Mensur Suljovic progressed through to the second round on home soil as he dumped Cameron Menzies out of the Austrian Darts Open on Friday.
The Austrian delighted his adoring crowd with a ruthless display, pinning 75 per cent of his attempts at double to celebrate a resounding 6-2 victory.
Suljovic made a semi-final and a quarter-final during this week’s ProTour double-header in Hildesheim, and he built on that momentum to set up a showdown against third seed James Wade in the second round.
Ian White claimed a major scalp in the form of 2023 world champion Michael Smith, running out a 6-4 victor to set up a meeting against Daryl Gurney for a place in the last 16.
Dave Chisnall was another high-profile casualty on Friday evening, losing 6-3 to Spain’s Cristo Reyes.
Elsewhere, Peter Wright swept aside Austrian veteran Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 to register his first European Tour victory in 2026, which sees him through to face defending champion Martin Schindler on Saturday.
Alan Soutar also triumphed 6-2, seeing off a dismal display from Raymond van Barneveld.
Raymond van Barneveld was dumped out in the first round by Alan Soutar
There were mixed fortunes elsewhere among the Dutch contingent in Graz, with Dirk van Duijvenbode succumbing at the expense of Latvia’s Madars Razma, despite averaging over a ton in defeat.
Razma’s reward is a clash against top seed Gian van Veen, while Niels Zonneveld will face last year’s runner-up Ross Smith after piling in a magical 135 checkout to sink James Hurrell in a decider.
Kevin Doets also impressed, averaging 99 to dump out his quick-fire compatriot Chris Landman, having celebrated his maiden PDC ranking title at Players Championship 11 on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Niko Springer landed a trio of ton-plus checkouts – including a fabulous 167 – to seal a 6-3 victory over Nick Kenny, and Wessel Nijman now awaits the German in a fascinating tussle.
However, Springer’s fellow countrymen Gabriel Clemens and Ricardo Pietreczko crashed out at the first hurdle, losing out to Ryan Joyce and Hungarian qualifier Patrik Kovacs respectively.
Poland Krzysztof Ratajski came through a stiff test against Aaron Hardy to set up a blockbuster showdown against three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen on Saturday, who will be among the star attractions on day two in Graz.
2026 Austrian Darts Open schedule/results
Friday May 8
Round 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
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 Suljovic 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith
Saturday May 9
Round Two
Afternoon Session (1300 local 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
Evening Session (1900 local 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 May 10
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Round Three
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
