The Austrian Darts Open might be cursed.
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Graz - Premstätten, to be exact - welcomes 48 players, but not the defending champion. Again. Phil Taylor won in 2016, but didn't return in 2017. Michael van Gerwen took up the mantle. But he's absent this year, meaning we'll see a new Austrian Darts Open champion in 2018. Following Max Hopp's stunning success at the German Darts Open, perhaps the race for Austrian glory is wide open.
The afternoon session on day one kicks off at 12pm, and is live on PDC TV. Stepping out in front of the cameras first is Brendan Dolan, who makes his 2018 European Tour bow. Opponent Alan Tabern is already a regular, having featured in the last two events. Following them is the Highlander, John Henderson, who rocks on to the Graz stage looking to seal a second round meeting with Michael Smith. Michael Barnard will want to beat the Scot and earn a match against his namesake.
Van Gerwen may not be present, but Ron Meulenkamp is one of four Dutchmen flying the flag. He meets German ace Gabriel Clemens, who has shown plenty of promise in recent months. Dietmar Burger last featured in the Austrian Darts Open in 2012. It was a different time. Two nine-darters were hit, and Justin Pipe won the tournament. Six years on, the home nation qualifier meets Wayne Jones.
Simeon Heinz and Scott Taylor aren't household names, but the two take centre stage with a match against Gerwyn Price at stake. Tamas Alexits and Jason Cullen, two more debutants, follow them. Darius Labanauskas is a first-timer too, but he is well-known. The Lithuanian is a regular on the BDO circuit. His quest to crack the PDC begins against Ritchie Edhouse. The winner will get to play Mensur Suljovic in front of a partisan crowd, which is quite the double-edged sword. In the final tie of the afternoon, Steve Lennon returns to action. He meets the one member of the Rodriguez family competing on home turf. Roxy-James will be hoping to do Rowby-John and Rusty-Jake proud.
The afternoon session on day one kicks off at 12pm, and is live on PDC TV. Stepping out in front of the cameras first is Brendan Dolan, who makes his 2018 European Tour bow. Opponent Alan Tabern is already a regular, having featured in the last two events. Following them is the Highlander, John Henderson, who rocks on to the Graz stage looking to seal a second round meeting with Michael Smith. Michael Barnard will want to beat the Scot and earn a match against his namesake.
Van Gerwen may not be present, but Ron Meulenkamp is one of four Dutchmen flying the flag. He meets German ace Gabriel Clemens, who has shown plenty of promise in recent months. Dietmar Burger last featured in the Austrian Darts Open in 2012. It was a different time. Two nine-darters were hit, and Justin Pipe won the tournament. Six years on, the home nation qualifier meets Wayne Jones.
Simeon Heinz and Scott Taylor aren't household names, but the two take centre stage with a match against Gerwyn Price at stake. Tamas Alexits and Jason Cullen, two more debutants, follow them. Darius Labanauskas is a first-timer too, but he is well-known. The Lithuanian is a regular on the BDO circuit. His quest to crack the PDC begins against Ritchie Edhouse. The winner will get to play Mensur Suljovic in front of a partisan crowd, which is quite the double-edged sword. In the final tie of the afternoon, Steve Lennon returns to action. He meets the one member of the Rodriguez family competing on home turf. Roxy-James will be hoping to do Rowby-John and Rusty-Jake proud.
Afternoon session schedule
Alan Tabern v Brendan Dolan
John Henderson v Michael Barnard
Ron Meulenkamp v Gabriel Clemens
Wayne Jones v Dietmar Burger
Scott Taylor v Simeon Heinz
Jason Cullen v Tamas Alexits
Ritchie Edhouse v Darius Labanauskas
Steve Lennon v Roxy-James Rodriguez
John Henderson v Michael Barnard
Ron Meulenkamp v Gabriel Clemens
Wayne Jones v Dietmar Burger
Scott Taylor v Simeon Heinz
Jason Cullen v Tamas Alexits
Ritchie Edhouse v Darius Labanauskas
Steve Lennon v Roxy-James Rodriguez
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- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026