Brian Raman and Aileen de Graaf added to their collection of WDF ranking titles by winning the Romanian Open in Bucharest.
Raman downs Michael to win fifth WDF crown
Former WDF No.1 Raman made a strong start to his 2025 WDF campaign, defeating John Michael in an entertaining Men's Romanian Open final.
Greek standout Michael took the opening leg with a 19-dart break of throw before Raman immediately fired back with a 78 checkout to level the scores before holding his throw to hit the front.
Michael levelled it up at 2-2 but didn't find the outer ring again, Raman winning three on the spin in 17, 12 and 18 darts, the middle leg in that run with a 124 finish, to take the final 5-2 with an 89.38 average.
Raman had looked in good form all-day, opening his account with a bye followed by successive whitewashes against Jon Williams and Davy Vandendriessche. After that win over his fellow Belgian, 'The Riddler' record four consecutive 90+ averages to see off Ian Loveridge, David Fatum, Bert de Ruiter and Francois Schweyen for the loss of just three legs.
In his semi-final with Schweyen, a repeat of their Lakeside meeting last December, Raman got seven darts into a 9-darter and recorded a brilliant 132 finish on the bull.
Michael, meanwhile, had been aiming to win his first WDF title in six years. A former champion in Romania, Michael threw four 90+ averages of his own, including three in a row against David Pallett, Thomas Junghans and Sybren Gijbels.
Men's Romanian Open | Quarter-Finals
Francois Schweyen 4-2 Johan Engstrom
Brian Raman 4-1 Bert de Ruiter
David Davies 4-2 Daniel Racoveanu
John Michael 4-1 Sybren Gijbels
Semi-Finals
Raman 4-1 Schweyen
Michael 4-1 Davies
Final
Raman 5-2 Michael
De Graaf battles past Hedman to claim first title of year
Aileen de Graaf looked close to her best during parts of the Romanian Open, which saw her emerge triumphant after a dramatic final with Deta Hedman.
The Dutch ace had dropped just four legs in reaching the final, beating Louise Hepburn, Eve Watson, Kirsi Viinikainen and Lerena Rietbergen in the point-scoring stages of the competition.
The final looked as though it'd be similarly one-way traffic, as de Graaf recovered from losing the opening leg by winning four on the spin to move within one of the title.
Nerves then set in though, with de Graaf missing match darts in the sixth, seventh and eighth legs as Hedman, Las Vegas Open champion the week before, levelled the scores and forced a decider.
In that ninth leg, de Graaf regained her composure, taking out 72 to seal a 5-4 victory.
Romanian Open | Women's Quarter-Finals
Lerena Rietbergen 4-1 Kirsty Hutchinson
Aileen de Graaf 4-1 Kirsi Viinikainen
Amy Evans 4-2 Hannah Meek
Deta Hedman 4-0 Natalie Gilbert
Semi-Finals
de Graaf 4-1 Rietbergen
Hedman 4-0 Evans
Final
de Graaf 5-4 Hedman
