Mensur Suljovic delighted his home crowd as the Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open began on Friday, defeating Ritchie Edhouse in Graz.
Suljovic was one of the four Host Nation Qualifiers to book his spot in the European Tour event, and will carry the hopes of his adopted country into Saturday's second round.
The former Champions League of Darts winner was a 6-3 victor over reigning European Champion Edhouse in their first round tie, as he moves through to play Daryl Gurney in the last 32.
Suljovic's former World Cup of Darts partner, Rowby-John Rodriguez, was one of three other Austrians to exit the event on Friday, as he lost out 6-2 to Matthew Dennant, who tasted victory on the European Tour for the first time since 2019.
2025 Elten Safety Shoes Austrian Darts Open
April 25-27, Premstättner Halle, Graz
Tournament Draw Bracket - Second Round Onwards
Players seeded based on PDC Order of Merit position
(1) Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena
(16) Daryl Gurney v Mensur Suljovic
(8) Danny Noppert v Niko Springer
(9) Josh Rock v Krzysztof Ratajski
(4) Nathan Aspinall v Berry van Peer
(13) Martin Schindler v Matthew Dennant
(5) Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko
(12) Mike De Decker v Wessel Nijman
(2) Stephen Bunting v Matt Campbell
(15) Gian van Veen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
(7) Peter Wright v Luke Woodhouse
(10) Ross Smith v Chris Landman
(3) Damon Heta v Karel Sedlacek
(14) Joe Cullen v Thibault Tricole
(6) Dave Chisnall v Ian White
(11) Ryan Searle v Ryan Joyce
Saturday April 26
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Ross Smith v Chris Landman
Ryan Searle v Ryan Joyce
Danny Noppert v Niko Springer
Gian van Veen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Joe Cullen v Thibault Tricole
Josh Rock v Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney v Mensur Suljovic
Mike De Decker v Wessel Nijman
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Damon Heta v Karel Sedlacek
Peter Wright v Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall v Kevin Doets
Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting v Matt Campbell
Martin Schindler v Matthew Dennant
Dave Chisnall v Ian White
Sunday April 27
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
NB: From the original list of entries, Gerwyn Price, James Wade, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Cameron Menzies have withdrawn from the event, and have been replaced by Thibault Tricole, Patrick Geeraets, Matthew Dennant and Lukas Wenig from the Reserve List.
Joe Cullen, Gian van Veen and Daryl Gurney have moved into the seeded positions, while Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Gary Anderson and Michael Smith did not enter the Austrian Darts Open.