Baltic Sea Darts Open Saturday Evening Roundup | Seeds topple as Menzies and Bialecki heat up Matchplay race
PDC
Only two seeds came through the Saturday evening session at the 2026 Baltic Sea Darts Open, in what is now a wide open draw heading into Sunday.
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James Wade and Gian van Veen lived up to their billing as the seeded players, but the likes of Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall failed to progress past their opening games tonight.
William O'Connor got the action underway with a stylish 6-2 crushing of Danny Noppert. 'The Freeze' appeared to be throwing new darts tonight but failed to use them to great effect as his scoring struggled through the match. 'The Magpie' doubled at 50% including a sensational 128 out, reeling off four legs on the spin from 1-1 to put himself a leg away from victory, which he secured comfortably in the end. It will be a battle of World Cup captains tomorrow as he faces Australian number one Damon Heta.
Sebastian Bialecki continued his push for a Blackpool bow today in a high-quality win over Chris Dobey. 'Bolt' averaged north of 98 in a match which saw no less than seven 180s hit, and he got over the line with a magical 136 checkout to book a date with debutant Jimmy van Schie tomorrow.
The Pole needs a first run to the semi-finals of a Euro Tour to put himself in a provisional spot after this weekend, but a win over 'The Dutch Sequoia' puts him in good stead heading into next week's Players Championship events in Milton Keynes.
Bialecki's win over Dobey could be an important one come the World Matchplay cut-off
James Wade was one of only two seeded players to win tonight, but it was a confident victory for 'The Machine' over Niels Zonneveld. A showstopping 164 out was the highlight, but Wade's scoring was the better of the pair as both struggled otherwise on the outer ring.
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He faces Ricky Evans in an all English derby tomorrow as the world number six looks to make back-to-back Sunday evening sessions on the Euro Tour for the first time this season.
Menzies impresses again
Cameron Menzies continued his impressive form on the European circuit as well tonight with a victory over Stephen Bunting. 'Cammy' was assured in victory, in a game which saw the number three seed miss eleven darts at double through the match.
The Scot took advantage of this fact, doubling at 46% himself, with a 148 checkout to boot, to seal his spot in Sunday's action and put himself £4000 clear of the World Matchplay cut off.
Notwithstanding the race to the Winter Gardens, the matchup between Nathan Aspinall and Kevin Doets, two in-form players on the Euro Tour, seemed to be the game of the night. What many won't have expected, however, was a slog of a match with both players averaging under the ninety mark.
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'Hawkeye' was the better player throughout, and even though 'The Asp' hit every single one of his darts at double, his below-par scoring allowed the Dutchman to capitalise and secure a routine 6-3 victory over the number one player on this circuit last year.
The only other seeded player to progress from the Saturday evening session was Gian van Veen, who won his first ever Euro Tour game as the number one seed in an event. Dimitri van den Bergh was admirable in his perseverance, given his struggles both on and off the oche of late, but 'The Giant' mounted an extraordinary comeback from 5-2 down to secure the win and move into Sunday's action.
Nonetheless, 'The Dreammaker' had a lot to like about that performance, with an average above 90 and important ground made towards his World Championship and Tour Card hopes.
Van den Bergh was impressive in defeat
German contrast
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The final two games of the night saw two German players in action, and it was contrasting performances from both. Martin Schindler struggled against Ryan Joyce, in a game in which neither could find their groove on the outer ring.
'Relentless' eventually got over the line in a game which served the full distance, but both player's scoring made up for a poor display on the doubles and Joyce will have to be much improved tomorrow afternoon against Niko Springer.
'Meenzer Bub' had the performance of the night to close out the session, averaging 102 in a superlative display over Ross Smith. 'Smudger' had just won his first European Tour event of his career last week in Riesa, but could barely contain the Mainz thrower who looked unstoppable from start to finish with a 100 checkout, an eleven darter and a steady doubles rate of 40%.
The Baltic Sea Darts Open continues tomorrow from the earlier start time of 11am GMT on PDC.TV, with DartsNews.com keeping you posted on all the action with our liveblogs and reports.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- 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