BEFORE their eye catching clash this evening it’s fair to say that Beau Greaves will generate considerably more headlines than the multiple champion of the Czech Darts Open, Luke Humphries. While that is completely understandable, in these history making times, we thought a little look at the evolution of this superb event, and Cool Hand’s role in it, worth illustrating.
There is something about Prague in early autumn that gets under the skin of darts players. The PVA Expo halls in Letňany fill with a distinctive mix of local passion and continental carnival. Beer flows, colourful costumes appear, and the noise builds into a respectful roar that players repeatedly describe as among the best on the European Tour.
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“The Czech crowd love me, but I love them even more,” Michael van Gerwen once said after a dominant display. Luke Humphries has gone further still, calling the atmosphere better than many nights in England and openly wishing the country hosted more events.
This weekend the sixth edition of the Czech Darts Open unfolds at the same venue, now carrying a £230,000 prize fund and the weight of a short but vivid history. What began as a new stop on the PDC calendar has become one of its most characterful chapters — and the stage on which one player has written his own personal dynasty.
From Inaugural Surprise to COVID Darts Silence
The story starts in late June 2019. Jamie Hughes, freshly armed with a Tour Card after years on the Challenge Tour, arrived in Prague and left with his first senior PDC title. In the final he dismantled Stephen Bunting 8-3, a clinical performance that also booked him a World Matchplay debut.
The heat under the lights was intense that weekend; players later recalled how the temperature tested concentration. Yet the tournament had announced itself.Then silence. The planned 2020 event at the Královka Arena was cancelled by the pandemic, and 2021 brought no Czech stop either.
When the European Tour returned fully in 2022, the Czech Darts Open returned with it — this time at the Královka before settling more permanently at the PVA Expo complex.
The Humphries Era
Luke Humphries won the 2022 final 8-5 against Rob Cross. It was an early statement of intent from a player then still climbing the rankings the hard way. Two years later he produced one of the most dominant European Tour campaigns yet seen, with Prague providing the location: just 11 legs dropped across the entire tournament, culminating in an 8-1 demolition of Kim Huybrechts.
In between sat Peter Wright’s 2023 victory, an 8-6 win over Dave Chisnall that remains the only interruption to Humphries’ grip. In 2025 the Englishman completed the hat-trick. Facing Josh Rock in the final, he recovered from an early deficit, absorbed a 153 checkout that levelled the match at 4-4, and closed it out 8-5.
Afterwards he was visibly moved.
“You don’t win three events at the same venue for no reason — this tournament is really special to me,” he said. “In every game I’ve played this weekend I felt the love from the crowd.”
Humphries has spoken of his friendship with long-time organiser Pavel Korda and of his affection for the country itself. One tournament a year, he has suggested, is not enough for Czechia (or Hungary).
The numbers back the affection: three titles from five completed editions make him the dominant force.
Spectacle, Records and the Prague Crowd
The Czech Darts Open has also delivered pure darts theatre. In 2024 a teenage Luke Littler rewrote the record books twice in the same weekend, first with a 110.43 average then a scarcely believable 116.51 against Damon Heta — still the highest three-dart average in the tournament’s history.
Van Gerwen has produced multiple 110-plus performances of his own. High checkouts and tense deciding legs have become regular features. What ties it together is the crowd. Sessions sell out. Total attendances have climbed past 15,000 across a weekend.
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Players repeatedly praise the fairness: support for both competitors, little of the selective hostility sometimes found elsewhere. The atmosphere sits somewhere between a British darts night and a European festival — energetic without tipping into disruption. Organisers have cultivated that balance carefully, and the players notice.
Looking Ahead
As the 2026 edition unfolds, the prize money has risen again and the field remains stacked. Humphries returns as two-time defending champion, seeking a third successive title and a fourth overall. The presence of Luke Littler on his European Tour return, the continued excellence of the Dutch contingent, and the historic first European Tour match win by Beau Greaves on the opening day only add layers to the narrative.
Prague does not yet host a major television event or a Premier League night, though more than one top player has floated the idea. For now the Czech Darts Open stands as a thriving European Tour staple: well-run, passionately supported, and increasingly inseparable from the name Luke Humphries. In a sport that demands globe trotting effort almost constantly, certain venues become personal favourites.
For Cool Hand Luke, the halls of the PVA Expo in Prague have become exactly that — a place where the darts fly a little straighter and the crowd feels a little closer. Whether he makes it four titles this weekend or not, the special relationship between player, place and public is already secure.
The Czech Darts Open may only be six editions old, but it already has its king, its atmosphere, and its growing legend.
Images: PDC Europe
