Cristo Reyes produced a magical nine-dart finish on a thrilling day of action at the Austrian Darts Open, as Niko Springer dismantled Wessel Nijman in Graz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seven seeds were sent packing on Day Two at the Stadthalle, however it was Reyes who stole the headlines, producing his first big stage nine-darter in his victory over Australian number one Damon Heta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Spaniard has been a revelation since reclaiming his PDC Tour Card in January, and he delivered another stellar showing in Austria, averaging 101.89 and hitting six 180s to seal a 6-4 success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reyes raised the roof with his nine-dart exploits in leg four, before defying a valiant fightback from Heta to wrap up proceedings with a brilliant 11-darter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I feel very happy,”\u00a0reflected Reyes, who will face fifth seed Danny Noppert for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When I hit the nine-darter I got more nervous, but this is amazing. I want to say thank you to this fantastic crowd.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael van Gerwen also impressed in a bumper evening session, averaging 103.41 and converting a trio of ton-plus checkouts to defeat Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 and open his bid for a fifth Austrian Darts Open crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Gerwen will now set his sights on a showdown against two-time European Champion Rob Cross, who overcame William O’Connor by the same scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dutch superstar Van Gerwen is now the highest-ranked player left standing in Graz, after top seed Gian van Veen was beaten in a last-leg decider by Latvia’s number one Madars Razma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen crashed out alongside his fellow countryman Nijman, who was blown away by a rampant Springer in a battle between two of the sport’s most explosive talents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, James Wade produced a virtuoso display to end the hopes of Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic, averaging 103 and conjuring up a hat-trick of 11-darters en route to a dominant 6-2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reigning champion Martin Schindler also advanced in convincing style, firing in six maximums and reeling off five consecutive legs from 2-1 adrift to sweep aside a struggling Peter Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim Huybrechts maintained his resurgence with a sensational deciding-leg win over Chris Dobey, following up a ten-dart break with a breathtaking 132 finish on the bull to overturn a 5-4 deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Belgian will play Andrew Gilding in the last 16, after the 2023 UK Open champion averaged 100.92 in his 6-4 success against former European Championship runner-up Jermaine Wattimena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross Smith \u2013 runner-up to Schindler in last year’s tournament \u2013 averaged north of 102 in disposing of Niels Zonneveld, and he will now renew his rivalry with the German number one in round three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke Woodhouse also averaged over a ton in his 6-1 thrashing of Rob Owen, which sets up a showdown against third seed Wade on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northern Ireland’s World Cup champions Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney also safely advanced to Finals Day, courtesy of 6-3 victories against Patrik Kovacs and Ian White respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, Kevin Doets celebrated a first career victory over Ryan Searle to book a tie against Ryan Joyce, who condemned Mike De Decker to a sixth consecutive defeat on the European Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noppert completes Sunday’s last 16 line-up after surviving\u00a0three match darts to sink Alan Soutar in a gruelling last-leg affair, with the Dutchman revealing post-match that he has been suffering with illness this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Cristo Reyes produced a magical nine-dart finish on a thrilling day of action at the Austrian Darts Open,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-12710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round Two
<\/strong>Andrew Gilding 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Mike De Decker
Rob Cross 6-3 William O’Connor
Kevin Doets 6-2 Ryan Searle
Ross Smith 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Damon Heta (Cristo Reyes hit a nine-darter)
Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Rob Owen
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Chris Dobey
<\/strong>Daryl Gurney 6-3 Ian White
Josh Rock 6-3 Patrik Kovacs
James Wade 6-2 Mensur Suljovic
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert 6-5 Alan Soutar
Madars Razma 6-5 Gian van Veen
Martin Schindler 6-2 Peter Wright
Niko Springer 6-0 Wessel Nijman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"