Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld and Joe Cullen all crashed out of the Austrian Darts Open on Friday night as the opening round concluded with a lively evening session in Graz. The biggest crowd reaction of the night belonged to Mensur Suljovic, who fed off a raucous home atmosphere to defeat Cameron Menzies 6-2, while Ian White produced the final upset of the session by seeing off Smith 6-4.
Smith became the final big name to fall on Friday night, losing 6-4 to White in a tense closing match of the evening. The former world champion had started strongly, breaking throw with a 66 finish, but White responded immediately with a 71 checkout and edged ahead with a clinical 64. A missed dart at double 10 from Smith then allowed White to punish on double 16, before Diamond moved 4-1 clear. Smith threatened a fightback, stopping the rot on double 12 before producing a superb 104 finish to break throw. A 177 set-up shot then left 64, which he cleaned up in two darts to level at 4-4. White, however, had the final answer. A 73 finish moved him within one leg of victory, and double 20 sealed a 6-4 win to send Smith out in round one.
Van Barneveld endured a difficult evening against Alan Soutar, averaging just 77.79 in a 6-2 defeat. The Dutch legend struggled badly for rhythm from the start, missing big trebles throughout the opening leg and allowing Soutar to break throw early. Soutar was not required to produce his very best, but he did enough to keep Van Barneveld at arm's length and landed the standout moment of the match with a 101 finish that moved him to the brink of victory. Cullen also bowed out in dramatic fashion, losing 6-5 to Rob Owen after a match that caught fire late on. Owen had opened up a 4-1 lead before Cullen suddenly sparked into life, landing three 180s in three consecutive legs and producing a brilliant 146 checkout to level the contest. There was visible frustration from Cullen after forcing a decider, but Owen kept his composure in the final leg. After both players traded maximums, the Welshman took out 49 on double 10 to seal a notable first-round victory.
Suljovic's return to Austria delivered the most emotional moment of the evening. The Graz crowd gave him a huge reception during the walk-on, with repeated chants of “Mensur” echoing around the arena before a dart had been thrown. The Austrian responded with a composed and controlled display, taking the opening leg and then growing stronger as the match progressed. He slowed the tempo, disrupted Menzies' rhythm and moved 4-1 clear with an 87 finish as the noise inside the venue continued to rise. Menzies briefly stopped the run, but Suljovic restored control with a clinical 78 finish before punishing a missed dart from the Scot to close out a 6-2 win with a 94.19 average.
Razma and Van Duijvenbode produced the highest-level contest of the session, with both men averaging close to or above the 99 mark. Van Duijvenbode started strongly and looked fired up as he moved 3-1 ahead, highlighted by a spectacular 92 finish using two double 18s after setting it up with a 180. Razma refused to fade, however, and punished missed chances from the Dutchman to claw his way back into the contest. After taking three legs in succession to lead 4-3, the Latvian then responded again when Van Duijvenbode levelled. The decisive moment came with Razma leading 5-4. Van Duijvenbode opened the leg with four perfect darts and later had a dart at double 6 to force a decider, but when that chance went begging, Razma stepped in with a match-winning 56 checkout on double 18. Peter Wright avoided the same fate as several other big names, recovering from a poor opening leg to defeat home nation qualifier Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2. Wright looked much sharper after falling behind, hitting timely 180s and breaking throw to take control of the contest. Kim Huybrechts also progressed with a 6-3 win over Karel Sedlacek in a match where the Czech had darts to win every one of the opening five legs. Huybrechts made the most of those missed chances, then finished the job with a 180 set-up shot before sealing victory on double 18. Cristo Reyes opened the evening with a battling 6-3 win over Dave Chisnall in a scrappy contest, with the Spaniard's better doubling proving decisive. Chisnall had chances, but Reyes took out 116 in the key moment of quality and held firm from there.
