2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Preview

We are back in action on the Euro Tour this weekend and we have already posted a player by player betting preview, read that here. Check out James Punt’s 2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Preview below.

Ryan Joyce vs. Gabriel Clemens

We haven’t heard much about Ryan Joyce recently and that is because he is losing so many matches. His seasonal win rate is just 39% and he has lost seven of his last ten matches. He has lost his last four in a row and two of those were to Gabriel Clemens.

They met in PC11 at the end of last month and Clemens won 6-2, and they met again this Tuesday and Clemens won that 6-5.

Clemens has also lost seven of his last ten matches, but he did lose four of them 5-6. He is playing just a little better than Joyce and if they was one person he might have hoped to have drawn, it is Joyce. Overall, the German is 7-2 vs. Joyce.

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 1 point Gabriel Clemens to win @ 2.00 with SpreadEx

Ricardo Pitreczko vs. Patrik Kovacs

Kovacs played in ET4 and beat Joe Cullen 6-3, before losing 2-6 to Ross Smith in round 2. He plays his darts exclusively on the Hungarian Super league and euro qualifiers. His 12 month average is 82.54. Obviously, this is a step up in class, as was playing Joe Cullen.

Pikachu is in poor form, losing seven of his last ten matches and his 12 month average is 89.48. He played Ian White in ET4 and won 6-5, averaging 79.19. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and while he should be expected to win this, he can’t be feeling very confident.

The market has Pietreczko as the 1.61 favourite, Kovacs2.63 and being backed. The odds are about right, but it could be very messy, low on quality and close.

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.10 with Boylesports

Niels Zonneveld vs. James Hurrell

Zonneveld is not in good form, losing six of his last ten matches and is blowing hot and cold. He has had two Euro Tour semi-finals and a quarter final already this year, but his form has dropped and he lost his first round match in ET5 3-6 to Keane Barry.

James Hurrell has won five of his last ten matches and is showing no consistency, but he did win three of his last four, including a 6-0 win over Jeffrey de Graaf and an average of 104.86 and a 6-5 win over Christo Reyes.

Hurrell has only ever played three Euro Tour matches and lost all three. Those were to Woodhouse, Van Veen and Michael Smith.

These two have played twice and have one win each, both played last year. Zonneveld is the 1.73 favourite, Hurrell 2.38. Zonneveld’s extra experience should be the deciding factor, but Hurrell can make a match of it.

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Betfair

Evening Session

Karel Sedlacek vs. Kim Huybrechts

These two have met six times with Huybrechts winning four. They last met in February and Huybrechts won that 6-4. Of their six matches, five have seen over 9.5 legs. Both have won five of their last ten matches.

Huybrechts has won his last six first round matches on the Euro Tour and is the 1.88 favourite to win this one, Sedlacek 2.10. Another close one?

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 0.5 point Huybrechts to win 6-4 @ 6.75 with Livescorebet

Cameron Menzies vs. Mensur Suljovic

Menzies has lost five of his last ten matches and hit six sub 90 averages. He has lots of Euro Tour experience and has won three of his five first round Euro Tour matches this season.

Suljovic has hit some good form just in time for his ‘home’ event. Earlier this week he reached the semi-final of PC13 on Monday, and the quarter final of PC14 on Tuesday. He also won a place in ET6 in the qualifier on Wednesday. It must be said that the entry list in the Players Championships this week was missing a lot of big names, but winning nine of his last ten pro tour matches will make him feel very confident.

Menzies is 7-2 against Mensur but he is up against a home crowd hero here.

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 1 point Mensur Suljovic to win @ 1.83 with SpreadEx

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Madars Razma

Razma is 7-4 against Dirk, but when they met on Monday, Dirk won 6-3. That ended a run of four straight wins for the Latvian. There is a clash of styles here and it doesn’t suit Dirk.

They have played ten best of eleven leg matches and only one has required more than nine legs.

2026 Austrian Darts Open R1 Tip: 1 point under 9.5 legs @ 1.73 with Unibet, Ladbrokes, Betvictor, Skybet

That is all for this weekend.

-JamesPunt