There's yet another packed schedule of darting drama in the Austrian Darts Open on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The fourth European Tour event of the year got off to a fairly slow start on Friday. But some memorable performances, particularly those of Dimitri van den Bergh, Steve West and Luke Humphries, kept the Graz crowd entertained. Vying for the Austrian Darts Open crown are the 16 survivors of yesterday's action, plus the 16 seeds. Michael van Gerwen is out, so Peter Wright is the stand-in top seed. And, unless Max Hopp doubles up on his incredible German Darts Open victory, we'll see a third European Tour champion of the year.
Jason Cullen could face either his compatriot or his namesake in the last 16. But before meeting Steve Lennon or Joe Cullen, he must overcome wily veteran Mervyn King. Then Gerwyn Price meets Scott Taylor, who cruised past Simeon Heinz in the first round. Humphries looks to continue his fine form against Steve Beaton. After that comes the only man to beat Michael van Gerwen in a European Tour match this season. Stoke number one Ian White meets Brendan Dolan.
Cullen and Lennon meet in what could well be a high-scoring tie. Michael Smith follows them onto the stage, and faces John Henderson-slayer Michael Barnard, who has also enjoyed fine form in 2018. Rounding off the session are van den Bergh and Benito van de Pas. The Belgian will cause his seeded opponent all kinds of problems if he plays as he did on Friday. There are only seven afternoon ties. Thanks to Dave Chisnall's withdrawal, Wayne Jones progresses straight to a last 16 meeting with Price or Taylor. Play on day two begins at 12pm, and is live on PDC TV.
Jason Cullen could face either his compatriot or his namesake in the last 16. But before meeting Steve Lennon or Joe Cullen, he must overcome wily veteran Mervyn King. Then Gerwyn Price meets Scott Taylor, who cruised past Simeon Heinz in the first round. Humphries looks to continue his fine form against Steve Beaton. After that comes the only man to beat Michael van Gerwen in a European Tour match this season. Stoke number one Ian White meets Brendan Dolan.
Cullen and Lennon meet in what could well be a high-scoring tie. Michael Smith follows them onto the stage, and faces John Henderson-slayer Michael Barnard, who has also enjoyed fine form in 2018. Rounding off the session are van den Bergh and Benito van de Pas. The Belgian will cause his seeded opponent all kinds of problems if he plays as he did on Friday. There are only seven afternoon ties. Thanks to Dave Chisnall's withdrawal, Wayne Jones progresses straight to a last 16 meeting with Price or Taylor. Play on day two begins at 12pm, and is live on PDC TV.
Afternoon Session Schedule
Mervyn King vs Jason Cullen
Gerwyn Price vs Scott Taylor
Steve Beaton vs Luke Humphries
Ian White vs Brendan Dolan
Joe Cullen vs Steve Lennon
Michael Smith vs Michael Barnard
Benito van de Pas vs Dimitri van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price vs Scott Taylor
Steve Beaton vs Luke Humphries
Ian White vs Brendan Dolan
Joe Cullen vs Steve Lennon
Michael Smith vs Michael Barnard
Benito van de Pas vs Dimitri van den Bergh
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- 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
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026