Joe Cullen, Cristo Reyes, and Daryl Gurney headlined a successful opening night at the Poland Darts Open in Krakow, with all three securing their spots in the second round. Gurney delivered one of the most convincing performances of the session, dominating Polish qualifier Dawid Robak 6–1. Connor Scutt also advanced, though he had to withstand a comeback from Damon Heta after racing to a 4–0 lead, eventually sealing a 6–4 victory. Reyes continued his strong start to the 2026 campaign with a solid 6–3 win over Germany's Niko Springer, while Cullen silenced the home crowd by defeating host nation qualifier Krzysztof Kciuk 6–2 in a composed display.
Elsewhere, Wessel Nijman and Mike De Decker progressed without their best form. Nijman capitalized on missed doubles from Englishman Thomas Lovely to claim a 6–3 win. After breaking Lovely in the opening leg due to missed doubles, Nijman built a 3–0 lead, only for Lovely to rally and level at 3–3. However, Lovely squandered eight darts at double in the seventh leg, allowing Nijman to regain control and close out the match with a superb 100 checkout in 11 darts. De Decker also advanced with a 6–4 victory over Germany's Marvin Kraft, though he never truly found top gear. After moving 4–1 ahead, De Decker held off a late fightback from Kraft, who won two consecutive legs to narrow the score to 5–4 before the Belgian sealed the win with a 16-dart leg.
It was a disappointing evening for Dirk van Duijvenbode, whose 2026 European Tour debut ended in a 6–3 defeat to Czech talent Adam Gawlas. Van Duijvenbode fell behind early as Gawlas produced a 94 finish in 15 darts and an 88 checkout in 18 darts to lead 2–0. Missed doubles from the Dutchman allowed Gawlas to extend the advantage to 4–0, and though Van Duijvenbode fought back to 5–3 with a 12-dart leg and a 15-darter, further missed opportunities in the ninth leg proved costly. Gawlas calmly hit double 2 to seal the victory and complete a minor upset on the opening night.
