Saturday at the Slovak Darts Open at the Incheba Expo in Bratislava featured two clear main protagonists. Mike De Decker pushed the tournament record even higher with a 107 average while simultaneously ending his slump on the European Tour. Cameron Menzies responded in the evening session with a 106 average against Gerwyn Price. Meanwhile, Tom Sykes lived up to his reputation as a nemesis for German players by knocking Martin Schindler out of the tournament in a decider.
De Decker shines with record average
The action on Saturday kicked off with Mike De Decker. The Belgian, who had recently shown a noticeable upswing in form at the World Cup of Darts, confirmed this trend in Bratislava with a 6:2 victory over William O’Connor and an average of 107.14 points. With this performance, De Decker comfortably surpassed yesterday’s best mark set by Tom Sykes (103.64). For the 2024 World Grand Prix champion, it marked his first victory on the European Tour since the season opener in Poland.
Otherwise, the afternoon belonged to the Dutch contingent. Kevin Doets, Wessel Nijman, Danny Noppert, and Jermaine Wattimena all won their matches comfortably and advanced confidently into the final session.
For Martin Schindler, the journey came to an end in a decider against Tom Sykes, closing the German chapter at the Slovak Darts Open. Sykes had already knocked out the first German player, Niko Springer, on Friday.
Menzies dismantles Price
The standout performance of the evening session came from Cameron Menzies. The Scot ran over Gerwyn Price with a 106 average and a clear 6:2 victory. With this win, “Cammy” took another crucial step toward World Matchplay qualification, capitalising heavily on the defeats of Dave Chisnall and Kim Huybrechts. In contrast, top seed Gian van Veen had an evening to forget: the Dutchman lost 3:6 to Rob Cross, suffering another early exit as the top seed. Michael van Gerwen was pushed all the way to a decider against Krzysztof Ratajski but kept his composure to book his final day ticket with a 6:5 win.
All results on Saturday
Mike De Decker 6:2 William O’Connor
Damon Heta 2:6 Kevin Doets
Wessel Nijman 6:2 Benjamin Pratnemer
Danny Noppert 6:2 Madars Razma
Jermaine Wattimena 6:3 Dave Chisnall
Chris Dobey 6:4 Tyler Thorpe
Ryan Searle 6:3 Kim Huybrechts
Luke Woodhouse 4:6 Andrew Gilding
Nathan Aspinall 6:4 Jim Long
Martin Schindler 5:6 Tom Sykes
Gerwyn Price 2:6 Cameron Menzies
Gian van Veen 3:6 Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen 6:5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jonny Clayton 5:6 Ryan Joyce
Stephen Bunting 6:5 Niels Zonneveld
Ross Smith 6:5 Joe Cullen
Outlook for Sunday
The final day of the Slovak Darts Open begins in Bratislava on Sunday at 1 PM. Tickets for the final day are still available HERE.
