There will be a new name on the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open trophy on Sunday, after two-time champion Jonny Clayton crashed out at the hands of Jermaine Wattimena as the second round came to a close in Graz.
Clayton was the only remaining former winner in the field heading into Saturday evening's action, but was brushed aside by a dominant performance from Wattimena as he ran out a 6-3 winner.
Wattimena pinned a match-high 102 checkout in the fifth leg to move 3-2 ahead and followed that with two more legs as he moved towards the brink of victory.
Clayton managed to claw a leg back, but could do little to thwart the Dutchman as he powered into the third round.
Following an early Premier League exit in Liverpool on Thursday, Stephen Bunting compounded his bad week with an exit at the first hurdle as he was beaten by an excellent Matt Campbell 6-4.
In a high-quality affair, the Canadian averaged 102 to Bunting's superior 104, but it was his expert finishing that saw him through to the final day of action in Graz.
Another Premier League star in Nathan Aspinall also crashed out early on as he suffered a 6-2 defeat against Kevin Doets.
Chris Dobey, however, produced the performance of the evening as he stormed past Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko 6-1 with an average just over 105.
Nevertheless, there was some German success on the night as Martin Schindler got the better of Matthew Dennant 6-3.
In the opening game of the evening session, Damon Heta edged out Karel Sedlacek in a last-leg decider to secure his place in Sunday's action.
Australian number one Heta will be joined by Dave Chisnall, who beat Ian White 6-3, while Peter Wright also advanced after seeing off Luke Woodhouse by the same scoreline.
In the afternoon session, Dirk van Duijvenbode raced through to the last 16 with a blistering 6-1 victory over his compatriot Gian van Veen, who was the runner-up at last weekend’s German Darts Grand Prix.
Van Duijvenbode averaged 106 in his opening round win over Gyorgy Jehirszki, and he delivered another demolition job in Graz, averaging 108 and crashing in seven 180s to sweep Van Veen aside.
Danny Noppert joined Van Duijvenbode in round three, averaging almost 101 and landing a brace of 11-darters to edge out Niko Springer and register his first victory on the European Tour in 2025.
Noppert’s reward is a meeting with Josh Rock, after the Northern Irishman averaged 105, landed eight 180s and converted a 157 checkout to secure back-to-back wins over Krzysztof Ratajski.
Daryl Gurney ended the hopes of Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic, following up a sensational 170 finish with a match-winning 120 to complete a 6-1 thumping with a 100.13 average.
Ross Smith and Ryan Joyce also posted ton-topping averages to progress by the same scoreline, accounting for Chris Landman and Ryan Searle respectively.
Wessel Nijman rattled off three straight legs from 4-3 adrift to win through a high-quality affair against World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, with both players averaging 102.
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Joe Cullen kicked off his campaign with a 6-2 success against Frenchman Thibault Tricole, in a contest dominated by missed doubles.
The third round of the Austrian Darts Open will take place on Sunday afternoon, before the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a bumper evening session.
Live coverage will be streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through the DAZN Darts channel on Pluto TV.
Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers' worldwide.
Click here for match stats & results.
2025 Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open
Saturday April 26
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Ross Smith 6-1 Chris Landman
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert 6-5 Niko Springer
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Gian van Veen
Joe Cullen 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Josh Rock 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Mensur Suljovic
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Mike De Decker
Evening Session
Damon Heta 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Kevin Doets 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Chris Dobey 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Matt Campbell 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Martin Schindler 6-3 Matthew Dennant
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Ian White
Sunday April 27
Third Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Jermaine Wattimena v Daryl Gurney
Danny Noppert v Josh Rock
Kevin Doets v Martin Schindler
Chris Dobey v Wessel Nijman
Matt Campbell v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright v Ross Smith
Damon Heta v Joe Cullen
Dave Chisnall v Ryan Joyce
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order