Dobey averages over 100 in victory and Suljovic delights home crowd as first round of the Austrian Darts Open concludes

As the opening round of the 2023 Austrian Darts Open concludes, Chris Dobey and Mensur Suljovic were the final men to secure a return on Saturday thanks to wins over Vitezslav Sedlak and Ricky Evans.

Premier League player Chris Dobey was a big favourite against Czech qualifier Vitezslav Sedlak. Hollywood showed why as well in the opening leg with a comfortable 12-dart hold. A few moments later however he was in trouble. Sedlak firing in back-to-back 14-darters to lead 2-1. Showing his Premier League quality though, Dobey raised his level and survived a valiant effort from the Czech to seal a 6-3 win.

Closing out the first round in Graz was Ricky Evans taking on Austrian hero Mensur Suljovic. In front of an adoring crowd, Suljovic delighted his compatriots by breaking the Evans throw in the opening leg of the match.

With Evans getting himself on the board at 2-1, the Englishman taunted the crowd by putting his fingers in his ears. In what you could sense was a massive leg, both players missed opportunities to take the sixth leg before Evans eventually levelled things up at 3-3 much to the disdain of the Austrian crowd.

As the pressure mounted in a cauldron of emotion in Graz, both players were clearly feeling the heat. Much to the delight of the packed-out crowd though it was Suljovic who prevailed 6-4.