Pavel Drtil was the big winner of round 2 as he held off a comeback from 4th seed Josh Rock to clinch a last leg decider. Having seen a 3-0 lead disappear the local hero hit an impressive 6 doubles out of 7 attempts. When the winning double went in Drtil looked in shock at what he had just managed to do whilst the crowd inside the arena erupted in celebration of their new hero’s victory.

Next up for the home star will be a darting date with Kim Huybrechts who himself squeezed through a last leg decider against Luke Woodhouse. With the match evenly poised after 10 legs the Hurricane produced a 10 darter to win the match and will be looking to go deep on the final day of action in Prague.

Luke Littler put the disappointment of exiting the World Grand Prix in round 1 behind him as he broke another record in what has been a record breaking year for the 17 year old. Not to be outdone by his peers he hit a Czech Darts Open record breaking average of 110.43 on his way to a 6-1 thrashing of Nathan Aspinall. The Asp averaged over 96 but such was the dominance of the Nuke – Aspinall hit the double with the only attempt he had on the outer ring. Littler

Heta brings the heat

Not to be outdone by big averages elsewhere Damon Heta put his own marker down for taking the Prague title in his defeat of the German Giant. The Heat averaged over 102 as he reeled off 3 legs in a row to lead 4-2 before holding off for a 6-3 win against Gabriel Clemens.

In the final match of the afternoon Michael Smith joined the record lists as he hit the third highest (until Littler played) average in Czech darts history when he registered 107.9 in defeating Ryan Searle 6-3 hitting 3 maximums and clinched the win with a 121 finish having watched his opponent get a bounce out on the bull attempting the same finish.

Another darter to end with a 3 figure average was Michael van Gerwen who ended up with 104.56 in a 6-4 victory against Krzysztof Ratajski who himself hit 4 180’s and a beautiful 164 outshot. Not to be outdone MvG hit 5 maximums and took control from 3-3 winning 3 of the final 4 legs to book his place in the last 16.

Iceman pulls out

Following the announcement that Rob Cross had pulled out on Friday due to illness there was a further withdrawal on Saturday morning as Gerwyn Price withdrew due to a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Maik Kuivenhoven who faced fellow Dutch star Raymond van Barneveld. With limited resources available to him Kuivenhoven wearing a PDC polo shirt, jeans, white trainers and a set of his opponents darts pushed Barney all the way and had chances to lead 5-3 only to see Barney take out 112 to hold his throw then break to go 1 away and eventually got over the line 6-4 to book his place in the final day.

Another Dutch star making it through to the final day is Gian van Veen. In a week where he qualified for his second consecutive World Youth Darts Championship final van Veen beat seasoned pro James Wade 6-2. In a match that saw 6 breaks of throw – James Wade uncharacteristically missing doubles at crucial points proved vital with van Veen taking out a 140 as a highest check out.

Afternoon Round-up

Elsewhere Jermaine Wattimena wasted no time in dispatching Chris Dobey 6-0. The Machine Gun averaged a whopping 107 and pinged 2 maximums. In Dobey’s defence he averaged over 100 but was unable to find the outer ring and will now look forward to a tie against fellow Dutch star Raymond van Barneveld. The other whitewash of the afternoon saw Mike De Decker continue his rich vein of form as he eased past Danny Noppert. The Real Deal averaged over 102 and restricted Noppert to a single dart at a double.

Last leg deciders were very popular in the afternoon session as Ricardo Pietreczko and Alan Soutar joined Drtil and Huybrechts in squeezing through to the last 16. Pikachu beat Martin Lukeman and was heavily aided in the last leg with 6 perfect darts before taking out 76 in 12 darts to book his place in Sunday’s last 16. The other afternoon player to make it through in 11 legs was Scotsman Soutar who got the better of Ross Smith. In a 180 fest where both players hit 6 each maximus each. After seeing a 5-3 lead slip Soots had to watch Ross Smith miss a match dart in the decider before wrapping up the match finding double top.

Evening Round-Up

On a day where seeds kept tumbling the biggest seed of all fell in the second match of the evening session when Niels Zonneveld took the biggest scalp of all when he defeated number 1 seed Dave Chisnall 6-2. The Englishman struggled on the outer ring and was punished by Zonneveld who hit 2 maximums and averaged over 93.

Elsewhere Wales’s new number 1 booked his place in the last 16 courtesy of a 6-3 win and a 100 average against Stephen Bunting. Jonny Clayton was always in control after racing to a 4-0 lead before Bunting brought it back to 4-3. Clayton then eventually got over the line hitting the winning double after missing 4 match darts.

Luke Humphries put the disappointment of losing the World Grand Prix final behind him in quick time as he got passed Ritchie Edhouse. With the game evenly poised at 2-2 the world number 1 reeled off 4 straight legs to book his place in the last 16. Edhouse will rue 11 missed darts at a double which came at crucial points in the game.

In the final match of the evening Martin Schindler won 6 legs on the bounce to dump out Peter Wright 6-1. Not to let the averages column down The Wall averaged over 102 and clinical on the outer ring only missing 1 dart at a double. Schindler hit 3 maximums and will now face Mike De Decker in Sunday’s last 16.

The action continues in Prague at 12pm GMT on Sunday.

Czech Darts Open Round 2 Results

Afternoon Session

Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Martin Lukeman
Damon Heta 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Chris Dobey 0-6 Jermaine Wattimena
Josh Rock 5-6 Pavel Drtil
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith 5-6 Alan Soutar
Danny Noppert 0-6 Mike De Decker
Ryan Searle 3-6 Michael Smith

Evening Session

Gian van Veen 6-2 James Wade
Dave Chisnall 2-6 Niels Zonneveld
Maik Kuivenhoven 4-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting 3-6 Jonny Clayton
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Littler 6-1 Nathan Aspinall
Luke Humphries 6-2 Ritchie Edhouse
Martin Schindler 6-1 Peter Wright