer 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Madars Razma 6-4 Wayne Jones
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Fabian Schmutzler
Vincent Van Der Voort 6-3 Adam Gawlas
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Andy Boulton
Keane Barry 6-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Ryan Searle
Lewy Williams 6-4 Dennis Nilsson
Mervyn King 6-3 Janos Vergo
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Florian Hempel
Dimitri Van Den Bergh 6-2 Martin Lukeman
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Rob Cross
Nico Kurz 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Simon Whitlock 6-0 Dragutin Horvat
Jeff Smith 6-4 Danny Van Trijp
