Matt Campbell produced the performance of the day in Graz as he overcame Premier League star and European Tour winner Stephen Bunting in the Austrian Darts Open on Saturday.
The high-quality affair, saw the Canadian averaging 102 to Bunting’s superior 104, but it was his expert finishing that saw him through to the final day of action in Graz.
Following an early Premier League exit in Liverpool on Thursday, Stephen Bunting compounded his bad week with an exit at the first hurdle after he was beaten by an excellent Matt Campbell 6-4.
There will be a new name on the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open trophy on Sunday, after two-time champion Jonny Clayton crashed out at the hands of Jermaine Wattimena as the second round came to a close in Graz.
Top seed Clayton was the only remaining former winner in the field heading into Saturday evening’s action, but was brushed aside by a dominant performance from Wattimena, who ran out a 6-3 winner.
Wattimena pinned a match-high 102 checkout in the fifth leg to move 3-2 ahead and followed that with two more legs as he moved towards the brink of victory.
Clayton managed to claw a leg back, but could do little to thwart the Dutchman as he powered into the third round.
Another Premier League star in Nathan Aspinall also crashed out early on as he suffered a 6-2 defeat against Kevin Doets.
Chris Dobey, however, produced the performance of the evening as he stormed past Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 with an average just over 105.
Nevertheless, there was some German success on the night as Martin Schindler got the better of Matthew Dennant 6-3.
In the opening game of the evening session, Damon Heta edged out Karel Sedlacek in a last-leg decider to secure his place in Sunday’s action.
Australian number one Heta will be joined by sixth seed Dave Chisnall, who beat Ian White 6-3, while Peter Wright also advanced after seeing off Luke Woodhouse by the same scoreline.
In the afternoon session, Dirk van Duijvenbode raced through to the last 16 with a blistering 6-1 victory over his compatriot Gian van Veen, who was the runner-up at last weekend’s German Darts Grand Prix.
Van Duijvenbode averaged 106 in his opening round win over Gyorgy Jehirszki, and he delivered another demolition job in Graz, averaging 108 and crashing in seven 180s to sweep Van Veen aside.
Danny Noppert joined Van Duijvenbode in round three, averaging almost 101 and landing a brace of 11-darters to edge out Niko Springer and register his first victory on the European Tour in 2025.
Noppert’s reward is a meeting with Josh Rock, after the Northern Irishman averaged 105, landed eight 180s and converted a 157 checkout to secure back-to-back wins over Krzysztof Ratajski.
Daryl Gurney ended the hopes of Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic, following up a sensational 170 finish with a match-winning 120 to complete a 6-1 thumping with a 100.13 average.
Ross Smith and Ryan Joyce also posted ton-topping averages to progress by the same scoreline, accounting for Chris Landman and Ryan Searle respectively.
Wessel Nijman rattled off three straight legs from 4-3 adrift to win through a high-quality affair against World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, with both players averaging 102.
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Joe Cullen kicked off his campaign with a 6-2 success against Frenchman Thibault Tricole, in a contest dominated by missed doubles.
The third round of the Austrian Darts Open will take place on Sunday afternoon, before the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a bumper evening session.
Live coverage will be streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through the DAZN Darts channel on Pluto TV.
Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ worldwide.
In text image credit: Paul Targyik, PDC Europ
