Austrian Darts Open 2022 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The top 16 seeds commence their Austrian Darts Open campaigns in Graz on Saturday as the Second Round action takes centre stage.
The fourth European Tour event of the season features 48 players battling it out for £140,000 in prize money, with 16 qualifiers have progressed through Friday’s opening round to set up a meeting with one of the 16 seeded stars.
One of the stand-out ties of Round Two at the Steiermarkhalle sees Peter Wright take on Callan Rydz in a repeat of their epic World Championship Quarter-Final on New Year’s Day.
Wright pulled off a sensational fightback from 3-1 and 4-3 down to deny Rydz a landmark win in a ninth set tie break, before going on to lift the trophy at Ally Pally for the second time.
The world number one has since picked up a Players Championship title but is bidding to end a five-year wait for European Tour silverware.
Rydz has struggled for consistency so far this season but will be encouraged by his perfect start this weekend, having whitewashed Host Nation qualifier Dietmar Burger 6-0 with a 98 average on Friday.
Michael van Gerwen launches his latest quest for a second Euro Tour title of the year with a clash against WDF World Championship semi-finalist Cameron Menzies.
Van Gerwen suffered a Quarter-Final defeat in the Premier League in Dublin on Thursday and will be keen to bounce back, having also been whitewashed by Luke Humphries 7-0 in his Euro Tour outing a fortnight ago.
Menzies, who secured a Tour Card this year for the first time, defeated former World Champion Steve Beaton 6-4 in the opening round and now eyes what would be a huge upset.
German Grand Prix champion Humphries begins his pursuit of back-to-back European Tour titles with a tasty tussle against recent ProTour event winner Danny Jansen.
Jansen produced one of the stand-out performances of Round One with a 101 average in a 6-1 rout of Poland’s Radek Szagański to mark a dream debut.
Josh Rock also enjoyed a superb start to life on the Euro Tour as he averaged 101 in a 6-3 win over Devon Petersen, and the Northern Irish youngster now faces reigning European Champion Rob Cross.
The afternoon session sees multiple ranking event winner Damon Heta take on former Euro Tour event finalist Ricky Evans, while former Gibraltar Trophy winner Krzysztof Ratajski faces Host Nation hopeful Patrik Gosnak – who knocked out Ian White in Round One.
Former UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall faces a tricky opener against Associate Member qualifier Wesley Plaisier – who reached the Quarter-Finals of the recent German Grand Prix.
Former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh opens up against reigning UK Open champion Danny Noppert, while Masters Champion Joe Cullen meets Players Championship event winner Jim Williams in another notable clash.
Former World Grand Prix finalist Brendan Dolan takes on Gabriel Clemens – the sole German representative in the field, as number two seed Jose de Sousa looks to avoid a potential scalp at the hands of in-form Madars Razma – who set a personal record average of 108.65 in his 6-0 whitewash of Michael Rasztovits on Friday.
World number 16 Ryan Searle faces Austrian ace Zoran Lerchbacher – who landed a remarkable 167 checkout in the deciding leg to defeat WDF world finalist Thibault Tricole in Round One.
The evening session sees Thursday’s Premier League Night 12 winner James Wade take on UK qualifier Brett Claydon, as recent ProTour event winner Dirk van Duijvenbode meets home favourite Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Premier League champion Jonny Clayton, a former winner of this event, opens up against former World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey de Zwaan, while former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting takes on former ProTour event winner Ross Smith.
The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
WATCH DAY TWO OF THE AUSTRIAN DARTS OPEN STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
Austrian Darts Open 2022 Day Two Schedule of Play
All times BST (Local time one hour ahead)
Saturday April 30
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Patrik Gosnak
Damon Heta v Ricky Evans
Nathan Aspinall v Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Searle v Zoran Lerchbacher
Joe Cullen v Jim Williams
Brendan Dolan v Gabriel Clemens
Jose de Sousa v Madars Razma
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Danny Noppert
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
James Wade v Brett Claydon
Luke Humphries v Danny Jansen
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Michael van Gerwen v Cameron Menzies
Jonny Clayton v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Peter Wright v Callan Rydz
Rob Cross v Josh Rock
Ross Smith v Stephen Bunting
