Schedule Friday afternoon at International Darts Open with Rydz, Woodhouse, Menzies and Van Veen in action

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.

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.
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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Friday, April 4.

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