"You have all paid to come and see the darts": Chris Dobey pleads with whistling 'idiots' after Austrian Darts Open win

Chris Dobey impressively qualified for the third round of the Austrian Darts Open in Graz. The Englishman defeated Ricardo Pietreczko with a resounding 6-1 victory, despite disturbing whistling sounds from the crowd.

Dobey threw an average of no less than 105 and crowned his performance with a brilliant 124-finish. Still, the atmosphere in the arena was far from ideal: some spectators tried to take both players out of their concentration by constantly whistling.

Afterwards, Dobey spoke out clearly about the crowd's behavior. “You get a few idiots in the crowd who try and put you both off. It put me off at the start and it put him off at the latter stages of games.   

“All I can say is respect the guys on here. You have all paid to come and see the darts so just be respectful.”  

The victory marked the end of a string of seven consecutive defeats on the European Tour for Dobey. “I keep bumping into Jermaine Wattimena who gives us an absolute hiding every single time," he joked. "I’m comfortable at where my game is now. It’s about time I come up on stage here and produce the game that I can. It’s nice to be winning.”

Dobey had a strong start to the season with a final at the second Players Championship and a win at Players Championship 3. Yet his form fell a bit after that, until he gave an important signal of intent last week by winning the 11th night of the Premier League in Rotterdam. Currently, the 34-year-old Bedlington player is seventh in the Premier League standings, five points from a spot in the playoffs.

Now waiting in the Last 16 of the Austrian Open is young Dutchman Wessel Nijman. Dobey is looking forward to the encounter, but knows he will have to hit the ground running.

“He is a great player and an upcoming talent," he added. "We have had many games already. He was one of the players to beat me on the Euro Tour and I will be looking for my revenge.”