Rob Cross will face Nathan Aspinall in the headline quarter-final at the Slovak Darts Open after the last-16 line-up was settled in Bratislava on Sunday. Cross edged Kevin Doets 6-5 before Aspinall produced the most emphatic result of the afternoon, beating Ryan Searle 6-0 to set up a high-class finals-night meeting, according to the official PDC Europe match schedule.
The first PDC European Tour event staged in Slovakia is now down to eight players, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all due to be completed in the evening session at Incheba Expo.
Bratislava Finals Night Has Opened Up
Tom Sykes, already one of the stories of the weekend, followed up his win over Martin Schindler by beating Cameron Menzies 6-4. He now faces Jermaine Wattimena, who came through a decider against Danny Noppert.
Andrew Gilding removed Michael van Gerwen 6-4 and will meet Ross Smith, while Mike De Decker edged Ryan Joyce 6-5 to book a quarter-final against Wessel Nijman, who beat Stephen Bunting 6-1.
With Van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Gian van Veen and Bunting all out, the route to the inaugural Slovak Darts Open title has changed sharply. Cross and Aspinall bring major-stage pedigree, but Sykes, Gilding and Nijman have given the draw the kind of disruption that makes finals night feel far less predictable than it looked at the start of the weekend.
