Mensur Suljovic delighted his home crowd as the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open began on Friday, defeating Ritchie Edhouse in Graz.
Suljovic was one of the four Host Nation Qualifiers to book his spot in the European Tour event, and will carry the hopes of his adopted country into Saturday’s second round.
The former Champions League of Darts winner was a 6-3 victor over reigning European Champion Edhouse in their first round tie, as he moves through to play Daryl Gurney in the last 32.
Suljovic’s former World Cup of Darts partner, Rowby-John Rodriguez, was one of three other Austrians to exit the event on Friday, as he lost out 6-2 to Matthew Dennant, who tasted victory on the European Tour for the first time since 2019.
Zoran Lerchbacher was whitewashed by Jermaine Wattimena, while Frenchman Thibault Tricole came from 3-1 down with five straight legs to see off Christian Goedl, who followed a 13-darter with a 160 finish to take a shock lead.
Wattimena now faces top seed Jonny Clayton, while Tricole and Dennant take on Joe Cullen and Martin Schindler respectively.
Karel Sedlacek won a fourth straight game against five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld – and a second on the European Tour this year – as a 6-2 victory set up a clash with Damon Heta on Saturday.
Wessel Nijman missed just one dart at a double in his impressive 6-4 win over William O’Connor as the emerging Dutch ace moves through to play World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker.
European Darts Trophy winner Nathan Aspinall will take on Kevin Doets on Saturday, after the Dutchman’s 6-3 win over Berry van Peer.
Dirk van Duijvenbode powered past Hungarian qualifier Gyorgy Jehirszki, averaging 106 and sealing a 6-1 triumph with a ten-darter in an impressive display to set up a tasty all-Dutch clash with World Youth Champion Gian van Veen.
Luke Woodhouse took out 113 to win a deciding leg against Nathan Rafferty, and he now takes on two-time World Champion Peter Wright on Saturday.
Ricardo Pietreczko maintained his 100% record in European Tour first round ties this year to see off debutant Tom Bissell, and he now faces Premier League star Chris Dobey.
Danny Noppert will face Niko Springer, who won his all-German first round tie with Lukas Wenig 6-1, while Ryan Joyce’s reward for a 6-4 win over Finland’s Teemu Harju is a clash with Ryan Searle.
Matt Campbell, Ian White and Chris Landman enjoyed deciding-leg wins against Patrick Geeraets, Madars Razma and Andrew Gilding respectively, while Krzysztof Ratajski battled past Mickey Mansell with a 6-3 success.
The £175,000 tournament continues on Saturday, with the 16 seeded players entering the action for the second round – including two-time Austrian Darts Open winner Clayton and recent International Darts Open champion Stephen Bunting, who takes on Campbell.
The Austrian Darts Open then concludes on Sunday, with the third round taking place in the afternoon session ahead of the evening’s decisive quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
Live coverage from the Austrian Darts Open 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.
2025 Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open
Friday April 25
First Round
Afternoon Session
Matt Campbell 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Ian White 6-5 Madars Razma
Chris Landman 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Thibault Tricole 6-3 Christian Goedl
Ryan Joyce 6-4 Teemu Harju
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Tom Bissell
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Evening Session
Niko Springer 6-1 Lukas Wenig
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Gyorgy Jehirszki
Wessel Nijman 6-4 William O’Connor
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Kevin Doets 6-3 Berry van Peer
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Zoran Lerchbacher
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Nathan Rafferty
Saturday April 26
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Ross Smith v Chris Landman
Ryan Searle v Ryan Joyce
Danny Noppert v Niko Springer
Gian van Veen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Joe Cullen v Thibault Tricole
Josh Rock v Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney v Mensur Suljovic
Mike De Decker v Wessel Nijman
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Damon Heta v Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright v Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall v Kevin Doets
Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting v Matt Campbell
Martin Schindler v Matthew Dennant
Dave Chisnall v Ian White
——ENDs—–
Image: Paul Targyik, PDC Europe
