Mensur Suljovic progressed via to the second spherical on house soil as he dumped Cameron Menzies out of the Austrian Darts Open on Friday.
The Austrian delighted his adoring crowd with a ruthless show, pinning 75 per cent of his makes an attempt at double to rejoice a powerful 6-2 victory.
Suljovic made a semi-final and a quarter-final throughout this week’s ProTour double-header in Hildesheim, and he constructed on that momentum to arrange a showdown in opposition to third seed James Wade within the second spherical.
Ian White claimed a significant scalp within the type of 2023 world champion Michael Smith, working out a 6-4 victor to arrange a gathering in opposition to Daryl Gurney for a spot within the final 16.
Dave Chisnall was one other high-profile casualty on Friday night, shedding 6-3 to Spain’s Cristo Reyes.
Elsewhere, Peter Wright swept apart Austrian veteran Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 to register his first European Tour victory in 2026, which sees him via to face defending champion Martin Schindler on Saturday.
Alan Soutar additionally triumphed 6-2, seeing off a dismal show from Raymond van Barneveld.
Raymond van Barneveld was dumped out within the first spherical by Alan Soutar
There have been combined fortunes elsewhere among the many Dutch contingent in Graz, with Dirk van Duijvenbode succumbing on the expense of Latvia’s Madars Razma, regardless of averaging over a ton in defeat.
Razma’s reward is a conflict in opposition to prime seed Gian van Veen, whereas Niels Zonneveld will face final yr’s runner-up Ross Smith after piling in a magical 135 checkout to sink James Hurrell in a decider.
Kevin Doets additionally impressed, averaging 99 to dump out his quick-fire compatriot Chris Landman, having celebrated his maiden PDC rating title at Gamers Championship 11 on Monday.
Earlier within the day, Niko Springer landed a trio of ton-plus checkouts – together with a wonderful 167 – to seal a 6-3 victory over Nick Kenny, and Wessel Nijman now awaits the German in an enchanting tussle.
Nonetheless, Springer’s fellow countrymen Gabriel Clemens and Ricardo Pietreczko crashed out on the first hurdle, shedding out to Ryan Joyce and Hungarian qualifier Patrik Kovacs respectively.
Poland Krzysztof Ratajski got here via a stiff check in opposition to Aaron Hardy to arrange a blockbuster showdown in opposition to three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen on Saturday, who will probably be among the many star points of interest on day two in Graz.
2026 Austrian Darts Open schedule/outcomes
Friday Could 8
Spherical One
Afternoon Session
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Patrik Kovacs 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 James Hurrell
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Nick Zwittnigg
William O’Connor 6-3 Anton Ostlund
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Aaron Hardy
Niko Springer 6-3 Nick Kenny
Kevin Doets 6-3 Chris Landman
Night 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 Suljovic 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith
Saturday Could 9
Spherical Two
Afternoon Session (1300 native time, 1200 BST)
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
Night Session (1900 native time, 1800 BST)
Daryl Gurney v Ian White
Josh Rock v Patrik Kovacs
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic
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
Sunday Could 10
Afternoon Session (1300 native time, 1200 BST)
Spherical Three
Night Session (1900 native time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Closing
