The last-16 stage of the ČEZ Czech Darts Open delivered a high-quality afternoon of European Tour action in Prague on Sunday, with the big names advancing and two comeback kings setting the tone for a stacked evening session.
World No. 1 Luke Littler continued his successful return to the Euro Tour circuit – his first appearance since March – by fighting back from 3-1 down against Krzysztof Ratajski.
The Nuke reeled off five successive legs, finding his doubles and hitting 180s to seal a 6-3 victory (Littler 99.21, Ratajski 99.61). It extended his perfect head-to-head record against the Pole to six wins from six and booked a quarter-final clash with Danny Noppert.
Michael van Gerwen produced a near-identical recovery. Trailing 3-1 against Wessel Nijman, the Dutch legend surged to a 6-4 win powered by a superb 102.02 average (Nijman 98.98). MVG now faces Jonny Clayton in the last eight.
Three-time Prague champion Luke Humphries stayed rock-solid with a controlled 6-3 victory over Andrew Gilding (Humphries 93.93, Gilding 93.64). The world No. 2’s remarkable record in the Czech capital continues to grow.
Gerwyn Price was clinical, dismantling Cameron Menzies 6-1 (Price 89.39, Menzies 76.18), while Ross Smith produced a strong performance to defeat Gian van Veen 6-3 (Smith 91.38, van Veen 90.19).
In the tighter encounters, William O’Connor edged Josh Rock 6-5 in a high-quality battle (both averaging around 93.5), Jonny Clayton overcame Keane Barry 6-4 despite Barry posting the higher average (98.25 to Clayton’s 96.94), and Danny Noppert squeezed past Luke Woodhouse 6-5 in another close contest (Noppert 97.12, Woodhouse 97.99).
ČEZ Czech Darts Open
Sunday Afternoon Session – Last 16
Results
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Cameron Menzies
Ross Smith 6-3 Gian van Veen
William O’Connor 6-5 Josh Rock
Luke Humphries 6-3 Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Keane Barry
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Littler 6-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
The quarter-final line-up is set for the evening:
Price vs Smith, Humphries vs O’Connor, Clayton vs van Gerwen, and Noppert vs Littler.
With four former world champions and the current No. 1 still in the hunt, Prague is primed for a memorable night of darts.
Images: PDC Europe
