The Professional Darts Corporation has officially touched down in Slovakia for the first time. First-round matches concluded on Friday night at the Incheba Expo in Bratislava, clearing the stage for the top 16 seeds to make their tournament debuts on Saturday. The inaugural 2026 Slovak Darts Open is now fully underway, with the sport’s biggest names stepping to the oche as the European Tour continues its summer schedule.
Fans can track the schedule of play through Sky Sports and the NOW streaming service as the weekend progresses. Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Gian van Veen, and Stephen Bunting headline the second-round Saturday evening sessions. They join a 48-player field competing for the £35,000 top prize, part of the official £230,000 prize money distribution allocated for the event.
The field is highly competitive entering the weekend. Fresh off their victory for England at the World Cup of Darts, reigning world champions Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are clear favorites as they enter the fray. The top 16 seeded players automatically received a bye in the first round, meaning Saturday marks their first real test on the Bratislava stage.
The tournament holds significant ranking weight for the rest of the season. This is the ninth of 15 European Tour events on the 2026 schedule, and time is running out for players trying to secure their provisional spots before the upcoming 2026 Betfred World Matchplay qualification cut-off. Competitors like Cameron Menzies and Dave Chisnall are under intense pressure to gather ranking money this weekend with only three events remaining before the qualification deadline.