Fans headed into Friday at the WT Energiesysteme Arena in Riesa with high hopes for the ELTEN Safety Shoes International Darts Open. Six German hopefuls started the first day of the tournament, but only Ricardo Pietreczko provided a sporting success story.
Pietreczko ends dry spell
Ricardo Pietreczko had to wait eleven matches for a victory recently. In Riesa, the time had finally come. Against Maik Kuivenhoven, the German number two showed a focused performance and a clear improvement in form compared to his past appearances on the floor. It was an important breakthrough for the only German starter to cross the finish line on Friday.
Manby leaves Springer no chance
Charlie Manby celebrated an impressive European Tour debut against Niko Springer. “Champagne” did not let the German veteran get into the game and crowned his strong performance with a 6:3 victory.
Host Nation Qualifiers lacking fortune
Four other German players had qualified for the home tournament via the Host Nation Qualifier and were hoping for the vocal support of the fans in Riesa. However, neither Finn Behrens (1:6 against Connor Scutt), Michael Unterbuchner (5:6 against Cameron Menzies), Liam Maendl-Lawrence (3:6 against Dave Chisnall), nor Paul Krohne (2:6 against William O’Connor) could convert the energy of the arena into positive results.
Doets dominates again
Once again, it was Kevin Doets who made the statement of the day on the European Tour. The Dutchman, who won his first PDC title about two weeks ago, picked up right where he left off with his strong form and swept Tom Bissell off the board with a 6:0 win. “Hawk Eye” was the only player on Friday to average over 100 points.
All Friday Results
Ryan Joyce 6:2 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Connor Scutt 6:1 Finn Behrens
Madars Razma 6:2 Gyorgy Jehirszki
Andrew Gilding 4:6 Bradley Brooks
Cameron Menzies 6:5 Michael Unterbuchner
Karel Sedlacek 6:0 Johan Engstrom
Ricardo Pietreczko 6:2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Niels Zonneveld 6:2 Keane Barry
Dave Chisnall 6:3 Liam Maendl-Lawrance
Kevin Doets 6:0 Tom Bissell
William O’Connor 6:2 Paul Krohne
Joe Cullen 6:5 Chris Landman
Dirk van Duijvenbode 5:6 Rob Cross
Krzysztof Ratajski 6:4 Cristo Reyes
Niko Springer 3:6 Charlie Manby
Daryl Gurney 2:6 Kim Huybrechts
Outlook for Saturday
On Saturday, starting at 1 PM, the top 16 seeded players will enter the tournament action at the ELTEN Safety Shoes International Darts Open. Among them is Stephen Bunting, who begins his title defense against Krzysztof Ratajski. Gian van Veen starts as the tournament’s top seed against Connor Scutt. Tickets for the weekend are still available HERE.
