Austrian Darts Open 2019 preview and schedule - Saturday afternoon session

The seeds come into play for the Saturday afternoon session of the Austrian Darts Open.

Starting the weekend off right in Graz is Ricky Evans. How far Rapid has come. The Englishman comes into the Austrian Darts Open as a seed. Not only that, but few players have been in better form than him in Europe this year. When it comes to this tournament, Darius Labanauskas is the form horse. After averaging just shy of 104 in a 6-1 battering of Michael Rasztovits, he has Evans in his sights. Second on the bill is another of Friday's 6-1 victors. Mark Webster is in super form. Coming up next for him is Joe Cullen. That's followed by an all-English affair, with Michael Smith facing a dangerous foe in the form of Steve Beaton. Boris Koltsov gets another crack at a seed after sneaking past Johan Engstrom. He'll need to take it up a notch or four if he's going to touch Daryl Gurney.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Clayton's defence begins

A really interesting tie opens up the second half of the afternoon games. Nathan Aspinall had a tricky opening tie against Kim Huybrechts; he ended up blowing the Hurricane away. The UK Open champion is capable of some big averages. So too is opponent Dave Chisnall, who is only a couple of well-timed doubles away from glory at any time. It doesn't get any easier for whoever wins, with Gurney, Cullen and Adrian Lewis in their quarter of the draw.
A year ago, Jonny Clayton powered his way to glory in Graz, picking up a trophy and a handsome jacket. He can probably keep the jacket, but the trophy and title as Austrian Darts Open holder could soon be surrendered. His bid to stop that begins against Tytus Kanik.
Adrian Lewis is an event winner already this year, having won Players Championship 8. He'll continue on his path back to the very top if he can translate that into stage success. A run at the Austrian Darts Open begins against Ryan Searle, who put Diogo Portela out with minimal fuss on Friday.
Another English double act ends the afternoon's play. Darren Webster is the world number 13, and the 16th seed; Stephen Bunting is the non-seed outside the world's top 16. On recent form, you would definitely not have it this way around. One of the two will play Michael van Gerwen next. It'll be Webster, unless Bunting steps up from a long slog against Patrick van den Boogaard in round one.
Click here to check out the PDC European Tour 2019 tournament centre.

Afternoon session schedule:

12:00 Ricky Evans v Darius Labanauskas 12:30 Joe Cullen v Mark Webster 13:00 Michael Smith v Steve Beaton 13:30 Daryl Gurney v Boris Koltsov 14:00 Dave Chisnall v Nathan Aspinall 14:30 Jonny Clayton v Tytus Kanik 15:00 Adrian Lewis v Ryan Searle 15:30 Darren Webster v Stephen Bunting

Photo: Michael Braunschädel/PDC Europe