Baltic Sea Darts Open Saturday Evening Roundup | Seeds topple as Menzies and Bialecki heat up Matchplay race

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

'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.

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.