All hail the returning King! I don’t speak Austrian but, after their darts hero Mensur Suljović returned to home soil in triumphant style, that was probably the chant echoing around the Stadthalle Graz following The Gentle’s victory over Cameron Menzies.
The nation’s greatest-ever player produced a stellar display to overcome the Scot and set up a mouth-watering Austrian Darts Open second-round clash with James Wade.
Session wise, it did not begin particularly well for two of the four Englishmen on the schedule, with both Dave Chisnall and Joe Cullen suffering opening-round exits.
However, given that fellow countrymen Michael Smith and Ian White were due to face each other later in the evening, at least one English representative was guaranteed to progress. Spoiler: It was White.
First up was Chisnall against the resurgent Cristo Reyes. The St Helens sharpshooter has been an ever-present on the Euro Tour this season but is still yet to progress beyond the second round. Following a lacklustre affair from both players, it was the Spaniard’s vastly superior doubling accuracy that ultimately proved decisive.
Reyes did not produce much in the way of explosive scoring, but he was utterly clinical on the outer ring. His reward is a showdown with Australian number one Damon Heta.
Next to fall was former Masters champion Cullen. Following Nick Kenny’s defeat earlier in the day, all Rob Owen now needs to do is win the entire tournament if he is to become Wales’ next reserve option for the World Cup should Gerwyn Price decide not to compete.
Against Cullen, it was a question of which version of The Rockstar would show up. Unfortunately for the Yorkshireman, he only displayed his best darts during the middle stages of the match. Eventually, the contest went all the way to a decider and Stack Attack held his nerve. Luke Woodhouse now awaits. Owen needs to win that, four more after it, and hope Gezzy does not fancy Frankfurt next month for whatever reason.
Both Kim Huybrechts and Karel Sedlacek have enjoyed solid starts to the season, collecting strong Players Championship results and, in Kim’s case, an excellent Euro Tour qualification conversion rate. It always looked a difficult one to call, but it was the Belgian who deservedly prevailed by doing the better job cleaning up at the business end of legs.
The Hurricane faces a daunting task on Saturday, however, with Chris Dobey waiting in round two. The Geordie has been knocking loudly on the door for a maiden Euro Tour title for quite some time.
The next pair of matches featured two former PDC World Champions with very contrasting outcomes. Peter Wright proved too strong for Graz local Zoran Lerchbacher and, although Snakebite was far from imperious, he advanced comfortably into Saturday’s action where reigning champion Martin Schindler awaits.
There was disappointment for the Barney Army as Raymond van Barneveld was brushed aside comfortably by Alan Soutar, handing the Scotsman back-to-back wins over Dutch opposition. Soots performed excellently, while the Dutch legend averaged below 80 – sadly one of his lowest returns on a PDC stage.
Another Dutchman now lies in wait for the firefighter in the shape of Danny Noppert.We then saw a repeat of a Players Championship clash from earlier in the week as Dirk van Duijvenbode took on Madars Razma.
A few days ago, The Aubergenius produced a nine-darter on his way to victory over the Latvian. This time, however, there was no magical leg and no victory either, despite Dirk producing a ton-plus average. Top seed Gian van Veen now awaits Madars in round two.
Completing the opening round, Ian White became England’s sole victor of the evening at the expense of former practice partner Smith. Neither player truly hit top gear but, after racing into a commanding 4-1 lead, the Stoke thrower utilised that advantage expertly and booked himself a second-round meeting with Daryl Gurney.
With the first stage now complete, the seeds enter the fray on Saturday and the quality level in Graz is about to rise dramatically. Plenty of big names safely navigated their way through Friday’s chaos, while a few notable casualties have already packed their bags.
If the opening day is anything to go by, the Austrian Darts Open could be heading towards a thrilling weekend.
2026 PDC AUSTRIAN DARTS OPEN – ET6
Graz, Austria (8-10 May)
ROUND ONE – Friday 8th May (Evening Session)
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Rob Owen 6-5 Joe Cullen
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
Alan Soutar 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljović 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith
ROUND TWO – Saturday 9th May (Afternoon Session)
Jermaine Wattimena v Andrew Gilding
Mike De Decker v Ryan Joyce
Rob Cross v William O’Connor
Ryan Searle v Kevin Doets
Ross Smith v Niels Zonneveld
Damon Heta v Cristo Reyes
Luke Woodhouse v Rob Owen
Chris Dobey v Kim Huybrechts
ROUND TWO – Saturday 9th May (Evening Session)
Daryl Gurney v Ian White
Josh Rock v Patrik Kovacs
James Wade v Mensur Suljović
Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert v Alan Soutar
Gian van Veen v Madars Razma
Martin Schindler v Peter Wright
Wessel Nijman v Niko Springer
—–Ends—–
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