PDC Czech Darts Open 2019 preview and schedule: Friday afternoon session

The beautiful city of Prague is taking its place in darting history. For the first time, the PDC heads to the Czech Republic to stage a tournament, as another nation joins the roster of European Tour hosts. It's proven a hit in Denmark. Surely it'll be the same in one of the hubs of Eastern European darts. The question is now: who will win the first ever Czech Darts Open?

It's fair to say that Stefan Bellmont is unlikely to be our champion. However, even making it to round one is a decent achievement for the Swiss, who enters his second European Tour event of the season. Danny Noppert hasn't got past the last 32 in Europe this year; win this, and he can have a crack at 16th seed Darren Webster.

Second up is a meeting between two players who can technically reach the World Matchplay at the final event before the cut-off. They'd have to win the title, of course. But that's just semantics. (You can read about all the World Matchplay permutations here). Madars Razma and Justin Pipe will be more focused on a good Czech Darts Open showing than dreams of the Winter Gardens.

Jermaine Wattimena hasn't made it as a seed, but has avoided too tricky a draw. First up for him is Kevin Garcia, one of three Challenge Tour players competing as UK qualifiers. That's followed by the Czech Republic's number one, Karel Sedlacek. He is by far the strongest of the home nation qualifiers, and even made a European Tour quarter-final in Munich. This could be a tough one for Brendan Dolan.

Corey Cadby makes his long-awaited European Tour debut and, due to his prodigious talent, is a real wildcard. Before we find out if he can set up a mouth-watering second round meeting with Michael Smith, the Australian must overcome fellow hot prospect, and Team Target stablemate, Wessel Nijman.

William Borland is another Challenge Tour representative on the big stage at the Czech Darts Open. He meets a fellow Scot - indeed, Scotland's number one (in our hearts, anyway) - John Henderson.

Kyle Anderson might watch the penultimate game of the opening Czech Darts Open session from behind his sofa. If Keegan Brown beats home nation qualifier Ondrej Pisek, it's likely to mean that Brown heads for the World Matchplay instead of the Original. It'd require a real step up from Pisek, who averaged around 82 in Thursday's qualifying, to upset the odds and give Anderson a lifeline.

After that tension, we get to enjoy the wonder that is Andrew Gilding. It's always a pleasure to see Goldfinger back in the spotlight; if he wants to make the return permanent, the Challenge Tour contender could do with some lucrative wins. Beating Rowby-John Rodriguez in Prague and doubling his Czech Darts Open money would be a heck of a start.

12:00 Danny Noppert v Stefan Bellmont
12:30 Madars Razma v Justin Pipe
13:00 Jermaine Wattimena v Kevin Garcia
13:30 Karel Sedlacek v Brendan Dolan
14:00 Wessel Nijman v Corey Cadby
14:30 William Borland v John Henderson
15:30 Ondrej Pisek v Keegan Brown
16:00 Andrew Gilding v Rowby-John Rodriguez