Baltic Sea Darts Open Sunday Afternoon Round-up | Van Veen misses match dart against Chisnall as Evans impresses enroute to knocking out Wade

Not many big names were left in the hunt for the Baltic Sea Darts Open title. The two big names were Gian van Veen and James Wade who survived an obliteration of the seeds on day two.

Van Veen’s journey in Kiel would end in dramatic fashion. He won four legs on the spin to come back from 5-1 to force a decider against Dave Chisnall before missing a match dart and losing 6-5.

Similar to his match against Dimitr Van den Bergh, van Veen was sluggish out of the blocks, falling into a 2-0 deficit against the former champion. He got on the board but a clinical Chisnall reclaimed his two-leg advantage. ‘Chizzy’ pinned tops twice to inflict more misery on a baffled and annoyed van Veen. Chisnall took out 85 on tops to take a 5-1 lead. Van Veen took out 120 before overcoming three missed match darts by his opponent to break. A 12-darter closed the gap to one leg before a last-leg decider was called upon. Both players missed a match dart on tops. Van Veen's would be more pivotal as Chisnall did not make that same mistake, dumping out the number one seed in a hugely thrilling ending.

He was not the only big name to exit. Wade would succumb to a 6-4 defeat to a fabulous Ricky Evans. ‘Rapid’ pinned 75% of doubles and rarely gave Wade any breathing room in a fine showing.

The ton+ checkouts were flowing at the start. Evans took out 106 following Wade missing tops for that target which was backed up with a 120 outshot as he sailed into a 3-0 lead. Wade, whose doubling was not at the standards expected, missed tops for a 160 before pinning double 10 to get on the board. He remained behind Evans for the whole match as the clinical Englishman went one away from glory. Wade put him under pressure with some much-improved visits, but the extraordinary display on the outer ring for Evans secures him a first European Tour quarter-final since 2022.

Cameron Menzies and Damon Heta were two players who desperately needed ranking money to confirm their spot in the World Matchplay. First up was the Scot who was one of the best players over the opening two days. Nevertheless, his fortunes reversed with a dreadful 6-1 loss to Luke Woodhouse while averaging just over 81.

‘Woody’ stormed ahead into a resounding 5-0 lead with Menzies having had one dart at a double. While he faltered, Woodhouse was putting a very solid showing. He had two match darts for the whitewash, but Menzies would return and pin the bull for an 86 checkout and saw the funny side in it. Woodhouse saw it out in the next leg.

Menzies is still in the top 16 in the ProTour Order of Merit, but he has now fallen behind Heta by £500. The Aussie started like a rocket before stumbling over the finishing line in a 6-5 win over William O’Connor.

At the start it seemed like ‘The Heat’ would run away with it. He went three from three on the outer ring as a sluggish O’Connor never got started. After going 4-1 down, he woke up and started to get legs on the board. He took out 116 on double 18 before an 11-darter levelled the tie. Heta was averaging 107 but that had plummeted to 89. He managed to rally as a last-leg decider was called upon. O’Connor failed to get to a double from 100 and Heta pinned his first match dart on double 16, met by a huge amount of relief.

Ryan Joyce had seemingly almost done enough to get to Blackpool thanks to reaching this stage of the Baltic Sea Darts Open. He survived a late comeback attempt by Niko Springer in a 6-4 win.

Joyce showed his notorious doubling skills, pinning double 12 and 16 for 98 and 74 checkouts. He then reached the halfway point with Springer not even having had a dart at a double. He broke that duct with a 76 checkout before missed doubles proved costly. ‘Relentless’ took out 110 on double 16 after the German missed four on the outer ring. Two efforts adrift of double 12 opened the door once more for Joyce who broke and moved one away. It would be a very nervy ending as Joyce missed six match darts as Springer came charging back. However, he failed to force a last-leg decider as Joyce scraped through.

Wessel Nijman went into today as one of the favourites to lift the title at the end of the day. His impressive form over Ryan Searle continues with a seventh consecutive win over ‘Heavy Metal’ with a 6-3 win.

A 112 checkout by Searle got him level, but missed doubles at key times in the match would prove to be very costly. He missed a couple on double 10 as Nijman responded with an 80 checkout in two on that same target before backing up that break with a 76 outshot in two. Searle broke back after Nijman missed double five for a 130 before the Dutchman again snatched back the lead. He had no problem seeing it out and is the one to watch in the evening session in Kiel.

Kevin Doets is still searching for a maiden European Tour title. After losing the final in Graz, he is determined to get over the line. While not at his best in a 6-3 win over Justin Hood, he was still good enough to get over the line.

A three-leg burst halfway through the match saw ‘Hawkeye’ speed away. He went 5-2 ahead before the World Championship quarter-finalist before comfortably seeing it out as he starts thinking of glory in Kiel.

On his Euro Tour debut, Jimmy van Schie is having a blast. He came into the match against Sebastian Bialecki having dropped just one leg before this point. He saw off the Pole with a 6-4 win while denting his opponents hopes of an outside shot of debuting in Blackpool.

In truth, all the legs won were relatively comfortable. The person who had darts at a double first won the leg without reply. Van Schie went 2-0 ahead before Bialecki got level. The reigning WDF world champion then stormed back ahead and kept that advantage. He missed two match darts on double 16, one of which went into the seven segment. ‘Bolt’ could not start the 132, allowing van Schie to return and pin double eight.