The WDF circuit lands in Malmö this weekend for the 56th edition of the Swedish Open, one of the longest-running fixtures on the European darts calendar and, since 2013, a fixture of the Hotel Scandic Triangeln.
First staged in 1969, the event is one of the longest-running fixtures on the European calendar, and its roll of honour still carries some serious pedigree. Eric Bristow won it three times in the early eighties, long before Malmö became its permanent home.
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This year’s field across both the Open and Ladies’ draws runs to well over 250 entries. The bracket includes the usual Swedish Open mix of touring WDF regulars, PDC-adjacent names dipping back into the amateur game, and a huge local contingent chasing ranking points on their own doorstep.
The weekend opens with open and ladies doubles on the Friday evening, before the Swedish Open by Winmau, a Silver ranking event, takes over Saturday. The Swedish Masters by Dartstore, also Silver, closes things out on Sunday.
Open singles run 7×501 through to an 11×501 final; the ladies’ draw plays a 9×501 final. The winner’s cheque in the open is 20,000 SEK, with 10,000 SEK for the ladies’ singles champion.
Through the ranking lens
The strongest name on paper is Jenson Walker, the WDF’s world no.3 and one of the leading WDF players who came through PDC Q-School earlier this year without securing a Tour Card. If he’s near his best, he starts this weekend as good as anyone in the draw.
Behind him sits a cluster of players who also are within their right to make a claim for glory this weekend, as James Beeton, Stefan Schroder, Ross Montgomery and Thomas Junghans all have a case to make deep runs. Liam Maendl-Lawrance comes into this good enough to have won this title last year, but with plenty above him in the table this time who’ll fancy taking it off him.
The home angle
The local name to watch remains Andreas Harrysson, the Swedish veteran who reached the last 16 of this year’s PDC World Championship. He doesn’t chase WDF ranking points with any regularity, so he’s off the table above.
But with home comforts, in front of a partisan crowd, he’s exactly the sort of name who can make a weekend like this one.
Also in the darts draw
Jelle Klaasen has dropped out of the current WDF rankings picture, but the 2006 BDO World Champion remains a genuine crowd-pull whenever his name appears on a Silver-event sheet.
Ron Meulenkamp adds further quality to an already stacked Benelux contingent, while Noa-Lynn van enters the draw off the back of a season that’s kept her firmly in the WDF conversation, despite facing adversity.
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Put all these stars of the WDF stage together, and you get a Malmö weekend that leans as much on its amateur depth as it’s ranking-event pedigree.
But with the WDF’s world no.3 in the field, a cluster of top-25 names and a defending champion looking to hold them all off, there’s a proper contest running through the middle of it.
Full draws can be found on dartconnect.com and dartswdf.com and live streaming on YouTube.
Images: PDC
