Rydz flew out of the blocks. A tidy 56 checkout got him on the board before a 13-darter immediately broke Scutt’s throw. A clinical 14-dart leg made it 3-0 in no time. Scutt briefly threatened a revival with a brilliant 158 checkout and a 12-darter to get on the board, but that was as good as it got.
The Riot reasserted himself with another 56 finish for 4-1 and then polished the job off in style, rattling in 12 and 14-dart legs to complete a commanding 6-1 success. “I didn’t know it was a ton-plus average, but I’ll take it any day,” said Rydz with a grin afterwards. “Me and Connor were having a bit of a laugh and a joke backstage. I said, I don’t really care what the score is, I just want to go and watch the Ryder Cup, that’s just started. So yeah, it was nice to come out with the win and obviously, if I can play like that, I can be a threat to anyone.”
Ending the Euro Tour drought
The win ends a barren spell for the two-time PDC World Darts Championship quarter-finalist on the Euro Tour stage. After his semi-final run in Basel last year, Rydz had suffered six consecutive first-round exits.
“Obviously the last one against Daryl in Belgium… Daryl’s a great friend of mine and we were laughing backstage after the game,” he recalled. “I knew he’d never beaten me before, so we were joking, like, ‘Why did you have to do it against me? I thought we were friends!’ I even said it on stage – I thought we were pals! But it was great to see him finally get over the line against me. I know I want to win every game, but like I say, I love Daryl and it was a great game to be a part of.”
The Basel crowd also showed their fondness for Rydz, with one banner in the arena reading “Kellen Ritz for Bundesrat” – the Swiss equivalent of “Rydz for Prime Minister.”
“Someone has to, don’t they? No, thank you, cheers,” Rydz laughed in response.