{"id":2892,"date":"2025-09-05T08:56:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T00:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=2892"},"modified":"2025-09-05T08:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T00:56:30","slug":"humpries-to-defend-his-crown-at-czech-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/humpries-to-defend-his-crown-at-czech-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpries to defend his crown at Czech Open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Luke Humphries will open his defence of the Gambrinus Czech Darts Open against Dirk van Duijvenbode or Cor Dekker, as the PDC European Tour in Prague this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event will see a 48-player field competing for the \u00a330,000 top prize, as world number one Humphries bids to go back-to-back in the Czech capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Humphries ran out a comprehensive 8-1 winner against Kim Huybrechts to triumph in Prague 12 months ago, having also lifted the title back in 2022 following an 8-5 victory over Rob Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first round will feature 16 matches across two sessions, as three-time European Tour winner Joe Cullen goes head-to-head with Germany&#8217;s rising star Niko Springer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker locks horns with current European Champion Ritchie Edhouse in a battle between two of last year&#8217;s TV title winners, while Dutch icon Raymond van Barneveld takes on Poland&#8217;s number one Krzysztof Ratajski. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World Youth Champion Gian van Veen will play his fellow countryman Maik Kuivenhoven for a place in round two, while Wessel Nijman and Richard Veenstra collide in another all-Dutch affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cameron Menzies faces three-time European Tour event winner Ian White in his opener, with Flanders Darts Trophy semi-finalist Daryl Gurney pitted against Kevin Doets in an intriguing clash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall &#8211; a winner of two European Tour titles in 2025 &#8211; marks his return to big stage action with a meeting against Host Nation representative\u00a0Jiri Brejcha, while Czech number one Karel Sedlacek returns to home soil against Ryan Joyce.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The top 16 players on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder will enter the tournament in Saturday&#8217;s second round, as reigning champion Humphries &#8211; returning to action following a family holiday &#8211; begins his campaign against Van Duijvenbode or Norwegian star Dekker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>World Champion Luke Littler, fresh from victory in Antwerp last weekend, begins his challenge for back-to-back European Tour titles against Menzies or White on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen has been drawn against De Decker or Edhouse in round two, with fourth seed Bunting up against either Gurney or Doets for a place at Finals Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Wade faces a potential showdown against Aspinall in a battle of the former World Matchplay champions, as Jermaine Wattimena and Brendan Dolan battle it out for the right to play sixth seed Chris Dobey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gerwyn Price awaits the winner of the tie between Cullen and Springer, while 2022 runner-up Cross faces a tough test against Van Barneveld or Ratajski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter Wright memorably lifted the Czech Darts Open title in 2023, and the two-time World Champion will be targeting a return to winning ways when he kicks off his campaign against Ricardo Pietreczko or Benjamin Pratnemer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flanders Darts Trophy finalist Josh Rock aims to continue his good form when he takes on Luke Woodhouse or William O&#8217;Connor, while Danny Noppert is guaranteed Dutch opposition in the shape of his World Cup partner Van Veen or Kuivenhoven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke Humphries will open his defence of the Gambrinus Czech Darts Open against Dirk van Duijvenbode or Cor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2893,"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":[44,7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-2892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed.jpg",2000,1333,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed.jpg",2000,1333,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Luke-Humphries-2_compressed-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/category\/international\/\" rel=\"category tag\">International<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/category\/newsbeat\/\" rel=\"category 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