2024 Czech Darts Open Outright Preview

After a near miss with his headline selection for the World Grand Prix, James Punt is hoping to go one better at the 2024 Czech Darts Open. Check out his player by player preview and outright tips below.

2024 Czech Darts Open

The final event of the 2024 PDC European Tour is this weekend’s 2024 Czech Darts Open, from the PVA Expo in Prague, home to some of the very best, and cheapest, quality beers on the planet. This is only the fourth time it has been played, with the three previous winners being Jamie Hughes, Luke Humphries and last year’s winner, Peter Wright.

When Jamie Hughes won the first Czech Darts Open, he beat Stephen Bunting in the final, with both finalists being unseeded players. The second running of the event saw eleven seeds go out in the second round, a Euro Tour record, so it has form for surprises, but the last two winners have been seeds, and well known ones, although, Wright winning last year came from out of the blue.

Final Chance

This is the final qualifying event for next weekend’s European Championships and the last chance saloon for those just outside the top 32 on the Euro Tour OOM to win a place in the finals, or for those just inside the top 32 to hang on.

Madars Razma gets a late call up from the reserve list and he is just £250 outside the top 32, so he will be one to watch in the first couple of rounds. Aspinall is just ahead of him, and he is getting very uptight over his ranking. Dirk van Duijvenbode is not here this weekend and he is just £1000 inside the cut mark, so he has to sit at home and hope.

Others within striking range with a good run are Cameron Menzies, Callan Rydz, Brendan Dolan and Dimitri van den Bergh.

The Seeds

1 Dave Chisnall 

Seems to have gone off the boil. He was disappointed by flopping at the World Grand Prix again and he showed only modest form in the midweek Players Championship matches. Hard to fancy.

2 Ross Smith 

Has lost five of his last ten matches and continues to be inconsistent. Smudger didn’t play in the midweek events. Smith has hit more sub 90 averages than ton plusses recently and like Chisnall, Smith is hard to fancy.

3 Luke Humphries 

It was disappointing to have our number 1 selection lose in the final of the World Grand Prix. Humphries just started too slowly and gave De Decker such a head start, that when the Belgian did get a bit tight, Luke wasn’t close enough to really take advantage. Humphries said afterwards that he was feeling a bit flat and tired. This is not the first time we have heard that.

Perhaps he just needs a couple of weeks off? Maybe, but that is hard to do at this time of year. He has a LOT of darts to play between now and the new year. That made it a little more surprising that he did turn up for the two midweek events in Wigan. I suppose that is quite local to his home in Crewe, but still, a rest is a rest. And now he is off to Prague for this event, before heading to Dortmund for the European Championship, which starts on Thursday.

Humphries is defending the winner’s prizemoney from 2022, but he doesn’t need to worry about that as he is so far ahead on the OOM. Maybe he should have taken this whole week off. His last ten matches have seen seven wins but he was very flat in the midweek Players Championships.

4 Josh Rock 

Having taken time off for the birth of his child, Rock is probably quite a bit fresher than many of the other top seeds. Since he came back after a few weeks off, Rock reached the quarter final of ET11 and the semi-final of ET12. He went out in the first round of the World Series to Ryan Joyce, but he bounced back to reach the final of PC28 on Wednesday, missing six match darts to beat Wesley Plaisier. He has won eight of his last ten matches, hit a nine darter, made a final, is in great Euro Tour form, and he wasn’t playing his best. It looks like his form is coming to the boil at the right time.

5 Gerwyn Price 

Boosted his form with a run to the final of PC27 on Tuesday, losing to MVG. He has won seven of his last ten matches. His recent Euro Tour form is poor, however, losing his last five opening matches in a row. He is safely qualified for the finals and this is more about getting match fitness in ahead of the big events looking.

6 Danny Noppert 

You know what I am going to say here. Another good run for Noppert has to be expected, but a potential winner? Not so likely. He reached the semi-final of PC28 on Wednesday, but lost 5-7 to Wesley Plaisier. Noppert has won seven of his last ten matches and he was playing good stuff in the midweek.

7 Damon Heta 

Cut from the same cloth as Noppert. Heta wins plenty of matches but probably should do better. He had another quarter final in midweek, but lost 1-6 to Gerwyn Price. Like Noppert, Heta is playing good stuff and should have a decent run, but something happens when he gets to the business end, and it is usually not good.

8 Stephen Bunting 

Bunting has lost three Players Championship finals and a quarter final in October. He is winning a lot of matches, in other words. His conversion rate from good runs to wins is not good, but he is hard to oppose in matches. Bunting has won six of his last ten matches. Bunting reached the final here in 2019, lost of course, but that was played in the height of summer and it was very hot. The Bullet carries a bit of timber and the conditions did not suit him.

9 Ryan Searle 

A revelation on the Euro Tour in 2024, and very nearly won last time out in Switzerland, losing the final of ET 12 at the end of last month. Searle had reached, and lost, six Euro Tour quarter finals this season, but he made his first semi-final in Budapest and ET11, before going one better in Basel.

His last three Euro Tour events have now seen finishes of QF/SF/RU. Can he get the W to complete the set? I have to say he would deserve it. Searle is not a keen traveller, and that has held him back in Europe in the past, but he has got his head down this season and made great progress. Searle has won eight of his last ten matches, reaching a semi-final in midweek. A contender.

10 Luke Littler 

Littler has dropped off the radar a bit lately. He can’t be expected to win or go close in everything, but it will be interesting to watch his body language this weekend. The big ones are coming up, and Littler has played a light schedule to keep fresh, but his game has gone off the boil a bit. He has lost five of his last ten matches and he has looked more like a ‘normal’ player this month. As such he is hard to fancy, but more to the point, he looks poor value at 5.50 to win the title.

11 Martin Schindler 

Super confident after winning the Swiss Darts Trophy, his second Euro Tour title of the season. He says he is now ready to win a major, and he has to be on the shortlist for both this, and the finals next week. Schindler has won seven of his last ten matches, but he was not great midweek, a 107 average excepted.

12 Chris Dobey 

A two time semi-finalist in Europe this season, but will he ever get one over the line? Dobey is one of the best players around, but his inability to win on stage stops him from being a very good player. Dobey is having a great season on the floor, winning twice and being runner up on three occasions. But on stage/TV…he isn’t the same player. He has won six of his last ten matches but I can’t back him here.

13 Rob Cross 

Has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing OK. Cross won the Baltic Sea Darts Open back in May but since then he has only played in three Euro Tour events, and won just two matches. There are many players in more inspiring form.

14 Gian van Veen 

Runner up in the Hungarian Darts Trophy a few weeks ago, Van Veen has booked his place in the World Youth Championship final, having qualified on Monday. He backed that up by losing both his first round matches in PC27 & 28. He has won seven of his last ten matches, but the seven wins were at youth level. At senior level he has lost six of his last ten. He has the talent, but he is not at his best right now.

15 Michael van Gerwen 

MVG may have been having a poor season, but he has found his form, just at the right time. Van Gerwen won PC21 a month ago and then won ET11 fours days later. His good run was halted by illness and he lost in the first round of the Grand Prix whilst still not well. He returned to action on Tuesday and won PC27, not in spectacular fashion, but that made it three titles from four starts, and he was ill for the one he lost. That is great form. He lost in the first round on Wednesday, but I suspect he was just keen to set off for home early, and get a bit more rest in, as he said he was still not feeling 100%. Has to be on the shortlist.

16 Ricardo Pietreczko 

Gets a leg up to the seeded spots with the usual withdrawal by Gary ‘No show’ Anderson. Pietreczko continues to struggle for form in 2024. His overall win rate is 42% and he has lost six of his last ten matches. How he reached the final of the Flanders Darts Trophy last month is a mystery.

Best of The Rest

It must be said that the vast majority of the players that are not seeded, are in ordinary form at best, with two exceptions.

Jonny Clayton 

Has reached five quarter finals in the last five weeks, including two in midweek. The Ferret reached the final of the Dutch Darts Championship in late May, but since then his runs in Europe have been brief, winning just two matches from four events. His confidence must be on the up and you can’t rule out another decent run.

Mike De Decker 

Went straight back to work after winning his first major title last Sunday. It didn’t take him long between winning his first PDC title, and his first major. He can be forgiven for winning just two matches on Tuesday and deciding to go home after that. His head might still be spinning after that huge win last weekend.

The Draw

First Quarter

Dave Chisnall has a decent draw, as the top seed often gets. He looks to have a good enough path to the quarter finals. The bottom half of the quarter features Clayton playing Van den Bergh in the first round, and I’ll give that to Clayton. The Ferret would than face Bunting and that is a bit of a toss-up on recent form, but I’m tending towards Clayton.

Ryan Searle should be facing Michael Smith in the second round. Smith’s form is indifferent and I’d take Searle to win that, but Smith did beat him on Wednesday, so it is not set in stone. I like Searle’s progression on the Euro Tour, and he would be a deserving winner, but it is a tough quarter.

Second Quarter

Josh Rock is the top seed here and is likely to face the out of form Cullen in round 2. Rob Cross is not in great form, Chris Dobey will hit the wall at some point and Gerwyn Price is not quite the player he was. Like Searle, Rock is in great form and has enjoyed good runs in recent events. I’ll take Rock here.

Third Quarter

Ross Smith isn’t in good enough form to seriously consider, but he should make round three, and lose to MVG. Van Gerwen should face either Littler or Heta, and it may well be Heta. It is no sure thing, but MVG looks in better form right now, and his confidence is growing, and that makes him dangerous. He is only 7.50 to win the title, which is not great value.

Fourth Quarter

Luke Humphries tops the seeds here, and while he is tired, he looks good for the quarter final, where he may meet Schindler, Noppert or De Decker. I fear this may have come too soon for De Decker, but Noppert and Schindler are reaching quarter finals in their sleep these days. In terms of who could go on and win the whole thing, Schindler is now twice proven in 2024.

2024 Czech Darts Open Ante Post Selections

Ryan Searle to win the 2024 Czech Darts Open 0.5 point e/w @ 34.00 generally available

Josh Rock to win the 2024 Czech Darts Open 0.5 point e/w @ 34.00 with BET365, Boylesports, Unibet

Martin Schindler to win the 2024 Czech Darts Open 0.5 point e/w @ 51.00 with Ladbrokes

Hopefully we can get one into the final come Sunday night. MVG nearly was a pick, but odds of 7.50 are only fair.

We have a clash with the Formula 1 again this weekend, But I should have some selections for the first couple of rounds, and that is where the fun is.

-JamesPunt