16/10/2021

Suljovic delights home crowd with decider-win over Hempel

Mensur Suljovic is the last player to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. The Gentle won in front of his own audience in Salzburg with 10-9 against Florian Hempel.

Suljovic made it unnecessarily difficult for himself against Hempel. The Austrian had a 9-6 lead, but was not out within five turns in the sixteenth leg. In the seventeenth leg, Suljovic missed his first two match darts and Hempel closed the gap to 9-8 as he hit double 9. Suljovic missed another two match darts and Hempel used a 56 check-out to force a deciding leg. In a nervous last leg, Suljovic won the match by making use of his eighth matchdart via tops.

The four quarter-finals will be played on Sunday afternoon. Suljovic will take on Joe Cullen. The tie of the afternoon is between Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen, the world numbers one and three. With Danny Noppert there is a second Dutchman in the tournament. He meets Nathan Aspinall, while Rob Cross takes on José de Sousa.