Dragutin Horvat celebrated Winmau Challenge Tour glory on Friday, producing a late fightback to triumph on home soil, as Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas also picked up a title.
The year’s second weekend of Challenge Tour action kicked off with a bumper double-header in Hildesheim, as 239 players competed across the course of the day.
German star Horvat kicked off Friday’s play with Event Six success, sealed with a deciding-leg victory over former World Youth Champion Ted Evetts.
Horvat overturned a 4-2 deficit to return to the winner's circle, surviving five match darts in the penultimate leg to clinch his second Winmau Challenge Tour crown.
The 49-year-old opened his title bid with a narrow victory over Chas Barstow, before following up a 5-1 demolition of John Davey with a trio of 5-3 wins against James Vanbesien, Jimmy van Schie and Ryan O’Connor.
Horvat then swept aside his compatriot Michael Unterbuchner in the quarter-finals, and he capped off a terrific campaign with back-to-back 97 averages to topple Graham Usher and Evetts.
Evetts – a winner of 14 Development Tour titles – came agonisingly close to landing a first Challenge Tour crown since 2018, winning seven straight games and averaging over 100 in his last 16 victory against Jeffrey de Zwaan.
Labanauskas later claimed the Event Seven crown in the day’s second event, running out a 5-2 winner against Keegan Brown to seal his second title of 2025.
The 48-year-old followed up a routine victory over Marc Vleghert with whitewash wins against Daniel Klose and Robert Nelson, while also accounting for Bailey White and Trevor Burkhill to reach the last eight.
There, Labanauskas ran out an emphatic 5-2 winner against two-time World Cup finalist Rowby-John Rodriguez, after kicking off the contest with a 160 finish.
Following a five-leg blitz of David Pallett in the semi-finals, Labanauskas sealed the £2,500 top prize by seeing off Brown - a winner of two Players Championship titles.
The 2025 Winmau Challenge Tour continues with Events Eight and Nine on Saturday, with £15,000 in prize money on offer in each event.
The top two players from the final 2025 Challenge Tour Order of Merit will secure a PDC Tour Card for 2026/27 and a place in the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
Beau Greaves - who is not competing in Hildesheim this weekend - remains top of the Order of Merit, although former World Championship quarter-finalist Labanauskas has cut her lead to just £150.
Click here to view Event Draws & Results.
Click here for match stats from each event.
2025 Winmau Challenge Tour
Friday March 14, Halle 39, Hildesheim
Event Six
Quarter-Finals
Graham Usher 5-3 Tom Sykes
Dragutin Horvat 5-1 Michael Unterbuchner
Ted Evetts 5-2 Ron Meulenkamp
Trevor Burkhill 5-3 Nicolas Thuillier
Semi-Finals
Dragutin Horvat 5-3 Graham Usher
Ted Evetts 5-0 Trevor Burkhill
Final
Dragutin Horvat 5-4 Ted Evetts
Event Seven
Quarter-Finals
Adam Mould 5-3 David Sharp
Keegan Brown 5-3 Kevin Burness
Darius Labanauskas 5-2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
David Pallett 5-0 Arno Merk
Semi-Finals
Keegan Brown 5-4 Adam Mould
Darius Labanauskas 5-0 David Pallett
Final
Darius Labanauskas 5-2 Keegan Brown