Mensur Suljovic moved into the final day of the Interwetten Austrian Darts Open to the delight of his home fans in Graz by seeing off Peter Wright in round two, as Michael van Gerwen began his title defence in winning fashion.
Crowd favourite Suljovic punished world number two Wright for his lowest ever European Tour average of 78 as six doubles from 11 attempts saw him reach round three of the £175,000 event with a 6-1 success.
A mid-game change of darts from Wright saw him hit back from 3-0 down to win the fourth leg, but he paid for missed doubles in the next two legs as his opponent pulled clear.
Suljovic's win means that he will now challenge world champion Michael Smith for a spot in the quarter-finals, with the world number one defeating emerging German talent Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 in their second round tie.
Four-time Austrian Darts Open winner van Gerwen battled past John Henderson with a 6-4 victory after the Scot missed a dart to take the tie into a deciding leg.
Simon Whitlock set up a third round clash with van Gerwen in incredible fashion by reeling off five straight legs to come from 5-1 down and defeat Martin Schindler.
The Australian star had finished 117 on the bull to take the game into a decider before completing a 110 combination on the same target to seal a remarkable fightback.
It was made all the more astonishing by the fact that Whitlock's match-saving 110 began with a single three, before treble 19 and bullseye stunned his opponent.
Top seed Luke Humphries' bid to add a fifth European Tour title to his CV was ended in round two with a 6-1 loss to Daryl Gurney, who reeled off six straight legs after his opponent had opened the contest with a 13-darter.
Gurney now plays UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Sunday afternoon, who came from 3-1 and 4-3 down to defeat Canada's Matt Campbell 6-4.
Mansell springs a surprise
Dave Chisnall - February's Baltic Sea Darts Open winner - was knocked out by Northern Ireland's Mickey Mansell, as the left-hander produced his best-ever European Tour average of 100.38 in a 6-2 triumph.
Mansell meets fellow countryman Josh Rock in round three, with the World Youth Champion also averaging over 100 as he overcame Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski in eight legs.
Fresh from his Premier League victory in Rotterdam, Nathan Aspinall continued his winning run in Graz, defying a below-par display to end the hopes of Austrian qualifier Hannes Schnier.
Aspinall's third round opponent will be Danny Noppert, after the 2022 UK Open champion proved too strong for Masters winner Chris Dobey with a 6-4 victory.
Joe Cullen produced the performance of the afternoon at the Steiermarkhalle, averaging almost 103 and crashing in four maximums in his impressive 6-2 demolition of Nick Kenny.
The former Premier League runner-up now plays Dirk van Duijvenbode, who opened his bid to reach a second European Tour final of 2023 with a 6-4 win over Ryan Meikle, missing just two darts at a double in a game where the left-hander landed three ton-plus checkouts.
Rob Cross eased through to round three courtesy of a convincing 6-2 victory against Maik Kuivenhoven, averaging 95 and landing three 180s in the process.
Cross's third round opponent will be Ryan Searle, who edged out Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 after the Dutchman dramatically came from 5-1 down to level before missing two darts for victory in the decider.
Jonny Clayton celebrated a deciding-leg win over Associate Member Qualifier Jelle Klaasen, winning the last two legs to keep his title tilt alive, and World Cup winner Damon Heta set up a third round clash with Clayton by coming from 4-1 down to defeat Luke Woodhouse with five straight legs.
Austrian Darts Open: Draw & Tournament bracket
- Seedings in brackets
ROUND THREE
- Daryl Gurney v Andrew Gilding (16)
- (8) Nathan Aspinall v Danny Noppert (9)
- (4) Damon Heta v Jonny Clayton (13)
- (5) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Joe Cullen (12)
- Mickey Mansell v Josh Rock (15)
- (7) Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic
- (3) Michael van Gerwen v Simon Whitlock
- (6) Rob Cross v Ryan Searle (11)
ROUND TWO
Seeds enter in round two on Saturday
- (1) Luke Humphries 1-6 Daryl Gurney
- (16) Andrew Gilding 6-4 Matt Campbell
- (8) Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Hannes Schnier
- (9) Danny Noppert 6-4 Chris Dobey
- (4) Damon Heta 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
- (13) Jonny Clayton 6-5 Jelle Klaasen
- (5) Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Ryan Meikle
- (12) Joe Cullen 6-2 Nick Kenny
- (2) Dave Chisnall 2-6 Mickey Mansell
- (15) Josh Rock 6-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
- (7) Michael Smith 6-5 Ricardo Pietreczko
- (10) Peter Wright 1-6 Mensur Suljovic
- (3) Michael van Gerwen 6-4 John Henderson
- (14) Martin Schindler 5-6 Simon Whitlock
- (6) Rob Cross 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
- (11) Ryan Searle 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
ROUND ONE
Winners to play the seeds
- Nick Kenny 6-4 Madars Razma
- Mickey Mansell 6-1 Dmitrijs Zukovs
- Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Owen Roelofs
- Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Cameron Menzies
- Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Marcus Haider
- Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Bradley Brooks
- Hannes Schnier 6-5 Jeffrey De Zwaan
- John Henderson 6-4 Dylan Slevin
- Matt Campbell 6-5 Ian White
- Jelle Klaasen 6-5 William O'Connor
- Simon Whitlock 6-4 Kim Huybrechts
- Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Brendan Dolan
- Ryan Meikle 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
- Daryl Gurney 6-3 Stephen Bunting
- Chris Dobey 6-3 Vitezslav Sedlak
- Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Ricky Evans
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