2026 Dutch Darts Championship

Last updated
2026 Dutch Darts Championship
Tournament information
Dates16–18 October 2026
Venue MECC Maastricht
Location Maastricht, Netherlands
Organisation(s) Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
Format Legs
Prize fund£230,000
Winner's share£35,000
High checkout164 Martin Schindler
Champion(s)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Niels Zonneveld  (NED)
«Event 14

The 2026 Dutch Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament that took place at the MECC Maastricht in Maastricht, from 16 to 18 October 2026. It was the first time Maastricht has hosted the Dutch Darts Championship since 2018, and was the fifteenth and final PDC European Tour event on the 2026 PDC Pro Tour. It featured a field of 48 players and £230,000 in prize money, with £35,000 going to the winner.

Contents

Jonny Clayton was the defending champion, having defeated Niko Springer 8–6 in the 2025 final. [1] [2] However, he lost 6–1 to Damon Heta in the second round.

During the event, Gian van Veen broke the record for the highest ever three-dart average on the European Tour, previously held by Dave Chisnall at the 2018 German Darts Championship, averaging 120.24 in his 6–0 win over Sebastian Białecki in the second round.

Niels Zonneveld won his first European Tour title, defeating Danny Noppert 8–5 in the final.

Prize money

As part of a mass boost in prize money for Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events in 2026, the prize fund for all 2026 European Tour events rose to £230,000, of which the winner received £35,000. [3] [4]

Stage (num. of players)Prize money
Winner(1)£35,000
Runner-up(1)£15,000
Semi-finalists(2)£10,000
Quarter-finalists(4)£8,000
Third round losers(8)£5,000
Second round losers(16)£3,500*
First round losers(16)£2,000*
Total£230,000

Qualification and format

The top 16 players on the two-year PDC Order of Merit were seeded and entered the tournament in the second round, while the next 16 highest-ranked players from the one-year PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit automatically qualified for the first round. The seedings were confirmed on 17 September. [6] The remaining 16 places went to players from four qualifying events – 10 from the Tour Card Holder Qualifier (held on 24 September) [7] , four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 15 October) [8] , one from the Nordic & Baltic Associate Member Qualifier (held on 8 August) [9] , and one from the East European Associate Member Qualifier (held on 9 August). [10]

Luke Littler, Josh Rock and Gary Anderson didn't enter the event.

In addition, before the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, James Wade and Kevin Doets withdrew and were replaced by Karel Sedláček and Jeffrey de Graaf. Martin Schindler and Krzysztof Ratajski moved up to become the 14th and 15th seeds respectively.

Luke Humphries and Joe Cullen withdrew and were replaced by Mike De Decker and Daryl Gurney. After the draw was made, Rob Cross withdrew from the tournament. Brendan Dolan replaced him from the reserve list, going straight in at the second-round stage.

Draw

The draw was announced on 15th October. Numbers to the left of a player's name show the seedings for the top 16 in the tournament. The figures to the right of a player's name state their three-dart average in a match. Players in bold denote match winners. The three reserve players are indicated by 'Alt'.

First round
(best of 11 legs)
16 October		Second round
(best of 11 legs)
17 October		Third round
(best of 11 legs)
18 October		Quarter-finals
(best of 11 legs)
18 October		Semi-finals
(best of 13 legs)
18 October		Final
(best of 15 legs)
18 October
  Flag of Poland.svg   Sebastian Białecki 96.0661 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Gian van Veen 120.246
Alt Ulster Banner.svg   Daryl Gurney 85.034  Flag of Poland.svg   Sebastian Białecki 82.540
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   van Veen 96.726
Alt Flag of Ireland.svg   Dolan 86.351
  Flag of Germany.svg   Ricardo Pietreczko 101.745Alt Flag of Ireland.svg   Brendan Dolan 93.466
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Heine Uuldriks 98.006  Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Heine Uuldriks 88.314
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   van Veen 99.246
8 Flag of England.svg   Searle 100.503
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Dirk van Duijvenbode 94.2468 Flag of England.svg   Ryan Searle 97.966
  Flag of England.svg   James Hurrell 85.951  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Dirk van Duijvenbode 96.425
8 Flag of England.svg   Searle 92.706
9 Flag of England.svg   R Smith 91.144
  Flag of England.svg   Ryan Joyce 95.9469 Flag of England.svg   Ross Smith 101.556
  Flag of England.svg   Owen Bates 80.470  Flag of England.svg   Ryan Joyce 80.952
1 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   van Veen 91.475
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Noppert 94.657
  Flag of Ireland.svg   William O'Connor 89.5664 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 99.275
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Richard Veenstra 87.692  Flag of Ireland.svg   William O'Connor 101.836
  Flag of Ireland.svg   O'Connor 94.204
13 Flag of England.svg   Woodhouse 98.016
  Flag of England.svg   Andrew Gilding 87.78613 Flag of England.svg   Luke Woodhouse 87.186
  Flag of Germany.svg   Max Hopp 89.695  Flag of England.svg   Andrew Gilding 80.341
13 Flag of England.svg   Woodhouse 99.842
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Noppert 113.426
  Flag of England.svg   Dave Chisnall 90.8365 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Danny Noppert 100.846
  Flag of Finland.svg  Jonas Masalin 81.634  Flag of England.svg   Dave Chisnall 95.504
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Noppert 100.446
12 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Wattimena 99.183
  Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Kim Huybrechts 96.61512 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Jermaine Wattimena 90.096
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Jimmy van Schie 92.636  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Jimmy van Schie 88.312
5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Noppert 87.665
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Zonneveld 92.938
  Flag of Germany.svg   Niko Springer 94.0452 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price 97.146
  Flag of England.svg   Scott Williams 96.236  Flag of England.svg   Scott Williams 86.013
2 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Price 94.874
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Zonneveld 95.596
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Niels Zonneveld 98.51615 Flag of Poland.svg   Krzysztof Ratajski 88.615
Alt Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Mike De Decker 92.404  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Niels Zonneveld 96.776
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Zonneveld 102.066
7 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Nijman 100.805
  Flag of Sweden.svg   Jeffrey de Graaf 100.1267 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Wessel Nijman 88.246
  Flag of Ireland.svg   Mickey Mansell 94.143  Flag of Sweden.svg   Jeffrey de Graaf 87.213
7 Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Nijman 97.046
  Flag of Spain.svg   Reyes 89.933
  Flag of Spain.svg   Cristo Reyes 95.80610 Flag of England.svg   Chris Dobey 99.492
  Flag of Poland.svg   Krzysztof Kciuk 86.362  Flag of Spain.svg   Cristo Reyes 110.266
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Zonneveld 92.227
6 Flag of England.svg   Bunting 86.074
  Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Damon Heta 92.4663 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Jonny Clayton 98.391
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Maikel Verberk 84.374  Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Damon Heta 103.576
  Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Heta 102.506
14 Flag of Germany.svg   Schindler 104.094
  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg   Karel Sedláček 90.81614 Flag of Germany.svg   Martin Schindler 92.246
  Flag of England.svg   Callan Rydz 85.314  Flag of the Czech Republic.svg   Karel Sedláček 96.394
  Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Heta 94.003
6 Flag of England.svg   Bunting 97.956
  Flag of Scotland.svg   Cameron Menzies 87.4366 Flag of England.svg   Stephen Bunting 92.706
  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Nick Kenny 78.781  Flag of Scotland.svg   Cameron Menzies 80.722
6 Flag of England.svg   Bunting 92.306
11 Flag of England.svg   Aspinall 90.981
  Flag of England.svg   Michael Smith 88.89611 Flag of England.svg   Nathan Aspinall 102.456
  Flag of England.svg   Stephen Burton 92.895  Flag of England.svg   Michael Smith 91.061

References

  1. ↑ Wellens, Megan (25 May 2025). "Dutch Darts Championship: Jonny Clayton beats Luke Humphries on his way to third Euro Tour title". Sky Sports.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ "Jonny Clayton wins in Netherlands to earn first European title in two years". BBC Sport. 2025-05-25. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Josh (31 March 2025). "Biggest prize money increase in PDC history confirmed". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  4. ↑ "German Darts Grand Prix 2026 - Mastercaller". mastercaller.com. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
  5. ↑ "PDC Rankings Rules". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
  6. ↑ Gorton, Josh (21 September 2026). "2026 ET15 Seeds & Tour Card Holder qualifier entries confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "PDC ET15 Tour Card Holder Qualifier". DartConnect. 24 September 2026. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "PDC ET15 Host Nation Qualifier". DartConnect. 15 October 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "PDCNB 2026 Tour - Norway - Weekend 05". DartConnect. 8 August 2026. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "PDC ET15 E. Europe Qualifier". DartConnect. 9 August 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
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