13/05/2023

Wright stumbles past Dolan, Van Gerwen defeats De Decker & Sedlacek delights home crowd with Cullen victory at the Czech Darts Open

As the Czech Darts Open keeps rolling on, the next three players to secure their spots in Sunday afternoon's third round in Prague are Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Karel Sedlacek.

Peter Wright, taking on Brendan Dolan was in dire need of a victory. After a disappointing start to the year that has seen Wright drop down to world number 3, Snakebite could use the win to gain some momentum. Dolan though had other ideas.

Schedule and preview Saturday evening session 2023 Czech Darts Open including Van Gerwen, Cullen-Sedlacek and Humphries-Ross Smith

With both players not quite at their electric best, it was the Northern Irishman who took the advantage, moving into a 5-3 lead. Wright will always battle though even when not at his best and after pulling back to 5-4, Wright took out a fantastic 116 to level things up. A 17-dart leg in the decider was enough for Wright to complete the great escape and seal a 6-5 win.

In the next game, Michael van Gerwen, last week's winner on the European Tour was against the Belgian, Mike De Decker. Asserting his dominance early on, 'Mighty Mike' raced into a 2-0 lead. As De Decker began to settle though a succession of holds of throw meant he kept in touching distance and in leg 6 he punished some sloppy doubling by MVG to level up at 3-3.

Despite his faffing on the outer ring, van Gerwen's scoring supremacy was ensuring he had plenty of opportunities and soon he had reclaimed his advantage at 5-3. Although De Decker did get one more leg, it was the Dutchman who secured a 6-4 victory.

Tournament Centre 2023 Czech Darts Open: Schedule of play, results, TV Guide and prize money breakdown

Euro Tour regular Joe Cullen, taking on the last remaining Czech hope Karel Sedlacek in front of a raucous Prague crowd. Much to their delight, it was Sedlacek who took an early lead, breaking the throw in the opening leg before a roof-raising 121 on the bull made it 2-0.

Maintaining his advantage, 'Evil Charlie' as he's known continued to delight his home crowd, stretching his lead out to 4-1. After Cullen couldn't take out 96, Sedlacek was on hand to punish with a ruthless 64 finish and move a leg away from victory. As Cullen began to fight back the tension started to rise and 'the Rockstar was soon back to within touching distance at 5-4. After Cullen missed the bull for a match-levelling 170, a relieved Sedlacek secured the 6-4 win.