Michael van Gerwen remains on track for Austrian Open title hat-trick
- Planet Sport writer
- 22 April 2023
The Dutchman produced a dominant display at the Austrian Open as he looks to reassert his dominance on the European Tour.
Defending champion Michael van Gerwen launched his Austrian Open title defence in Graz with a 6-4 win against John Henderson.
Van Gerwen, bidding for a hat-trick of Austrian Open titles, appeared to be cruising through to the last 16 as he led 5-1, but lost three successive legs before sealing victory against the Scot by taking the next.
World number one Michael Smith avoided a major upset as he survived a last-leg decider to edge past Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5.
Top seed Luke Humphries crashed out, beaten 6-1 by Daryl Gurney, and below-par Peter Wright was another high-profile exit as he lost to home favourite Mensur Suljovic by the same score.
Simon Whitlock produced arguably the best display of the night after fighting back from 5-1 down to win 6-5 against Martin Schindler, sealing victory with back-to-back bullseye finishes.
Raymond van Barneveld battled back from 5-1 down against Ryan Searle before squandering two match darts in the decider to lose 6-5.
Danny Noppert, who lost to Van Gerwen in last year's final, and Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode were both 6-4 winners against English pair Chris Dobey and Ryan Meikle respectively.
In the afternoon session, Andrew Gilding sealed his 6-4 win against Matt Campbell with an 11-dart finish and Jonny clayton won a final leg decider to see off Dutchman Jelle Klaasen.
Northern Ireland's Josh Rock averaged over 100 in his 6-2 defeat of Krzysztof Ratajski and Mickey Mansell produced his best-ever European Tour average to beat Dave Chisnall by the same score.
Australian Damon Heta won five straight legs from 4-1 down to sink Luke Woodhouse 6-4 and Joe Cullen also won the last five legs, averaging nearly 103 in his 6-2 win over Nick Kenny.
Two-time European champion Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall secured respective 6-2 wins against Maik Kuivenhoven and Austrian qualifier Hannes Schnier.
