2026 European Darts Grand Prix

2026 European Darts Grand Prix
Tournament information
Dates	17–19 April 2026
Venue	Glaspalast
Location	Sindelfingen, Germany
Organisation(s)	Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£230,000
Winner's share	£35,000
High checkout	170   Nathan Aspinall (second round)
«Event 4 Event 6»

The 2026 European Darts Grand Prix (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2026 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix) is a professional darts tournament that is taking place at the Glaspalast in Sindelfingen, Germany, from 17 to 19 April 2026. ^[1] It is the fifth of fifteen PDC European Tour events on the 2026 PDC Pro Tour. It features a field of 48 players and £230,000 in prize money, with £35,000 going to the winner.

Gary Anderson is the defending champion, having defeated Andrew Gilding 8–0 in the 2025 final. ^{[2] [3]}

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 will receive £35,000. ^{[4] [5]}

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

• Pre-qualified players from the Orders of Merit who lose in their first match of the event shall not be credited with prize money on any Order of Merit. ^[6]

Qualification and format

The top 16 players on the two-year PDC Order of Merit are seeded and enter 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 27 March. ^[7] The remaining 16 places went to players from four qualifying events – 10 from the Tour Card Holder Qualifier (held on 1 April), ^[8] four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 28 February), ^[9] one from the Nordic & Baltic Associate Member Qualifier (held on 29 March), ^[10] and one from the East European Associate Member Qualifier (held on 11 April) ^[11] .

Ryan Joyce withdrew and was replaced by Ian White. ^[12]

Seeded players   Gian van Veen (second round)   Michael van Gerwen   Jonny Clayton   James Wade   Josh Rock   Gerwyn Price   Stephen Bunting   Danny Noppert   Gary Anderson (second round)   Ryan Searle (second round)   Chris Dobey   Ross Smith   Nathan Aspinall   Martin Schindler   Jermaine Wattimena   Mike De Decker (second round)

PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit qualifiers   Wessel Nijman   Damon Heta (second round)   Dirk van Duijvenbode (first round)   Cameron Menzies (second round)   Niels Zonneveld (first round)   Niko Springer   Krzysztof Ratajski   Daryl Gurney (first round)   William O'Connor (first round)   Dave Chisnall (second round)   Andrew Gilding (second round)   Joe Cullen   Karel Sedláček (first round)   Kevin Doets (second round)   Peter Wright (first round)

Tour Card qualifier   Rob Cross (first round)   Jurjen van der Velde (first round)   Mickey Mansell (second round)   Jeffrey de Zwaan (second round)   Kim Huybrechts (second round)   Raymond van Barneveld (first round)   Oskar Lukasiak (second round)   Maik Kuivenhoven (first round)   Madars Razma (first round)   Keane Barry (second round) Host Nation qualifier  Michael Hurtz(first round)  Paul Krohne(first round)   Michael Unterbuchner (second round)  Robin Masino(first round) Nordic & Baltic qualifier  Valters Melderis(second round) East European qualifier  Petr Křivka(first round) Reserve list   Ian White (first round)

Summary

First round

Rob Cross (pictured in 2025) was one of three former world champions to go out in the first round.

The first round (best of 11 legs) was played on 17 April. ^[13] Cameron Menzies registered a three-dart average of 104.50 to defeat five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 6–3. "I felt tremendous there. I wish I could play like that all the time," commented Menzies, who hailed Van Barneveld as a hero of his growing up. ^[14] Two other former world champions were eliminated in the first round: Peter Wright, the winner of the 2017 European Darts Grand Prix, lost 6–3 to Jeffrey de Zwaan, while 2023 champion Rob Cross was beaten 6–2 by Mickey Mansell. Host nation qualifier Michael Unterbuchner earned his second European Tour victory by defeating William O'Connor in a deciding leg; the other three host nation qualifiers—Michael Hurtz, Paul Krohne and Robin Masino—lost to Krzysztof Ratajski, Andrew Gilding, and Niko Springer, respectively. ^{[13] [15]}

Latvian qualifier Valters Melderis became the 600th player to compete on the European Tour as he beat Karel Sedláček 6–5; his compatriot Madars Razma lost 6–4 to Damon Heta. Wessel Nijman, who won Players Championship 10 earlier in the week, defeated 2023 champion Ian White 6–2. Oskar Lukasiak missed nine match darts before eventually sealing a 6–5 win over Daryl Gurney. Keane Barry landed checkouts of 124 and 130 on his way to defeating Niels Zonneveld 6–3. ^{[14] [15]}

Draw

The draw was announced on 16 April. ^[12] 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. The reserve player is indicated by 'Alt'. Players in bold denote match winners. ^[16]

	First round (best of 11 legs) 17 April					Second round (best of 11 legs) 18 April					Third round (best of 11 legs) 19 April					Quarter-finals (best of 11 legs) 19 April					Semi-finals (best of 13 legs) 19 April					Final (best of 15 legs) 19 April
		Joe Cullen 87.58	6			1	Gian van Veen 92.70	3
		Maik Kuivenhoven 84.31	1				Joe Cullen 91.73	6
												Cullen
												Ratajski
		Krzysztof Ratajski 90.73	6			16	Mike De Decker 87.09	4
		Michael Hurtz 75.00	3				Krzysztof Ratajski 93.30	6
		Daryl Gurney 77.80	5			8	Danny Noppert 84.53	6
		Oskar Lukasiak 82.37	6				Oskar Lukasiak 86.77	5
											8	Noppert
												Springer
		Niko Springer 89.77	6			9	Gary Anderson 90.49	3
		Robin Masino 75.95	1				Niko Springer 95.44	6
		Dirk van Duijvenbode 94.66	3			4	James Wade 104.15	6
		Kim Huybrechts 93.84	6				Kim Huybrechts 93.84	3
											4	Wade
											13	Aspinall
		Peter Wright 86.89	3			13	Nathan Aspinall 92.01	6
		Jeffrey de Zwaan 91.54	6				Jeffrey de Zwaan 84.35	1
		Niels Zonneveld 96.12	3			5	Josh Rock 97.98	6
		Keane Barry 95.73	6				Keane Barry 91.67	3
											5	Rock
											12	Smith
		Cameron Menzies 104.50	6			12	Ross Smith 96.90	6
		Raymond van Barneveld 96.05	3				Cameron Menzies 91.43	3
		William O'Connor 93.70	5			2	Michael van Gerwen 91.37	6
		Michael Unterbuchner 95.52	6				Michael Unterbuchner 82.95	2
											2	van Gerwen
											15	Wattimena
		Kevin Doets 95.68	6			15	Jermaine Wattimena 98.88	6
		Jurjen van der Velde 85.80	4				Kevin Doets 97.83	3
		Rob Cross 92.95	2			7	Stephen Bunting 93.02	6
		Mickey Mansell 100.32	6				Mickey Mansell 89.72	3
											7	Bunting
												Nijman
		Wessel Nijman 98.35	6			10	Ryan Searle 96.00	2
	Alt	Ian White 95.36	2				Wessel Nijman 104.12	6
		Karel Sedláček 92.01	5			3	Jonny Clayton 106.78	6
		Valters Melderis 86.64	6				Valters Melderis 86.32	1
											3	Clayton
											14	Schindler
		Damon Heta 95.65	6			14	Martin Schindler 92.11	6
		Madars Razma 90.75	4				Damon Heta 93.31	5
		Dave Chisnall 95.26	6			6	Gerwyn Price 99.41	6
		Petr Křivka 90.02	4				Dave Chisnall 91.39	4
											6	Price
											11	Dobey
		Andrew Gilding 96.95	6			11	Chris Dobey 98.18	6
		Paul Krohne 89.66	3				Andrew Gilding 94.12	2

References

1. "Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix 2026". PDC Europe. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
2. "Anderson thrashes Gilding to retain European Grand Prix title". BBC Sport. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
3. Mills, Stephen (5 May 2025). "European Darts Grand Prix: Gary Anderson defends title with whitewash victory over Andrew Gilding in Sindelfingen". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
4. Phillips, Josh (31 March 2025). "Biggest prize money increase in PDC history confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
5. "European Darts Grand Prix 2026". Mastercaller. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
6. "PDC Rankings Rules". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
7. Gorton, Josh (27 March 2026). "2026 ET5-6 Seeds & Tour Card Holder qualifier entries confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
8. "PDC ET05 Tour Card Holder Qualifier". Dart Connect TV. 1 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
9. "PDC ET05 Host Nation Qualifier". Dart Connect TV. 28 February 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
10. "PDCNB 2026 Tour - Latvia 2 - Weekend 02". Dart Connect TV. 29 March 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
11. "PDC ET05 E. Europe Qualifier". Dart Connect TV. 11 April 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
12. Gorton, Josh (16 April 2026). "2026 Elten Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix draw & schedule". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
13. Gorton, Josh (18 April 2026). "Magnificent Menzies stars on Day One in Sindelfingen". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
14. "European Darts Grand Prix: Cameron Menzies puts in sensational display against Raymond van Barneveld as Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen also progress". Sky Sports. 17 April 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
15. "ELTEN Safety Shoes European Darts Grand Prix: Unterbuchner shines in opening session". PDC Europe. 17 April 2026. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
16. "Results of European Darts Grand Prix 2026". Mastercaller. Retrieved 18 April 2026.