Mensur Suljovic moved into the final day of the Interwetten Austrian Darts Open to the delight of his home fans in Graz by seeing off Peter Wright in round two, as Michael van Gerwen began his title defence in winning fashion.
Crowd favourite Suljovic punished world number two Wright for his lowest ever European Tour average of 78 as six doubles from 11 attempts saw him reach round three of the £175,000 event with a 6-1 success.
A mid-game change of darts from Wright saw him hit back from 3-0 down to win the fourth leg, but he paid for missed doubles in the next two legs as his opponent pulled clear.
Suljovic’s win means that he will now challenge World Champion Michael Smith for a spot in the quarter-finals, with the world number one only defeating emerging German Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 in their second round tie.
Four-time Austrian Darts Open winner Van Gerwen battled past John Henderson with a 6-4 victory, although the Scot missed a dart to take the tie into a deciding leg.
Simon Whitlock set up a third round clash with Van Gerwen in incredible fashion by reeling off five straight legs to come from 5-1 down and defeat Martin Schindler.
The Australian star had finished 117 on the bull to take the game into a decider before completing a 110 combination on the same target to seal a remarkable fightback.
Top seed Luke Humphries’ bid to add a fifth European Tour title to his CV was ended in round two with a 6-1 loss to Daryl Gurney, who reeled off six straight legs after his opponent had opened the contest with a 13-darter.
Gurney now plays UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Sunday afternoon, who came from 3-1 and 4-3 down to defeat Canada’s Matt Campbell 6-4.
Dave Chisnall – February’s Baltic Sea Darts Open winner – was knocked out by Northern Ireland’s Mickey Mansell, as the left-hander produced his best-ever European Tour average of 100.38 in a 6-2 triumph.
Mansell meets fellow countryman Josh Rock in round three, with the World Youth Champion also averaging over 100 as he overcame Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in eight legs.
Fresh from his Premier League victory in Rotterdam, Nathan Aspinall continued his winning run in Graz, defying a below-par display to end the hopes of Austrian qualifier Hannes Schnier.
Aspinall’s third round opponent will be Danny Noppert, after the 2022 UK Open champion proved too strong for Masters winner Chris Dobey with a 6-4 victory.
Joe Cullen produced the performance of the afternoon at the Steiermarkhalle, averaging almost 103 and crashing in four maximums in his impressive 6-2 demolition of Nick Kenny.
The former Premier League runner-up now plays Dirk van Duijvenbode, who opened his bid to reach a second European Tour final of 2023 with a 6-4 win over Ryan Meikle, missing just two darts at a double in a game where the left-hander landed three ton-plus checkouts.
Two-time European Champion Rob Cross eased through to round three courtesy of a convincing 6-2 victory against Maik Kuivenhoven, averaging 95 and landing three 180s in the process.
Cross’ third round opponent will be Ryan Searle, who edged out Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 after the Dutchman dramatically came from 5-1 down to level before missing two darts for victory in the decider.
2018 Austrian Darts Open champion Jonny Clayton celebrated a deciding-leg win over Associate Member Qualifier Jelle Klaasen, winning the last two legs to keep his title tilt alive.
World Cup winner Damon Heta set up a third round clash with Clayton by coming from 4-1 down to defeat Luke Woodhouse with five straight legs.
Sunday’s final day of action in Graz features the third round in the afternoon session ahead of the decisive quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening.
The tournament is being broadcast live on Viaplay, DAZN and PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
2023 Interwetten Austrian Darts Open
Saturday April 22
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Matt Campbell
Josh Rock 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Damon Heta 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Rob Cross 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Joe Cullen 6-2 Nick Kenny
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Hannes Schnier
Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
Evening Session
Danny Noppert 6-4 Chris Dobey
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Ryan Searle 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Peter Wright
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Luke Humphries
Michael Smith 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 John Henderson
Simon Whitlock 6-5 Martin Schindler
Sunday April 23
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Daryl Gurney v Andrew Gilding
Nathan Aspinall v Danny Noppert
Damon Heta v Jonny Clayton
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Joe Cullen
Mickey Mansell v Josh Rock
Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic
Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock
Rob Cross v Ryan Searle
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Gurney/Gilding v Aspinall/Noppert
Heta/Clayton v Van Duijvenbode/Cullen
Mansell/Rock v Smith/Suljovic
Van Gerwen/Whitlock v Cross/Searle
Semi-Finals
v
v
Final
v
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
—–ENDS—–
Images: Jan Edegger/PDC Europe
