Mensur Suljovic advanced to the second round on home soil at the Austrian Darts Open on Friday when he ousted Cameron Menzies.
The Austrian delighted his adoring crowd with his ruthless play, hitting 75% of his double attempts to celebrate a stunning 6-2 victory.
Suljovic played in the semifinals and quarterfinals of a ProTour doubleheader in Hildesheim this week, and built on that momentum to set up a showdown with third seed James Wade in the second round.
Michael Smith suffered a disappointing first round loss in Austria.
Ian White picked up a major win in the form of 2023 world champion Michael Smith, who won 6-4 to set up a meeting with Daryl Gurney for a place in the last 16.
Dave Chisnall was another notable casualty on Friday evening, losing 6-3 to Spain’s Cristo Reyes.
Elsewhere, Peter Wright recorded his first European Tour win of 2026 with a 6-2 win over Austrian veteran Zoran Lerchbacher and will face defending champion Martin Schindler on Saturday.
Alan Soutar also saw off some dismal play from Raymond van Barneveld to make it 6-2.
Raymond van Barneveld was eliminated in the first round by Alan Soutar.
There was mixed luck among the Dutch contingent in Graz, with Dirk van Duijvenbode succumbing at the expense of Latvia’s Madars Razma despite losing an average of more than a ton.
Razma’s reward is a clash with top seed Gian van Veen, while Niels Zonneveld will face last year’s runner-up Ross Smith after piling up a magical 135 checkout to sink James Hurrell in the decider.
Kevin Doets also impressed, averaging 99 to edge out Chris Landman, who won his first PDC rankings title at Players Championship 11 on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Niko Springer recorded a massive three-man checkout, including a stunning 167, to secure a 6-3 win over Nick Kenny, and now Wessel Nijman awaits the German in a fascinating fight.
However, Springer’s teammates Gabriel Clemens and Ricardo Pietreczko crashed at the first hurdle, losing to Ryan Joyce and Hungarian qualifier Patrik Kovacs respectively.
Polish Krzysztof Ratajski passed a stern test against Aaron Hardy to set up a blockbuster showdown with three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen on Saturday, and he will be one of the star attractions on day two in Graz.
2026 Austria Darts Open Schedule/Results
Friday May 8th
1st round
afternoon session
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Patrick Kovac 6-4 Riccardo Pietrecco
Nils Zonneveld 6-5 James Hurrell
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Nick Zwittnigg
William O’Connor 6-3 Anton Ostlund
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Aaron Hardy
Nico Springer 6-3 Nick Kenny
Kevin Doets 6-3 Chris Landman
evening session
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Dave Chisnall
Rob Owen 6-5 Joe Cullen
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
Alan Soutar 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith
Saturday May 9th
Round 2
Afternoon session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Jermaine Wattimina v Andrew Gilding
Mike De Decker vs Ryan Joyce
Rob Cross v William O’Connor
Ryan Sully v Kevin Dotz
Ross Smith v Nils Sonneveld
Damon Heta v Cristo Reyes
Luke Woodhouse v Rob Owen
Chris Dovey v Kim Huibrechts
Evening session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Darryl Gurney v Ian White
Josh Lock v Patrick Kovacs
James Wade from Mensur Suljovic
Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noffert v Alan Souttar
Gian van Binh v Madars Rajma
Martin Schindler vs Peter Wright
Wessel Nijman → Niko Springer
Sunday May 10th
Afternoon session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Round 3
Evening session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
quarterfinal
semifinal
critical
