Suljovic eases past Menzies to lift home crowd as Austrian Darts Open begins

[p]The Austrian favourite thrilled the home crowd at the Stadthalle with a tidy display, hitting 75% of his doubles in a 6-2 win that set up a second-round meeting with third seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wade-james/MRrXjBAB/"]James Wade[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suljovic-mensur/Y73gOXrH/"]Suljovic[/a] has shown encouraging form in recent days, reaching a semi-final and a quarter-final during the week’s ProTour events in Hildesheim, and carried that momentum into Friday night.[/p][p][b]“That was absolutely brilliant,” [/b]Suljovic said. [b]“I love this crowd. This is my family! Thank you!”[/b][/p][embed guid="53a3ae07-4fbe-4029-a66f-733f0f2a3765" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2052842004019617885?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wright-peter/C4FCwGRt/"]Peter Wright[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/soutar-alan/0lKCTRWo/"]Alan Soutar[/a] kept Scottish interest alive with convincing 6-2 victories.[/p][p]Wright brushed aside Austria’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lerchbacher-zoran/dlUnOsx6/"]Zoran Lerchbacher[/a] for his first European Tour win of 2026 and will now face defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schindler-martin/pWemrnqQ/"]Martin Schindler[/a].[/p][p]Soutar took advantage of a poor performance by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-barneveld-raymond/QyLUYvr0/"]Raymond van Barneveld[/a] to book a meeting with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noppert-danny/YmMfGEz0/"]Danny Noppert[/a].[/p][image alt="Wright celebrates" id="4203a65c-be79-4cac-85bf-00809d9a448b" credit-line="Paul Targyik / PDC Europe" guid="33c6b196-3025-4d68-82b8-b308be969d5d" original-width="2000" original-height="1333" /][p]The Netherlands' [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-duijvenbode-dirk/fVUrttSI/"]Dirk van Duijvenbode[/a] averaged more than 100 but lost to Latvia’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/razma-madars/lOQ21egl/"]Madars Razma[/a], who now faces top seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-veen-gian/jgT1AT29/"]Gian van Veen[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zonneveld-niels/MeTrr5Fk/"]Niels Zonneveld[/a] produced a 135 checkout in a deciding leg to edge [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hurrell-james/MyZIvXlC/"]James Hurrell[/a] and set up a tie against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-ross/l8mIsYNm/"]Ross Smith[/a], while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doets-kevin/I14LCcyQ/"]Kevin Doets[/a] impressed in a 6-3 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/landman-chris/nw74jHuL/"]Chris Landman[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/white-ian/dfSLOM9A/"]Ian White[/a] defeated former world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-michael/fuylyQpD/"]Michael Smith[/a] 6-4 and will play [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gurney-daryl/UBbHHv2p/"]Daryl Gurney[/a] for a place in the last 16.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chisnall-dave/vRDFv29c/"]Dave Chisnall[/a] was another notable casualty, losing 6-3 to Spain’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/reyes-cristo/Wd5006ea/"]Cristo Reyes[/a] after struggling on the doubles.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/owen-robert/G2KmKWoi/"]Rob Owen[/a] resisted a late [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cullen-joe/A5nTHxhe/"]Joe Cullen[/a] comeback for a deciding-leg win on his first European Tour appearance of the year.[/p][p]Earlier in the day, Germany’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/springer-niko/t6zcTJUa/"]Niko Springer[/a] produced three ton-plus finishes in a 6-3 victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kenny-nick/jFcDETH7/"]Nick Kenny[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joyce-ryan/tYs5VMm6/"]Ryan Joyce[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kovacs-patrik/rP2qV8kM/"]Patrik Kovacs[/a] knocked out German pair [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clemens-gabriel/fNei7lJH/"]Gabriel Clemens[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pietreczko-ricardo/MFLqi6fl/"]Ricardo Pietreczko[/a], respectively.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/huybrechts-kim/OQVnQ1fc/"]Kim Huybrechts[/a] boosted his hopes of World Matchplay qualification with a 6-3 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sedlacek-karel/MgQ7sJG9/"]Karel Sedlacek[/a] and will next face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dobey-chris/dWj1FjDn/"]Chris Dobey[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-connor-william/pSbuZfV4/"]William O’Connor[/a] also progressed after beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ostlund-anton/UBhCJip5/"]Anton Ostlund[/a] and will now take on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cross-rob/zs8lbtNH/"]Rob Cross[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gilding-andrew/x2eT5hRq/"]Andrew Gilding[/a] overcame Austrian debutant [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bell-nicky/INQBozdA/"]Nick Zwittnigg[/a], while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ratajski-krzysztof/jNZjSeIT/"]Krzysztof Ratajski[/a] defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hardy-aaron/OWwGp6C0/"]Aaron Hardy[/a] to set up a meeting with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-gerwen-michael/SU4UkKsm/"]Michael van Gerwen[/a].[/p][p]The tournament continues on Saturday afternoon, when the 16 seeded players enter the fray in Graz.[/p][h2]Results & fixtures[/h2][p][b]Afternoon session - round one[/b][/p][p]Ryan Joyce 6-3 Gabriel Clemens[/p][p]Patrik Kovacs 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko[/p][p]Niels Zonneveld 6-5 James Hurrell[/p][p]Andrew Gilding 6-4 Nick Zwittnigg[/p][p]William O'Connor 6-3 Anton Ostlund[/p][p]Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Aaron Hardy[/p][p]Niko Springer 6-3 Nick Kenny[/p][p]Kevin Doets 6-3 Chris Landman[/p][p][b]Evening session - round one[/b][/p][p]Cristo Reyes 6-3 Dave Chisnall[/p][p]Rob Owen 6-5 Joe Cullen[/p][p]Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Karel Sedlacek[/p][p]Peter Wright 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher[/p][p]Alan Soutar 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld[/p][p]Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Cameron Menzies[/p][p]Madars Razma 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode[/p][p]Ian White 6-4 Michael Smith[/p][p][b]Afternoon session - round two[/b][/p][p]Jermaine Wattimena v Andrew Gilding[/p][p]Mike De Decker v Ryan Joyce[/p][p]Rob Cross v William O'Connor[/p][p]Ryan Searle v Kevin Doets[/p][p]Ross Smith v Niels Zonneveld[/p][p]Damon Heta v Cristo Reyes[/p][p]Luke Woodhouse v Rob Owen[/p][p]Chris Dobey v Kim Huybrechts[/p][p][b]Evening session - round two[/b][/p][p]Daryl Gurney v Ian White[/p][p]Josh Rock v Patrik Kovacs[/p][p]James Wade v Mensur Suljovic[/p][p]Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski[/p][p]Danny Noppert v Alan Soutar[/p][p]Gian van Veen v Madars Razma[/p][p]Martin Schindler v Peter Wright[/p][p]Wessel Nijman v Niko Springer[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/europe/european-tour-6/"]Follow ET6 with Flashscore[/a][/h2]