Peter Wright & Dave Chisnall dumped out in Antwerp as seeds tumble on dramatic Saturday at Flanders Darts Trophy 2025

A dramatic Saturday afternoon at the 2025 Flanders Darts Trophy saw some of the tournament’s biggest names bow out early, most notably both defending champion Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright suffered heavy defeats at the Antwerp Expo.

Chisnall, the defending champion, never quite settled against Germany’s Leon Weber. The St Helens man had darts to win three of the first four legs, but wasteful finishing proved costly. Weber took advantage to open up a 4-1 lead, and although Chisnall briefly threatened a comeback with a flurry of 180s and a 102 finish, he missed crucial darts to level at 4-4. That let Weber off the hook, and the German eventually pinned tops to complete a memorable 6-4 victory and end Chisnall’s reign in Belgium.

If that wasn’t enough drama for the Antwerp crowd, two-time world champion Peter Wright was brushed aside by Luke Woodhouse. Wright, looking visibly leaner on stage, fell into a 3-0 hole early on as Woodhouse seized control with back-to-back breaks of throw. The onslaught continued as “Woody” stormed to a 5-0 lead and even missed a dart at the bull for a whitewash. Wright spared that indignity with a single leg, but there was no real fightback as Woodhouse closed out a dominant 6-1 win.

Josh Rock kept his Euro Tour hopes alive, but only just, after a dramatic clash with Karel Sedlacek. The Czech star raced into a 3-1 lead as Rock struggled to find rhythm, but the World Cup champion turned the contest around with a burst of power scoring to move 5-4 ahead.

Rock then missed three match darts in leg ten, allowing Sedlacek to force a decider with the advantage of throw. Both men had chances in the final leg, but when Sedlacek faltered, Rock held his nerve on double 8 to scrape through 6-5.

Former world champion Rob Cross also crashed out in Antwerp, falling to Mensur Suljovic in a topsy-turvy battle. Cross appeared in control when he stretched into a 4-2 lead, but the Austrian fought back superbly, taking out 82 to level the match at 5-5.

Both men missed darts for victory in the deciding leg before Suljovic finally landed double 4 to complete the comeback and book his spot in Sunday’s third round.

Chris Dobey’s Euro Tour campaign ended at the hands of Krzysztof Ratajski, who produced a composed performance to progress 6-3. After a cagey start, the Pole found his scoring power to break clear at 4-2 and never looked back, efficiently closing out the match and adding Dobey to the list of seeds falling in Antwerp.

Damon Heta impressed once again on the European stage with a 6-3 victory over Christian Kist. The Australian number one struck a brilliant 121 checkout early on and accelerated away mid-match, sealing victory with a 13-darter to book his place in the last 16.

In the final game of the evening, Danny Noppert prevailed in an all-Dutch clash with Dirk van Duijvenbode. In a tight contest where momentum swung this way and that, a missed dart at double 18 to force a deciding leg proved costly for Van Duijvenbode as Noppert punished on double top to seal the win.