Austrian Darts Open 2022 | Day Three Preview and Order of Play
The fourth European Tour title of the season is up for grabs in Graz on Sunday as the final 16 vie to claim Austrian Darts Open glory.
Eight of the top 16 seeds are left standing at the Steiermarkhalle, as well as eight in-form qualifiers bidding to capture the £25,000 top prize.
The afternoon session plays host to the Third Round ties, before the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and final take place in the evening.
One of the stand-out ties of the Last 16 sees Euro Tour title record holder Michael van Gerwen take on man of the moment James Wade.
Wade survived match darts from MVG before sealing a 6-5 victory in the Quarter-Finals of Thursday’s Premier League night in Dublin and eventually went on to win the title.
The world number five is bidding to end a six year wait for a European Tour title, while Van Gerwen is in search of his second of the season but will be determined to improve on a 92.7 average in his opening win over Cameron Menzies on Saturday.
The opening match of the afternoon sees reigning Premier League champion Jonny Clayton take on reigning UK Open champion Danny Noppert.
Clayton’s only Euro Tour title to date came at this event four years ago and the Welshman will be eyeing a marked improvement on his 91.7 average against Jeffrey de Zwaan on Saturday when he faces the Dutch ace who averaged 103 in defeating Dimitri van den Bergh.
Two former European Tour event winners collide as Joe Cullen takes on fellow top 16 star Krzysztof Ratajski – who averaged 101 in a 6-0 whitewash of Patrik Gosnak in his opener.
Danny Jansen aims to continue his dream Euro Tour debut by overcoming former Euro Tour event finalist Ricky Evans to reach the Quarter-Finals.
Jansen, winner of a ProTour event last month, has already seen off Radek Szagański and German Grand Prix winner Luke Humphries for the combined loss of just three legs, while Evans has impressed in his wins over Johan Engström and Damon Heta.
Madars Razma has proved to be another of the weekend’s stand-out performers so far, and the Latvian ace now comes up against former Premier League finalist Nathan Aspinall.
Razma averaged a personal record 108.65 in a First Round whitewash of Michael Rasztovits before knocking out second seed Jose de Sousa in the Last 32.
Recent Players Championship event winner Dirk van Duijvenbode aims to end home hopes in the competition when he faces crowd favourite Zoran Lerchbacher.
Van Duijvenbode began his campaign by defeating Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 and now faces another Austrian star in Lerchbacher – who took out 167 in the deciding leg to defeat Thibault Tricole, before completing a 6-3 scalp of Ryan Searle.
Reigning European Champion Rob Cross made light work of in-form youngster Josh Rock in Round Two and now faces German number one Gabriel Clemens – appearing at this stage of a Euro Tour event for only the second time after wins over Tony Martinez and Brendan Dolan.
The final match of the afternoon sees former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting take on World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz – who knocked out world number one Peter Wright on Saturday evening.
The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with Third Round and Quarter-Final ties to be contested over the best of 11 legs, Semi-Finals best of 13 and the final best of 15.
WATCH DAY THREE OF THE AUSTRIAN DARTS OPEN STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
Austrian Darts Open 2022 Day Three Schedule of Play
All times BST (Local time one hour ahead)
Sunday May 1
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Third Round
Danny Noppert v Jonny Clayton
Joe Cullen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Jansen v Ricky Evans
Madars Razma v Nathan Aspinall
Zoran Lerchbacher v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen v James Wade
Gabriel Clemens v Rob Cross
Callan Rydz v Stephen Bunting
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Quarter-Finals
Noppert/Clayton v Cullen/Ratajski
Jansen/Evans v Razma/Aspinall
Lerchbacher/Van Duijvenbode v Van Gerwen/Wade
Clemens/Cross v Rydz/Bunting
Semi-Finals
Final
