Polish darter returns to World Darts Championship after 14 years

Krzysztof Kciuk has forced qualification for the World Darts Championship. 'The Thumb' was the best player Saturday at the PDC East Europe World Championship Qualifier in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

The Pole managed to reach the final of the qualifying tournament with victories over Filip Prochazka (6-2), Baranyi Zsombor (6-1), Nandor Major (6-3) and Roman Benecky (6-1).

In the final, he faced Sebastian Bialecki after Bialecki's wins over Gabor Jagicza (6-4) and Pal Szekely (6-3), among others. Bialecki took a 2-0 lead in the final, but then had to concede five legs in a row to Kciuk. Bialecki came back to 6-5, but then Kciuk took the ticket to the World Darts Championship by winning 7-5 on a 15-darter.

For Kciuk, it will be the second time he has been allowed to compete at Alexandra Palace. He made his debut during the edition, but then lost in the preliminary round 4-1 in legs to Haruki Muramatsu.

PDC East Europe World Championship Qualifier 2023

Quarterfinals

Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Nandor Major

Roman Benecky 6-3 Denis Duh

Pal Szekely 6-2 John Michael

Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Gabor Jagicza

Semi-final

Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Roman Benecky

Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Pal Szekely

Final

Krzysztof Kciuk 7-5 Sebastian Bialecki