JEFFREY de Graaf rose to the top of the rankings as he and Johan Engstrom shared titles as the 2024 PDC Nordic & Baltic ProTour season continued in Sweden last weekend.
Gothenburg played host to the year’s second weekend of Nordic & Baltic ProTour action, with Swedish stars Engstrom and De Graaf delivering the goods on home soil.
Engstrom celebrated his maiden Nordic & Baltic ProTour title with Event Three success on Saturday, sealed with a 6-4 victory against his fellow countryman Oskar Lukasiak.
Two-time World Cup qualifier Engstrom also defeated Andreas Harrysson and Paavo Myller in the latter stages, having opened his challenge with a deciding-leg win over Norway’s Jonny Pedersen.
De Graaf – an Event Two winner in February – then secured his second title of the campaign to move top of the embryonic Nordic & Baltic ProTour Order of Merit.
The Dutch-born Swede defied a late fightback from Cor Dekker to seal the Event Four crown, having accounted for former World Championship quarter-finalist Darius Labanauskas in the semi-finals.
Last weekend also saw qualifiers for European Tour Events 4-7 take place, with four different players progressing through the respective events.
Engstrom followed up his landmark ProTour triumph by booking his place in the NEO.bet European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen (ET4), which will take place from April 19-21.
The Swede averaged 97 in a comprehensive 6-2 win against Jani Laurila to confirm his qualification, having also accounted for Labanauskas, Dennis Nilsson and Myller earlier in the campaign.
However, Labanauskas avenged his defeat to Engstrom in the final of the ET5 Qualifier, running out a 6-4 winner to seal his spot in the NEO.bet Austrian Darts Open in Graz.
Lithuanian number one Labanauskas defied a 99 average from Engstrom to win a high-quality contest, having earlier dumped out Swedish duo Anton Ostlund and Viktor Tingstrom en route to qualification.
Daniel Larsson will feature in the NEO.bet Baltic Sea Darts Open (ET6) next month, after defeating Marko Kantele 6-3 in a straight shoot-out for qualification.
Larsson also averaged 99 in his semi-final thrashing of Laurila, which was preceded by deciding-leg wins against Andreas Toft Jorgensen and Labanauskas.
Teemu Harju was the other player to win through European Tour qualification in Gothenburg, whitewashing his compatriot Jani Keskinarkaus to confirm his place at the Dutch Darts Championship (ET7) from May 24-26.
The 2024 Nordic & Baltic ProTour season continues from May 31 to June 2, as ProTour Events 5-6 and Qualifiers for ET8-10 take place in Finland.
At the conclusion of ProTour Event Six, the top two players from each competing nation will represent their respective country at the 2024 World Cup of Darts.
Nordic & Baltic ProTour Event Three
Johan Engstrom 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak
Nordic & Baltic ProTour Event Four
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-5 Cor Dekker
NEO.bet European Darts Grand Prix (ET4 Qualifier)
Johan Engstrom 6-2 Jani Laurila
NEO.bet Austrian Darts Open (ET5 Qualifier)
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Johan Engstrom
NEO.bet Baltic Sea Darts Open (ET6 Qualifier)
Daniel Larsson 6-3 Marko Kantele
Dutch Darts Championship (ET7 Qualifier)
Teemu Harju 6-0 Jani Keskinarkaus
Click here for more information on the PDC Nordic & Baltic circuit.
ProTour 5-6 + ET Qualifiers 8-10
May 31-June 2, Hotel Tallukka, Vääsky, Finland
ProTour 7-8 + ET Qualifiers 11-13
July 26-28, Copenhagen, Venue TBC
ProTour 9-10
August 24-25, Bullseye Reykjavík, Iceland
—–ENDS—–
Image: PDC
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