The year’s 13th and final European Tour event takes the PDC’s elite to the Czech Republic, where Peter Wright will be hoping to make it a successful title defence of his Czech Open Title.
European Tour Darts: Czech Open Preview
The tournament takes place at the PVA EXPO in Prague from Friday through to Sunday, as the battle for European Championship qualification concludes in the Czech capital. The top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit after this weekend’s action will qualify for this year’s finale in Dortmund, with Nathan Aspinall currently sitting in the final qualification spot.
The 16 seeded players enter the competition in Saturday’s second round and the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final taking place in an epic Sunday evening session.
Czech Open 2024: Price May be Right
The seedings for the Czech Open are done based on previous success on the European Tour, which is why Dave Chisnall is top seed as he chances a third European Tour title. That is why world number one Luke Humphries, rising star Luke Littler and the mighty Michael van Gerwen are all housed in the bottom half of the draw.
It means targeting the top half of the draw could be the approach to take and Gerwyn Price must hold strong claims having shown some decent form in this week’s Players Championship events. Price put a poor showing at the World Grand Prix behind him to finish runner-up to Van Gerwen in Players Championship 27, winning six matches which included against Madars Razma, Damon Heta and Ryan Searle.
That suggests that the Welshman is finding his peak form and his draw looks a decent one, with his second-round clash set to come against either Daryl Gurney or Raymond van Barneveld. Chris Dobey, Rob Cross and Josh Rock are the three fellow seeds in his quarter but Price tends to come good at this time in the season, with the World Championships approaching, and may have their beating.
Czech Open 2024: Classy Chizzy
Chisnall finished runner-up to Wright in the Czech Open last season, going down 8-6 in a thrilling final, but there is every possibility that he could go one position better. Chizzy excels on the European Tour and is top seed for a reason, which has rewarded him with a potentially favourable draw. Chisnall, who won Players Championship 23 just over three weeks ago, faces Robert Owen or Niels Zonneveld in his second-round clash while Ricardo Pietreczko looks his toughest third-round opponent.
That means a quarter-final spot should be his for the taking and, while Stephen Bunting, Searle or Michael Smith may be waiting there, Chisnall tends to save his best form for tournaments such as this and would be fancied to prevail. Not having to face Humphries, Littler or Van Gerwen until the final only enhances his claims in a tournament where he made the title decider last season.
Czech Open: In-Form Noppert
If there is a player capable of throwing their hat into the ring in a star-studded bottom half of the draw then Dutchman Danny Noppert may be the one to focus on. Noppert made the semi-final of Players Championship 28 on Wednesday, beating Michael Smith in the quarter-final, and he has been supremely consistent over the last couple of months.
A second-round duel with World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker may be on the cards but that title triumph may take some adjusting to for the Belgian. From there, the sixth seed could face defending champion Wright or Germany’s Martin Schindler, but neither are performing at the top of their game and that means Noppert may have an excellent chance to make his presence felt in the quarter-final.
Czech Open: Outright Tips
Gerywn Price to win @ 12.0 with kwiff
Dave Chisnall to win @ 20.0 with kwiff
Danny Noppert to win @ 40.0 with kwiff
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