{"id":15411,"date":"2026-09-04T07:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T00:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=15411"},"modified":"2026-09-04T07:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T00:30:45","slug":"world-grand-prix-heats-up-in-czech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/world-grand-prix-heats-up-in-czech\/","title":{"rendered":"World Grand Prix heats up in Czech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

World number one and defending champion Luke Littler will headline the Czech Darts Open, hoping to go back-to-back in his pursuit of a clean sweep of Premier titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 12th European Tour event of 2026 will be held at the PVA Expo from September 4-6, as 48 players compete for the \u00a335,000 top prize in the Czech capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event is the penultimate opportunity for players to secure their spot at the World Grand Prix in Leicester from September 28 to October 4, with the Flanders Darts Trophy – the final chance – taking place from September 11-13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top 16 players from the Werner Rankings Ladder will qualify for the double-start event at the Mattioli Arena, to be joined by the 16 top-performing players from the 12-month ProTour rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 champion Luke Humphries – who has made the last three finals in Leicester – will also star, with Dutch number one Gian van Veen and six-time champion Michael van Gerwen featuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former champions Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton will also return to Leicester, with ten-time TV title winner James Wade and Northern Irish number one Josh Rock assured of their appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Baltic Sea Darts Open winner Luke Woodhouse leads the ProTour qualifiers, with Dutch star Kevin Doets set to make his debut at the World Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jermaine Wattimena – who currently sits in 17th just outside the top 16 in the world – still occupies third spot in the ProTour rankings, with darting veterans Krzysztof Ratajski and Andrew Gilding also set to feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017\/18 World Champion Rob Cross and World Matchplay semi-finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode will also return to the Mattioli Arena, with William O\u2019Connor, Damon Heta, Niels Zonneveld and Ryan Joyce featuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two-time runner-up Dave Chisnall and World Cup semi-finalist Cameron Menzies are poised to qualify for the double-start competition, with both players occupying 12th and 13th respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, little separates Niko Springer, Joe Cullen and Sebastian Bialecki from 14th-16th respectively, with Bialecki just ahead of Cristo Reyes in 17th – currently outside of a qualification spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Bialecki has failed to qualify for the Czech Darts Open, hope of a World Grand Prix debut remains for the Polish number two, who will feature at the Flanders Darts Trophy as a ProTour representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

German number three Springer would also secure a maiden World Grand Prix appearance if he can shore up his spot, while Reyes\u2019 qualification would be incredibly impressive considering that the Spaniard only regained his Tour Card in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Prague, Reyes will feature as a Tour Card Holder qualifier and Springer as a ProTour qualifier, with both players also qualifying for Antwerp a week later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Huybrechts – who currently sits in 18th on the ProTour rankings – will appear at the Czech Darts Open after winning through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, as the Belgian eyes a 10th World Grand Prix outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, if 19th-placed Karel Sedlacek emerges through the Host Nation Qualifier, he will feature on home soil in Prague, with the Czech number one also set to star at the Flanders Darts Trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside chances also remain for Martin Schindler, Beau Greaves and Jeffrey de Graaf, with the trio qualifying for both the Czech Darts Open and Flanders Darts Trophy, although serious runs are required to qualify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daryl Gurney, Rob Owen, Keane Barry, Connor Scutt, Callan Rydz and Stephen Burton – who are all present at the Czech Darts Open – would need to win the European Tour event to stand a chance of qualifying for Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World number one and defending champion Luke Littler will headline the Czech Darts Open, hoping to go back-to-back<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-15411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t