His hair has changed colours since his match against Luke Humphries at the UK Open, but Friday evening he won his first match of the weekend in Odense at the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship. Photo: PDC
The 2026 PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship concluded the first session with a win for the home town favorite Benjamin Drue Reus at Friday.
Friday marked the debut for the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship being held in the beautiful city of Odense in Denmark.
Sixteen players went to the oche to get off to a good start of the 2026 PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship.
Defending champion Teemu Harju had to find some of his very best dart against Andreas U. Nielsen, who proved to be something of a challenge. After Teemu Harju got himself in front by 4-2, the Dane won two legs in a row with a brilliant 164-checkout for 4-4. Andreas U. Nielsen even got himself up by 5-4 and missed a match darts, before Harju equalized for 5-5.
In the last leg decider Andreas U. Nielsen once again had a match dart, this time at double 6, missed, meaning Teemu Harju could checkout 18 with three darts to secure the victory.
The second match of the evening was something of a rollercoaster for Mio Varila, who saw himself being behind by both 2-0 and 5-3, before equalizing for 5-5 with a magnificent 124-checkout on the bull. However it proved to be even better for the Finn who managed to check out impressive 150 for the victory in the following leg.
And the high checkouts did not stop after this, as Jonas Sørensen checked out 101 and 137 for 1-0 and 2-1. Afterwards the value of the checkouts fell a bit, however Rickard Johansson still could not get yet another leg, meaning Jonas Sørensen won the match by 6-1 averaging 80.26.
Valters Melderis then proved to be to much for Johan Engström in a match which started quite slow for both contestants. The Latvian got himself in front by 3-1, before the Swede managed to equalize the score. Afterwards both of the players won a leg each, before Melderis won two legs in a row, giving him a victory of 6-4.
Jonas Masalin then took to the stage against Andreas Toft Jørgensen in the fifth match of the evening, however the Finn quickly got himself up by 3-0 before the Dane got himself a leg for the scoreboard. Andreas Toft Jørgensen then busted aiming for a 126-checkout in the fifth leg, which Jonas Masalin punished and got ahead 4-1, before eventually securing the match by 6-1 averaging impressive 93.43.
In the match of the two Andreas’, it was Andreas Harrysson coming off on top, after he won 6-2 against Andreas Hyllgaardhus with a 82-checkout and 86-checkout along the way.
The evening was also given the gift of a average consisting of three digits, as Anton Östlund whitewashed Alexander Thorvaldsson 6-0 in the penultimate match of the night. The Swede averaged 100.20 without even making one single ton-checkout along the way. The second highest average ever recorded in the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship.
Home town favorite Benjamin Drue Reus faced Jani Laurila in the last match of the evening, as both players made their debuts in the tournament. After some low scores in the first visits for the Dane, suddenly he found the level he has shown again and again on the Nordic and Baltic Pro Tour, which got him up by 3-0 before also winning the match by 6-0 averaging 84.28.
Tomorrow will see the seeded players in action, when they take on the rest of the field in two sections concluding the group stage. And as always the matches can be seen on the PDC Nordic & Baltic Youtube-channel.
2026 PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship
Odense Congress Center
Friday November 6
Teemu Harju 6-5 Andreas U. Nielsen (Group H)
Mio Varila 6-5 Dmitriy Zhukov (Group F)
Jonas Sørensen 6-1 Rickard Johansson (Group C)
Valters Melderis 6-4 Johan Engström (Group G)
Jonas Masalin 6-1 Andreas Toft Jørgensen (Group B)
Andreas Harrysson 6-2 Andreas Hyllgaardhus (Group E)
Anton Östlund 6-0 Alexander Thorvaldsson (Group A)
Benjamin Drue Reus 6-0 Jani Laurila (Group D)
Saturday November 7
Afternoon Session (1200 local time)
8x Group Stage Matches – best of 11 legs
Daniel Larsson v Alexander Thorvaldsson (Group A)
Petri Rasmus v Andreas U. Nielsen (Group H)
Viktor Tingström v Johan Engström (Group G)
Cor Dekker v Andreas Toft Jørgensen (Group B)
Oskar Lukasiak v Andreas Hyllgaardhus (Group E)
Jonas Graversen v Jani Laurila (Group D)
Darius Labanauskas v Dmitriy Zhukov (Group F)
Jani Haavisto v 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)
