The afternoon session gave no surprises, as the eight seeded players won each of their matches respectively.
Saturday marked the arrival of the seeded players at the 2026 PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship in Odense, as the tournament stepped up a gear with the introduction of its top eight players.
The afternoon session saw all eight seeds take to the stage for their opening matches, facing the players who had suffered defeat on Friday, with the evening session then setting up clashes against the eight players who had won their opening matches.
Number one seed Daniel Larsson got the afternoon underway against Alexander Thorvaldsson. The young Icelander took the lead twice, going 1-0 and 2-1 up, before Larsson responded with back-to-back legs to move ahead in the match. Thorvaldsson then fought back to level at 4-4, but Larsson took control once again, winning the final two legs and sealing a 6-4 victory with a clinical two-dart 85-checkout.
Petri Rasmus and Andreas U. Nielsen then produced another closely fought encounter, with neither player able to establish a lead of more than one leg until the score reached 4-4. Rasmus edged ahead by winning the ninth leg before delivering the decisive blow with a magnificent 141-checkout against the throw to secure a 6-4 win.
The third match of the afternoon brought another success for the seeded players, as Viktor Tingström came out on top against Johan Engström with a 6-3 victory and an average of 82.16. The young Swede put the finishing touch on his performance with an impressive 12-darter in the deciding leg.
Second seed Cor Dekker continued the winning trend among the seeded players, comfortably beating Andreas Toft Jørgensen 6-2 in his opening match. The Dane did manage to produce one of the highlights of the match with a superb 146-checkout, but it was not enough to trouble Dekker, who averaged an impressive 96.12.
Despite producing a fantastic 139-checkout to make he score 3-1, Andreas Hyllgaardhus suffered the same fate as Toft Jørgensen in the afternoon’s fifth match. Tour Card holder and fifth seed Oskar Lukasiak proved too strong for the Dane, cruising to a 6-1 victory with an average of 91.05.
Next up were Jonas Graversen and Jani Laurila, with Graversen adding another win to the seeded players’ impressive afternoon. The Dane put in a strong performance against the Finn, producing two 14-darters along the way to secure a convincing 6-1 victory.
In the penultimate match of the afternoon, Dmitriy Zhukov was unable to overcome seeded player Darius Labanauskas. Although the Lithuanian was not quite at his usual best, he still had enough to get past Zhukov, eventually claiming a 6-2 victory.
The final match of the afternoon looked set to provide the biggest upset of the session, as Rickard Johansson raced into a 2-0 lead against third seed Jani Haavisto. However, the Finn fought his way back into the contest and turned things around, winning six consecutive legs to claim a 6-2 victory.
The afternoon’s results means that all eight groups will be decided on head-to-head records in the evening session, with all sixteen players heading into their second match of the tournament having secured one win each.
Saturday November 7
Odense Congress Center
Afternoon Session
Daniel Larsson 6-4 Alexander Thorvaldsson (Group A)
Petri Rasmus 6-4 Andreas U. Nielsen (Group H)
Viktor Tingström 6-3 Johan Engström (Group G)
Cor Dekker 6-2 Andreas Toft Jørgensen (Group B)
Oskar Lukasiak 6-1 Andreas Hyllgaardhus (Group E)
Jonas Graversen 6-2 Jani Laurila (Group D)
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Dmitriy Zhukov (Group F)
Jani Haavisto 6-2 Rickard Johansson (Group C)
Evening Session (1900 local time)
8x Group Stage Matches – best of 11 legs
Petri Rasmus v Teemu Harju (Group H)
Daniel Larsson v Anton Östlund(Group A)
Viktor Tingström v Valters Melderis (Group G)
Cor Dekker v Jonas Masalin (Group B)
Jani Haavisto v Jonas Sørensen (Group C)
Darius Labanauskas v Mio Varila (Group F)
Oskar Lukasiak v Andreas Harrysson (Group E)
Jonas Graversen v Benjamin Drue Reus (Group D)
