Out in Quali

“Cheeky!” Suljovic and Rowby miss out in Graz

Mensur Suljovic will not be celebrating in Premstätte this year.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

That's bitter! Mensur Suljovic of all people, a crowd favorite and crowd puller for years, will be missing next week at the Austrian Darts Open in Graz/Premstätten. He also failed to qualify at the weekend, as did his buddy Rowby-John Rodriguez. For darts mastermind Alfred Söls, the fact that both had to qualify at all is "an outrage".

Suljovic had to bow out in the very first round. 2:6 against England's Robert Grundy - his ticket for Graz was gone. Rodriguez, now Austria's number one, only made it into the second round, where he lost out to Scotland's Tom Taylor. It all happened in England. It is somewhat bizarre that Austria's top players have to go to the qualifying tournament on the island for their home tournament in Graz of all places. Alfred Söls, Austria's darts maker and Suljovic confidant, agrees: "I think the new mode, which was explicitly changed for the 2024 season, is cheeky. It can't be right that Austria's number one and number two are not allowed to compete in their home tournament."

New mode
How come? The PDC discreetly put the rules through the mincer for 2024. Which in turn spit out the following mode adaptation: The top 16 of the Order of Merit are permanently qualified for each tournament. Both Rodriguez, currently number 46 in the world, and Suljovic, 61st, are some way off that. They are joined by the top 16 players in the Pro Tour Order of Merit. Neither Suljovic nor Rodriguez are included. However, because both have a tour card, they had to go to the qualifying tournament in England and are not allowed to compete in the qualifying tournament in Graz itself, which in turn provides four national players with a ticket to participate.

Incomprehensible for Söls. "The two best players from each country should definitely be allowed to take part. But the winner of the Austrian Darts Championship in 2019 (in Schwechat, note) can't play in his home country." And so that highly emotional moments like last year, when Suljovic stormed into Sunday afternoon, are not repeated this year. Nor, incidentally, will the incomparable (winner) interviews.

A picture from better days: Suljovic (2nd from right) after his final triumph against Michael van Gerwen (2nd from left) in Schwechat 2019. Far left: Manager Alfred Söls. Far right: Sebastian Mayer, then PDC Europe

(Bild: www.chaluk.com)

Nevertheless, a star-studded crowd is guaranteed. From April 26th to 28th, the world's top darts stars will be holding hands in the Steiermarkhalle in Premstätten.