Steve Beaton denied showdown with Luke Littler in final Euro Tour as Van Duijvenbode and Ratajski reach second round at German Darts Championship 2024

The opening session of the 2024 German Darts Championship has reached a close and it's sadly the end of the road on the European Tour for Steve Beaton.

Dylan Slevin disrupted Steve Beaton's final tournament on the European Tour by beating 'The Bronzed Adonis' 6-4. The Englishman is retiring from the PDC circuit after this season and failed to qualify for the remaining four Euro Tours. Beaton came back to 4-4 after a 3-0 deficit, but lost 6-4 to his Irish opponent.

Elsewhere, Dirk van Duijvenbode is slowly getting back on his feet after the Dutchman struggled for months with a persistent shoulder injury. At times, we are again seeing the Van Duijvenbode who often played a role in the final stages of PDC tournaments. Dolan surprisingly won a Players Championship tournament in May, but after that 'The History Maker' hardly manages to achieve any appealing results. In the last eleven ranking tournaments, Dolan only got past the last 32 once. This match saw the form level of both players return. Van Duijvenbode delivered a fine match with an average of 96.30, while Dolan posted a showing of only 81.25.

Van Duijvenbode managed to force a break lead in the fourth leg via a 13-darter and then brought the score to 4-1 via tops. Dolan responded with a 14-darter to cut the deficit to 2-4, but then saw Van Duijvenbode decide the match with a 17-darter and a 95 finish.

Krzysztof Ratajski will also return in the second round of the Euro Tour tournament in Hildesheim. 'The Polish Eagle' dealt with Dragutin Horvat (6-3), while Stephen Burton was 6-4 too strong for Boris Krcmar.

Friday night the last eight duels from the first round of the German Darts Championship will be played. Among others, Maik Kuivenhoven, Raymond van Barneveld and Dimitri van den Bergh will then make their appearance.