2023 Austrian Darts Open

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2023 Interwetten Austrian Darts Open** was the fifth of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2023 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the Steiermarkhalle, Graz, Austria from 21–23 April 2023. It featured a field of 48 players and £175,000 in prize money, with £30,000 going to the winner.

The defending champion was Michael van Gerwen, who defeated Danny Noppert 8–5 in the 2022 final, but he lost 7–0 to Josh Rock in the semi-finals.

Jonny Clayton defeated Rock 8–6 in the final to win him second European Tour title (the first one also being in the same tournament 5 years earlier).

## Prize money

The prize money was increased for the first time in 4 years for all European Tours, with the prize fund increasing to £175,000, with £30,000 to the winner:

* Seeded players who lose in the second round of the event shall not be credited with prize money on any Order of Merit. A player who qualifies as a qualifier, but later becomes a seed due to the withdrawal of one or more other players shall be credited with their prize money on all Orders of Merit regardless of how far they progress in the event.

## Qualification and format

The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 7 March automatically qualified for the event and were seeded in the second round.

The remaining 32 places went to players from six qualifying events – 24 from the Tour Card Holder Qualifier (held on 13 March), two from the Associate Member Qualifier (held on 12 February), the two highest ranked Austrians automatically qualified, alongside two from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 20 April), one from the Nordic & Baltic Associate Member Qualifier (held on 11 March), and one from the East European Qualifier (held on 15 April).

Jim Williams withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons, and was replaced by Stephen Bunting, who was top of the Reserve List.

The following players took part in the tournament:

2. Dave Chisnall  *(Second round)*
3. Michael van Gerwen  *(Semi-finals)*
4. Damon Heta  *(Third round)*
5. Dirk van Duijvenbode  *(Third round)*
6. Rob Cross  *(Third round)*
7. Michael Smith  *(Third round)*
8. Nathan Aspinall  *(Third round)*
9. Danny Noppert  *(Quarter-finals)*
10. Peter Wright  *(Second round)*
11. Ryan Searle  *(Quarter-finals)*
12. Joe Cullen  *(Quarter-finals)*
13. **Jonny Clayton**  *(Champion)*
14. Martin Schindler  *(Second round)*
15. Josh Rock  *(Runner-up)*
16. Andrew Gilding  *(Third round)*
* William O'Connor  *(First round)*
* Ian White  *(First round)*
* Cameron Menzies  *(First round)*
* Maik Kuivenhoven  *(Second round)*
* Bradley Brooks  *(First round)*
* Ricky Evans  *(First round)*
* Daryl Gurney  *(Semi-finals)*
* Owen Roelofs  *(First round)*
* Simon Whitlock  *(Third round)*
* Madars Razma  *(First round)*
* Dylan Slevin  *(First round)*
* Ricardo Pietreczko  *(Second round)*
* Nick Kenny  *(Second round)*
* Krzysztof Ratajski  *(Second round)*
* Jeffrey de Zwaan  *(First round)*
* Chris Dobey  *(Second round)*
* Matt Campbell  *(Second round)*
* Kim Huybrechts  *(First round)*
* Ryan Meikle  *(Second round)*
* Luke Woodhouse  *(Second round)*
* Raymond van Barneveld  *(Second round)*
* Brendan Dolan  *(First round)*
* Mickey Mansell  *(Third round)*
* Jelle Klaasen  *(Second round)*
* John Henderson  *(Second round)*

**Highest Ranking Austrians**
* Rowby-John Rodriguez  *(First round)*
* Mensur Suljović  *(Quarter-finals)*

**Host Nation Qualifier**
* Marcus Haider  *(First round)*
* Hannes Schnier  *(Second round)*

**Nordic & Baltic Qualifier**
* Dmitrijs Žukovs  *(First round)*

**East European Qualifier**
* Vítězslav Sedlák  *(First round)*

**Reserve List Qualifier**
* Stephen Bunting  *(First round)*

## References

1. ↑ Van Gerwen doubles 2022 Euro Tour title tally at Austrian Darts Open.
2. ↑ Clinical Clayton celebrates Graz glory at Austrian Darts Open.
3. ↑ Cazoo UK Open & European Tour prize fund increases announced.
4. ↑ PDC Order of Merit Rules | PDC.
5. ↑ Players Championships 5-6 entries & ET5-6 seeds confirmed
6. ↑ 2023 Interwetten Austrian Darts Open draw & schedule.
7. ↑ 2023 Interwetten Austrian Darts Open draw & schedule.