Schedule Friday afternoon at International Darts Open with Rydz, Woodhouse, Menzies and Van Veen in action
PDC
The European Tour circuit is visiting Riesa, Germany, this weekend to host the tenth edition of the International Darts Open. On Friday afternoon, the first eight matches of the first round will be played.
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In 2015, Michael Smith became the first winner of the International Darts Open, while Mensur Suljovic (2016) and Peter Wright (2017) won subsequent editions. Then the Gerwyn Price era dawned, in which the Welshman came out on top in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. In between, Joe Cullen took the title in 2020. In 2021, the tournament was cancelled due to the corona pandemic. In 2024, Martin Schindler surprisingly crowned himself the winner of the International Darts Open in Riesa. The German won his first-ever Euro Tour title by beating Price 8-5 in the final.
Follow the 2025 International Darts Open also via our live scores!
Follow the 2025 International Darts Open also via our live scores!
In the first match of the tournament Wessel Nijman will face Radek Szaganski. For Nijman it will be his third Euro Tour of the season, after reaching the second round at the Belgian Darts Open earlier this year and finishing in the last 16 at the European Darts Trophy. Szaganski is playing his first Euro Tour tournament of the year, and only the fifth of his career. Not a good omen for the Pole is that he has never managed to win a match on the Euro Tour circuit. The winner of this encounter will meet Chris Dobey in the second round.
Callan Rydz is next and faces Mario Vandenbogaerde who will have a chance to rack up important pounds for the rankings. Rydz was there last month at the European Darts Trophy, but lost in Göttingen in the first round. It will be the fourth time Vandenbogaerde and Rydz meet, two of the three previous encounters were won by the Belgian.
Petr Krivka will make his debut on the Euro Tour circuit on Friday afternoon. The dart player from the Czech Republic secured a spot on the International Darts Open by winning the qualifying tournament for Eastern European players. He now gets to prove himself against Ritchie Edhouse, the 2024 European Championship winner. Edhouse has already raked in the pounds at the Euro Tours this season. The Englishman reached the last sixteen in Wieze, and reached the second round at the European Darts Trophy.
Kevin Knopf is the first German player to make his appearance at this International Darts Open. It is not his first Euro Tour, as he already got to compete in an event once in 2019. Then he won over Scott Taylor in the opening round of the German Darts Championship, before Knopf lost to Adrian Lewis in the second round. However, Knopf did throw an average of under eighty in both matches. His opponent is Scotland's Cameron Menzies, who reached a final on the Players Championship circuit this week for the fourth time in less than a year. Menzies fell short of his second PDC title, but proved once again that 'Cammy', who recently managed to reach the last eight in Göttingen, is increasingly to be reckoned with.
Michael van Gerwen won't await the winner after withdrawing on Thursday.
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Andrew Gilding and William O'Connor follow albeit its not Michael van Gerwen who faces the winner, it is Richard Veenstra. 'Goldfinger' has not lost in the first round of any Pro Tour tournament yet this season. The Englishman is therefore racking up his pounds each time, and has already reached a semifinal and a quarterfinal at the Players Championship tournaments. William O'Connor also started the new season strongly. 'The Magpie' made it to the last sixteen at the UK Open and reached two quarter-finals at the floor tournaments. Not only the results are fine, but the Irishman's level is a lot better than last year. His annual average is currently a point and a half higher than in 2024.
Another interesting duel is the one between Luke Woodhouse and Matt Campbell. The latter made his return to the Euro Tour earlier this year at the Belgian Darts Open after missing 2024 on the European circuit. Campbell did well in Wieze and made it to the last sixteen with wins over Cameron Menzies and Peter Wright. His upcoming opponent Woodhouse also made it to the last sixteen at the Belgian Darts Open. The Shed recorded victories over Cedric Waegemans and Gary Anderson. Although Woodhouse and Campbell have been on the circuit for several years, they never faced each other in the past.
Gian van Veen has started the season spectacularly and managed to win his very first Pro Tour title last month, after losing the final a day earlier. At his two previous Euro Tours this season, Van Veen reached the last 32 and last 16, respectively. His opponent Paul Goyer is there for the first time on the Euro Tour. The German was one of four players to secure a starting spot via the Host Nation Qualifier.
The afternoon session will conclude with a meeting between Ryan Searle and Darius Labanauskas, set for a duel against Stephen Bunting in the second round. Labanauskas competed in Belgium earlier this season, but did not make it past the first round then. However, the Lithuanian did show form recently by winning two Challenge Tour tournaments in one weekend. Searle started the season a little less sparkling than we are used to from him in recent years. 'Heavy Metal' did win one Players Championship tournament already this year, but reports less frequently in the final stages of a tournament. Last year Searle was in the quarterfinals at eight of the thirteen Euro Tours, this year the tally still stands at two second rounds.
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TV Guide
The tournament will be broadcast by PDC TV. As is customary with Euro Tour tournaments, the International Darts Open consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start daily at 12 p.m., while the evening sessions start at 6 p.m.
The first round will take place on Friday, where the 16 Pro Tour players will face 16 players who emerged from the various qualifying tournaments. The winners of these matches will face a player from the top-16 of the world rankings in the second round on Saturday. The third round will be played on Sunday afternoon, before the quarterfinals, semifinals and final are completed on Sunday evening.
Distribution of prize money
All entrants starting from the first round are guaranteed £1250 in prize money, while the top 16 enter from the second round and receive £2,500 anyway. This amount eventually rises to the grand prize of £30,000 for the winner.
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An important detail is that players who are automatically seeded via the Order of Merit and lose their first match will not be awarded prize money on the various rankings. This does apply to qualifiers who are later designated as seeded by the withdrawal of others.
Schedule International Darts Open 2025
Friday, April 4.
First round
Afternoon session (from 12 p.m.)
Wessel Nijman v Radek Szaganski
Callan Rydz v Mario Vandenbogaerde
Ritchie Edhouse v Petr Krivka
Cameron Menzies v Kevin Knopf
Andrew Gilding v William O'Connor
Luke Woodhouse v Matt Campbell
Gian van Veen v Paul Goyer
Ryan Searle v Darius Labanauskas
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Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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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