We now know who will face off for the 2024 Flanders Darts Trophy title in Antwerp. Ricardo Pietreczko and Dave Chisnall will do battle later this evening for European Tour glory.
Chisnall managed to win in the first semi-final against his compatriot Chris Dobey. Dobey threw a 66 in the first leg, after which Chisnall equalised the score with a 13-darter. Then came the first break of the match after a 64 finish by ‘Chizzy’. The multiple major finalist then cashed in the break with a 63 finish in leg four.
Dobey responded with an 82 finish in the fifth leg, before Chisnall made it 4-2 with an 11-darter in the sixth leg. Then came a leg in which many doubles were missed. Chisnall missed seven, before Dobey took his fifth chance to close the gap to 3-4. However, Chisnall retained his break lead with an 18-darter in leg eight. Then Dobey came back into the match by throwing a 16-darter and a 14-darter. ‘Hollywood’ was then allowed to start the eleventh leg, but was not out in five turns. Chisnall was with a 14-darter, and then decided the match with a 13-darter.
In the second semifinal, Pietreczko stunned the world champion and world number one Luke Humphries. The German, who previously took European Tour glory in 2023 at the German Darts Championship, triumphed 7-4 over Humphries, averaging north of 104 and throwing a sensational seven 180s in the process.
Shortly after Humphries and Pietreczko had shaken hands to open the match, there was another fistbump: the German opened the semi-final with a 161 finish in the very first leg of the match – and got the corresponding recognition from Humphries. With two 180s, Pietreczko marched to the first break of the match in leg two, which he confirmed with 16 darts in the subsequent throw-in leg and increased to 3-0.
In leg four, Humphries was able to rely on his scoring power for the first time and checked out two 140s in 14 darts to make it 3-1 in the meantime, but Pietreczko continued to show a stable level and was also able to rely on his high-finish strength from the quarter-finals. He increased the lead to 4-1 after 15 darts with a 104 checkout.
The world champion restored the lead with 14 darts to make it 4-2, but Pietreczko continued to rely on his double rate and took a 5-3 lead. After scores of 100, 140 and 180, Pietreczko thought he was on course for a break, but couldn’t get a dart on double 81 and had to watch as Humphries made it 5-3 with a hit on double 4.
Humphries continued his comeback shortly afterwards with a strong 11-darter and a break, before Pietreczko took out two 180s in a row and a 26 checkout on double 13 to increase the lead to 6-4. Pietreczko made it clear that he would not let the chance to reach the final slip away. After 9 darts, the German had 82 points remaining and finally reached the second final of his European Tour career with a 13-darter.
The Flanders Darts Trophy will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the Flanders Darts Trophy consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start daily at 12:00, while the evening sessions start at 18:00.
The first round will take place on Friday. The 16 Order of Merit qualifiers and the winners from the various qualifying tournaments then make their appearance. The top-16 seeded players enter the tournament on Saturday in the second round. Sunday will see the conclusion of the tournament, starting with the third round in the afternoon session. Sunday evening will be followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
