Preview Sunday afternoon Flanders Darts Trophy: Luke Littler, Stephen Bunting lead final day field

From Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31, the Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp is on the program. This is the tenth Euro Tour tournament of the season. Sunday afternoon the matches of the last sixteen are on the program.

The Flanders Darts Trophy kicks off a series of Euro Tour tournaments before the final finale later in October: the European Darts Championship. The 32 best players on the Euro Tour qualify for this final tournament, so the coming weeks will decide who we will see back at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund at the end of next month.

Dave Chisnall managed to win the 2024 edition and thus starts the tournament as the defending champion. He managed to defeat German Ricardo Pietreczko 8-6 in last year's final. However, Chisnall will not extend his title after losing immediately to Leon Weber in his opening match.
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The afternoon session at the Antwerp Expo will kick off with the duel between Mensur Suljovic and Luke Woodhouse. Suljovic, formerly a regular in the final stages of major tournaments, has now dropped to 61st in the world rankings and could use a good performance toward retaining his PDC Tour Card. He looks set to deliver that good performance this weekend. In his first two matches, the 53-year-old Austrian was too strong for Andrew Gilding and Rob Cross, respectively. Especially against Cross, Suljovic played very well, although he was also lucky that Cross left some match darts unused. Woodhouse wiped the floor with a severely undersized Peter Wright in the previous round. Actually, that match should not be called a reference, even though it was against Wright, still a former two-time world champion. Wright, however, stuck to an average of 74.62, unseen at this level. Woodhouse, however, is having a very solid year and should in principle, based on his form in recent months, get past Suljovic.

With Stephen Bunting against Josh Rock, the audience gets to see two players in top form. Bunting won another Players Championship earlier this week, already his fifth PDC title this year. Rock experienced his moment of supreme glory in mid-June when he won the World Cup of Darts alongside Daryl Gurney. Both men are known for their high scoring ability, so don't be surprised if the 180s and high scores will fly around our ears in this duel. Favorite? Bunting anyway, given his status of frequent winner this year, but the difference should not be great.

Next up is James Wade. The 42-year-old Englishman already reached two major finals this year and proved that he is by no means written off. 'The Machine' has been around for more than 20 years and has again climbed to fifth place in the world rankings. In his first match this weekend, Wade - without playing impressively himself - took the measure of Kim Huybrechts quite easily. Wade gets to take on the surprising Leon Weber in the third round. The 22-year-old German defeated successively Jermaine Wattimena and defending champion Dave Chisnall this weekend. Can he pull off a third consecutive shock against Wade?

Gian van Veen defeated Michael van Gerwen 6-3 in the previous round. That must have pleased him, because earlier this year Van Veen lost to the same Van Gerwen in the final of the German Darts Grand Prix. For a place in the quarterfinals Van Veen will take on Martin Schindler. The German defeated home favorite Mike De Decker in the previous round and won the Austrian Darts Open earlier this year. The Wall' is having an excellent year anyway, he already won a Players Championship and is approaching the top 16 in the world rankings.

In the duel between Krzysztof Ratajski and Daryl Gurney, it is difficult to pinpoint a favorite. Gurney is slightly higher in the world rankings, but you are never done with Ratajski. Both players eliminated a series leader in the previous round. Ratajski won over fifth-seeded Chris Dobey, while Gurney dealt with 12th-seeded Ross Smith. An exciting match announces itself anyway.

Afterwards, the Belgian audience will get to see their only remaining compatriot. Mario Vandenbogaerde stunted in the previous two rounds by winning from Michael Smith and Jonny Clayton and is now in the third round. A huge boost for "Super Mario," who is still in a fierce battle to retain his PDC Tour Card. If Vandenbogaerde wants to advance to the next round, he will have to beat Danny Noppert. 'The Freeze' defeated Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 in an all-Dutch duel in the previous round. With Noppert against Vandenbogaerde, there are actually two players facing each other who rarely fall through the lower limit, although Noppert starts as the favorite given his status.

The penultimate match of the afternoon session features Damon Heta and Ryan Joyce. Heta dealt with Christian Kist in the previous round. Joyce did not even have to step up as Gerwyn Price dropped out due to a wrist injury at the last minute. Heta is slightly higher than Joyce in the world rankings, but the latter has caused some stunts against big names in the past.

Rounding out the afternoon session were Luke Littler and Ryan Searle. Littler, who had to have a tooth pulled just before this tournament, showed in his opening match that it all didn't affect him. 'The Nuke' defeated Dylan Slevin 6-0. For a place in the quarterfinals, Littler will take on Searle. 'Heavy Metal' was too strong for Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 in the previous round after a real thriller. Searle may be able to keep pace with Littler with his high scoring ability, but will he also be able to throw his doubles at a high percentage? That will be all it takes to have a chance at victory.