Cool Hand Survives Clonoe Cyclone in Baltic Nail-Biter

It’s hotting up at the Baltic Sea Darts Open – an oxymoron as real as the drama unfolding in Kiel – as the rest of the big guns enter the fray.

After reigning champion Rob Cross’s exit at the hands of Andy Baetens, we’re guaranteed a new name on the trophy. Voltage was shocked by the Belgian, who’s developing quite the habit this weekend of sending former PDC World Champions packing.

First it was Barney, now Bobby – and if he fancies sticking around for a game on Sunday night, there’s another waiting in the wings: Gary Anderson.Another major casualty was world number four Stephen Bunting, who was comfortably dispatched by Niko Springer.

The Bullet’s radar was off – his scoring was decent enough, but trouble at the business end of legs proved fatal. Hats off to Springer, who was everything you’d expect from a German: efficient, clinical, and probably arrived at the venue early.Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price progressed without any fuss.

The two World Cup finalists – albeit from opposite sides of the oche – cruised into Sunday afternoon with dominant 6–1 wins over Justin Hood and Willie O’Connor respectively. Both posted three-figure averages. Business, handled.

Germany’s top man Martin Schindler also made light work of Jermaine Wattimena, who couldn’t find a maximum to save his life. Given his recent form, it was a surprising dip – but Schindi didn’t mind one bit.

Nathan Aspinall is still in the hat after beating the other half of the German World Cup duo, Ricardo Pietreczko.

I’d love to say The Asp mounted one of his trademark comebacks – something I’ve got copy-and-paste-ready most weekends – but no.

He sprinted to a 3–0 lead, watched it evaporate as Pikachu levelled at 4–4, then went bang-bang to close it out 6–4. A textbook case of dangling the carrot, then snatching it away.His Geordie pal Chris Dobey was excellent, seeing off Dirk van Duijvenbode 6–3.

Five maximums, a steady stream of two-treble visits, and over 50% on the doubles – that’s usually enough in a race to six. It was here too, though The Aubergenius did treat the crowd to a tasty 160 checkout along the way.

Last, but certainly not least, world number one Luke Humphries found himself in a proper scrap against Mickey Mansell – and was visibly relieved to nick it.

After racing into a 2–0 lead, Cool Hand looked ready to stroll across the finish line. Mansell had other ideas.

The Premier League champ was never behind, but couldn’t shake off the Northern Irishman, who hauled himself back from the cliff edge to force a decider. With the darts, The Clonoe Cyclone had the chance to blow the house down – but came up short.

Humphries, like the champion he is, pounced. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough in a very scrappy shootout.

Evening Session

Gerwyn Price 6-1 William O’Connor

Andy Baetens 6-2 Rob Cross

Niko Springer 6-2 Stephen Bunting

Luke Humphries 6-5 Mickey Mansell

Josh Rock 6-1 Justin Hood

Martin Schindler 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena

Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko

Chris Dobey 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Sunday July 13

Afternoon Session (1200 local time, 1100 BST)Third Round