Preview Saturday afternoon Czech Darts Open - Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton headline line-up

From Friday, September 5 to Sunday, September 7, the Czech Darts Open 2025 in Prague is scheduled. This is the eleventh tournament on the PDC European Tour. On Saturday afternoon four Dutch players will be in action.

After the Flanders Darts Trophy last week, the Czech Darts Open is the next event in a series of Euro Tour tournaments leading up to the European Darts Championship at the end of October. The 32 best players on the European Tour qualify for this final tournament, so the coming weeks will decide who we will see back in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund at the end of next month. Some familiar names such as Jermaine Wattimena, Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld are currently in 32nd place and will have to work hard in the coming tournaments to qualify.

Luke Humphries starts the tournament as the defending champion. 'Cool Hand Luke' was too strong in last year's final with an 8-1 win over surprise finalist Kim Huybrechts. Saturday afternoon the first matches from the second round are scheduled in Prague, and below you can read which players will appear at the oche.
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The afternoon session at the PVA Expo will kick off with the duel between Ross Smith and Andrew Gilding. Smith starts this tournament as the twelfth series leader. 'Smudger' has already won a Players Championship this year, but his performance in recent weeks has been particularly shaky. The 2022 European Championship winner is also still waiting for a first overall win on the European Tour. At the Czech Darts Open, Smith should try to get past Gilding in his first assignment. 'Goldfinger' defeated Darius Labanauskas in his opening match with the smallest difference.

Next up is Martin Schindler. The 29-year-old German won this year's Austrian Darts Open and has climbed to seventeenth place in the world rankings. On paper, Schindler should have few problems with Madars Razma. Still, he will certainly not underestimate the experienced Latvian, Razma can be pretty good on a good day. Moreover, he has nothing to lose this weekend, Razma was actually not even qualified for the Czech Darts Open, but due to the withdrawal of Gary Anderson he was allowed to travel to Prague.

With Damon Heta and Wessel Nijman, two players with very high scoring power face each other. The ninth-seeded Heta - this year already good for two titles at the Players Championship - starts this match slightly favored given his status, but normally Nijman is hardly inferior to him. The 25-year-old Dutchman has already reached the semifinals several times this year on the European Tour and is yearning to reach a final. Who knows, maybe already this weekend?

Jermaine Wattimena defeated Brendan Dolan 6-4 in the opening round and now faces sixth seed Chris Dobey. Wattimena is having a good year anyway, as he recently won the 23rd Players Championship, the first PDC ranking title of his career. Still, Wattimena starts his match against Dobey as an underdog. 'Hollywood' already won two Players Championships this year and also competed in the Premier League Darts. Scoring-wise, Wattimena should normally be able to keep up with his opponent, but throwing the doubles at a high percentage becomes hugely important for victory.

Danny Noppert, seeded fifteenth this weekend, reached the quarterfinals at the Flanders Darts Trophy just last weekend. The always regular Noppert is a paragon of stability and rarely drops below the line. Gian van Veen knows he will have to play his best to beat his compatriot. For Van Veen it is already the second all-Dutch match in a row, as he defeated Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 in the opening round. Van Veen had a hesitant start in that match, but later rectified this with impressive play. The 23-year-old from Poederoijen clocked up an average of 103.70. If he reaches that level again this afternoon, Noppert faces a tough task.

Dave Chisnall will take on Ryan Searle. Chizzy' is definitely not having his best year, last week he went down as defending champion in the opening round of the Flanders Darts Trophy. Chisnall is still dry this year in terms of titles and that's not out of his habit. Can he get his back straight this weekend? If so, he'll have to get past Searle in the first place. 'Heavy Metal' was too strong for Filip Manak in the opening round 6-2. Searle did not really impress, but that enough to win easily. However, it can be expected that he will have to raise his level a bit against Chisnall.

In the penultimate match of the afternoon session, Peter Wright is on the lookout. 'Snakebite' is having a barren year and fell in the opening round of the Flanders Darts Trophy last week with an average of less than 75. It's five to twelve for the 55-year-old Scot, who is starting to drop further and further down the world rankings. Wright desperately needs another good performance, which is why we are still looking forward to his match against Benjamin Pratnemer, which Wright will we get to see? Pratnemer is someone who has been around for quite some time, but is mainly active in the WDF. At the PDC he has not made much of an impression yet.

The afternoon session will be closed by Jonny Clayton and Ryan Joyce. At 51, Clayton still belongs to the top of the world, as he proved earlier this year by reaching the final at the World Masters and the semifinals at the UK Open. 'The Ferret' also triumphed at the Dutch Darts Championship and also won a Players Championship. Still, the tenth series head will be wary of Joyce. The 40-year-old Englishman is not a frequent winner - he won a Players Championship twice in his career - but he has beaten every top player on several occasions. So Joyce is someone who is not afraid of the best players in the world and could give Clayton a tough time.