Callan Rydz dispatches Peter Wright at the Austrian Darts Open as Jansen stuns Humphries
Callan Rydz pulled off a superb scalp of Peter Wright on Day Two of the 2022 Austrian Darts Open, while Danny Jansen continued his dream debut by beating Luke Humphries.
Rydz, who was beaten in an epic tie break set by Wright in the Quarter-Finals of the World Championship last December, completed a 6-3 victory with 66 per cent on the doubles and a 96 average.
Having trailed 3-2, Rydz reeled off four successive legs to progress to Sunday’s Last 16 – where Stephen Bunting awaits after he also ran out a 6-3 winner against Ross Smith.
Recent German Darts Grand Prix winner Humphries was knocked out in Round Two in Graz as rising Dutch star Jansen punished ten missed doubles from his opponent in a 6-2 success.
Jansen will now face Ricky Evans, who dispatched multiple ranking title winner Damon Heta 6-3 in the afternoon session.
Michael van Gerwen began his bid to retain the title in battling style, defying a 170 checkout from Cameron Menzies to claim a 6-3 win on the Premstättner Halle stage.
The Dutchman, seeking his second European Tour success of the year, led 3-0 before Menzies’ maximum finish helped cut the gap to one leg.
However, the Scot missed two darts to level in leg six and was punished as Van Gerwen regained a lead he would not relinquish.
Van Gerwen will open Sunday’s Third Round with a tasty tie against James Wade, after Thursday’s Premier League winner in Dublin defeated Brett Claydon 6-3.
Austrian hopes on the final day will rest on qualifier Zoran Lerchbacher – who delighted his home crowd once again with a 6-3 defeat of world number 16 Ryan Searle.
Lerchbacher now faces Dirk van Duijvenbode after the Dutchman finished six doubles from 11 attempts to see off another Austrian, Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Another mouth-watering third round tie sees UK Open champion Danny Noppert meet Premier League champion Jonny Clayton.
Dutchman Noppert overcame Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3, while Clayton was a hard-fought 6-4 winner in his second round tie with Jeffrey De Zwaan.
Masters champion Joe Cullen finished six doubles from 11 attempts and took out 152 as he survived Jim Williams’ fightback from 3-0 down before claiming a 6-4 success.
Cullen now meets Krzysztof Ratajski after the former Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner returned to European Tour action in style with a 101 average in whitewashing Austrian qualifier Patrik Gosnak.
Madars Razma also enjoyed victory over a seeded player as he finished 6/12 doubles in his 6-3 win over Jose de Sousa, setting him up for a meeting with Nathan Aspinall after the former UK Open champion’s clinical 6-3 win over Wesley Plaisier.
Germany’s Gabriel Clemens claimed his second win of the weekend by seeing off Brendan Dolan 6-3 to book a Last 16 place – where he will take on Rob Cross – who impressed in a 6-2 win over in-form Norther Irish youngster Josh Rock.
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Austrian Darts Open 2022 – Day Two Results
Saturday April 30
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Patrik Gosnak
Damon Heta 3-6 Ricky Evans
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Searle 3-6 Zoran Lerchbacher
Joe Cullen 6-4 Jim Williams
Brendan Dolan 3-6 Gabriel Clemens
Jose de Sousa 3-6 Madars Razma
Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-6 Danny Noppert
Evening Session
James Wade 6-3 Brett Claydon
Luke Humphries 2-6 Danny Jansen
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Peter Wright 3-6 Callan Rydz
Rob Cross 6-2 Josh Rock
Ross Smith 3-6 Stephen Bunting
