Fans entered the MERKUR Ostseehalle in Kiel with high expectations for Friday at the ELTEN Safety Shoes Baltic Sea Darts Open. Eight German professionals took to the stage on the opening day of the tournament, but only Niko Springer provided a sporting success story.
van Schie with historic debut
Jimmy van Schie stepped in Kiel onto the Winamax PDC European Tour stage for the very first time. Against Ian White, the Dutchman delivered a performance that was far from expected for a debutant. With an 85 percent checkout rate on the doubles and a 6-0 whitewash, van Schie made history. He is the first player since Graham Hall in 2023 to achieve such a debut victory including a whitewash.
Only Springer convinces
Mixed emotions, on the other hand, for the second German debutant. Jason Riedtke put up a spirited performance against Karel Sedlacek and took the match all the way to a deciding leg. However, that was where his journey came to an end.
Niko Springer, meanwhile, handled his opening task with confidence. The “Meenzer Bub” left little room for doubt in his 6-2 victory over Nandor Major, becoming the only German starter to win his first-round match.
For the remaining German competitors, Friday evening turned out to be a bitter disappointment. Daniel Klose fell 3-6 to Krzysztof Ratajski, while Max Hopp was defeated 4-6 by Justin Hood. Lukas Wenig lost 3-6 to Kevin Doets, Paul Krohne suffered a comprehensive 0-6 defeat against Dirk van Duijvenbode, and Marcel Hausotter – the man who had caused a sensation in Munich with his victory over van Barneveld – was beaten 1-6 by Joe Cullen.
Big Fish Festival
The standout performance of the entire Friday came from Cameron Menzies. Playing against Rob Cross, the Scot not only recorded the highest average of the day at 108.41 points, but also the highest average of his entire European Tour career – a 170 checkout was one of the crowning achievements of his performance. Lukas Wenig had already taken out the “Big Fish” earlier that evening, followed later by William O’Connor.
Bull-Bull-Bull
Another sporting highlight of the evening was delivered by Ryan Joyce. In his match against Christian Kist, the Englishman checked out 150 points in sensational fashion via Bull-Bull-Bull.
Furthermore, Dimitri Van den Bergh stood on the European Tour stage for the first time in 420 days. “The DreamMaker” won his comeback match against Alan Soutar 6-2.
All Friday Results
Ricky Evans 6-1 Teemu Harju
Karel Sedlacek 6-5 Jason Riedtke
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Christian Kist
Ian White 0-6 Jimmy van Schie
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Daniel Klose
Alan Soutar 2-6 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Justin Hood 6-4 Max Hopp
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Kevin Doets 6-3 Lukas Wenig
Cameron Menzies 6-4 Rob Cross
James Hurrell 3-6 Sebastian Bialecki
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 Paul Krohne
William O’Connor 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Joe Cullen 6-1 Marcel Hausotter
Niko Springer 6-2 Nandor Major
Outlook for Saturday
On Saturday, the top 16 seeded players will enter the tournament action at the ELTEN Safety Shoes Baltic Sea Darts Open starting from 1 PM. Niko Springer and Martin Schindler remain as the only Germans in the second round. Tickets for the weekend are still available HERE.
