Tom Sykes enjoyed a dream European Tour debut with victory over Niko Springer at the inaugural Slovak Darts Open on Friday, as the race for World Matchplay qualification continued in Bratislava.
Day One of the year’s ninth European Tour event saw 16 opening round ties take place in the Slovakian capital, as Sykes stole the show on his big stage debut.
The 33-year-old has impressed since claiming his PDC Tour Card in January, and he reaffirmed his credentials with a sparkling 6-2 success against Hungarian Darts Trophy champion Springer.Sykes averaged 103.64, pinned 60% of his attempts at double and converted a sublime 148 checkout to set up a showdown against German number one Martin Schindler on Saturday.
“That felt good,” admitted Sykes, who sealed victory with a clinical 103 kill.
“It’s always nice when it works out! I know I’ve got the game to beat anyone. We’ll see what happens tomorrow; hopefully it’s the same again.”
Tyler Thorpe also delivered the goods in Bratislava, celebrating his maiden European Tour victory with a comprehensive 6-2 triumph against Karel Sedlacek.The 23-year-old averaged 103.30 and crashed in four 180s to move through to a meeting against Chris Dobey, while also dealing a blow to Sedlacek’s hopes of World Matchplay qualification.
“I’m just over the moon to be fair,” revealed Thorpe, featuring in his second European Tour event.
“I love the attention, the crowd, all the noise. It’s completely different to anything.
“If I can do it for the rest of the weekend, who knows how far I can go. Hopefully I can do it again, and again, and again, and we will see how far it goes.”
Jim Long joined Sykes and Thorpe in recording a milestone win at the Incheba Expo, dispatching Daryl Gurney 6-1 to register his first win on the European Tour stage.
The Canadian veteran will now take on Nathan Aspinall for a place in the last 16, while Kevin Doets faces Australian number one Damon Heta, after averaging north of 102 in his 6-3 win over Owen Bates.
The Slovak Darts Open continues from 1200 BST on Saturday, as the seeded stars – including Dutch duo Van Veen and Van Gerwen – enter the fray on Day Two.
Live coverage will be streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with additional coverage available on CANAL+ SPORT 5 and via the CANAL+ streaming service in Poland.
Coverage will also be broadcast on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers worldwide.
2026 Slovak Darts Open
Friday June 19
Round One
Afternoon Session
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-5 Justin Hood
Tyler Thorpe 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Mervyn King
Kevin Doets 6-3 Owen Bates
Niels Zonneveld 6-1 Jan Sliacky
William O’Connor 6-3 Jeffrey de Graaf
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Johan Engstrom
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Adrian Dudek
Evening Session
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Keane Barry
Rob Cross 6-3 Juraj Holub
Jim Long 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Tom Sykes 6-2 Niko Springer
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Gabriel Varaljay
Joe Cullen 6-3 Peter Kelemen
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Saturday June 20
Round Two
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Mike De Decker v William O’Connor
Damon Heta v Kevin Doets
Wessel Nijman v Benjamin Pratnemer
Danny Noppert v Madars Razma
Jermaine Wattimena v Dave Chisnall
Chris Dobey v Tyler Thorpe
Ryan Searle v Kim Huybrechts
Luke Woodhouse v Andrew Gilding
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Nathan Aspinall v Jim Long
Martin Schindler v Tom Sykes
Gerwyn Price v Cameron Menzies
Gian van Veen v Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Jonny Clayton v Ryan Joyce
Stephen Bunting v Niels Zonneveld
Ross Smith v Joe Cullen
—–ENDS—–
Paul Targyik/PDC Europe
