The 2026 Dutch Darts Championship brings the European Tour season to a close. From 16 to 18 October, the MECC in Maastricht will host the fifteenth and final stop on the circuit, with 48 players competing, £230,000 up for grabs and the final points to be secured for the European Championship in Dortmund.
It also marks a return: Maastricht has not hosted the event since 2018. Three days in a Dutch venue, a field clearly dominated by local players, and a defending champion arriving on a high.
Clayton defends his title, six days after Basel
Jonny Clayton is putting his trophy on the line once again. The Welshman had beaten Niko Springer 8-6 in last year’s final, and this time he arrives with an extra advantage: last Sunday, in Basel, he won the Swiss Darts Trophy by beating Luke Humphries 8-4 in the final. A fourth title on the European Tour, and an ideal week to return to a venue he knows well.
That picture changed inside 24 hours. Luke Humphries, the world number one, pulled out on the eve of the tournament, and Dutchman Gian van Veen takes over as top seed.
A very Dutch line-up
The Netherlands will be on home turf, and the draw reflects this. Four Dutch players feature amongst the top eight seeds: Gian van Veen (1), Michael van Gerwen (4), Danny Noppert (5) and Wessel Nijman (7). Jermaine Wattimena (12) rounds off the line-up of seeded players, whilst Dirk van Duijvenbode, a former Pro Tour Order of Merit player, adds another local contingent.
Withdrawals have shaken up the entry list: James Wade and Kevin Doets have pulled out, replaced by Karel Sedláček and Jeffrey de Graaf. As a direct result, Martin Schindler and Krzysztof Ratajski have moved up to become the 14th and 15th seeds.
| Seed | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gian van Veen | Netherlands |
| 2 | Gerwyn Price | Wales |
| 3 | Jonny Clayton | Wales |
| 4 | Michael van Gerwen | Netherlands |
| 5 | Danny Noppert | Netherlands |
| 6 | Stephen Bunting | England |
| 7 | Wessel Nijman | Netherlands |
| 8 | Ryan Searle | England |
| 9 | Ross Smith | England |
| 10 | Chris Dobey | England |
| 11 | Nathan Aspinall | England |
| 12 | Jermaine Wattimena | Netherlands |
| 13 | Luke Woodhouse | England |
| 14 | Martin Schindler | Germany |
| 15 | Krzysztof Ratajski | Poland |
Humphries and Cross withdraw as the draw is reshuffled
The field lost two of its headline names within hours. Luke Humphries, the world number one, and Joe Cullen pulled out before the draw, as reported by Dartsnews, and Rob Cross followed on Thursday evening, a few hours after the bracket was published.
Humphries and Cullen were replaced by Mike De Decker and Daryl Gurney, the two highest-ranked players beaten in the deciding round of the Tour Card Holder Qualifier. Cross said on social media that he was heading back to England for personal reasons, and his place went to Irishman Brendan Dolan, called up at the last minute and entered straight into the second round.
The bracket has been reshuffled as a result: Gian van Veen becomes the top seed, with Gerwyn Price second, Jonny Clayton third and Michael van Gerwen fourth. The three replacements face very different scenarios: De Decker is virtually out of the race for Dortmund, Gurney can still force his way back into contention with a deep run, while Dolan, playing only his third European Tour event of the season, is chasing a first final since the 2013 Dutch Darts Masters.
Out on the floor, De Decker takes on Niels Zonneveld in Friday evening session, Gurney opens against Sebastian Bialecki in the same session, and Dolan will enter the second round against the winner of the Ricardo Pietreczko and Heine Uuldriks tie.
Format and draw
48 players, three entry routes. The top 16 players from the two-year Order of Merit are seeded and enter directly into the second round. The next 16, drawn from the one-year Pro Tour Order of Merit, kick off the competition in the first round. The final 16 places are decided via qualifying, with four reserved for Dutch players.
In practice: the first round takes place on Friday, the second round on Saturday, the round of 16 on Sunday afternoon, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday evening. The semi-finals are played over thirteen legs, the final over fifteen, with the first to eight legs winning.
| Day | Round |
|---|---|
| Friday 16 October | First round |
| Saturday 17 October | Second round |
| Sunday 18 October, afternoon | Round of 16 |
| Sunday 18 October, evening | Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final |
First-round draw and order of play
The draw is confirmed. The first round runs over two sessions on Friday 16 October, at 12pm and 6pm, with sixteen matches on the schedule. The seeds enter the fray the following day, in the second round.
| Time | Tie |
|---|---|
| Friday, 12pm | Karel Sedláček - Callan Rydz |
| Friday, 12pm | Cameron Menzies - Nick Kenny |
| Friday, 12pm | Jeffrey de Graaf - Mickey Mansell |
| Friday, 12pm | Dave Chisnall - Jonas Masalin |
| Friday, 12pm | Andrew Gilding - Max Hopp |
| Friday, 12pm | Ryan Joyce - Owen Bates |
| Friday, 12pm | Ricardo Pietreczko - Heine Uuldriks |
| Friday, 12pm | Dirk van Duijvenbode - James Hurrell |
| Friday, 6pm | Sebastian Bialecki - Daryl Gurney |
| Friday, 6pm | William O’Connor - Richard Veenstra |
| Friday, 6pm | Niko Springer - Scott Williams |
| Friday, 6pm | Niels Zonneveld - Mike De Decker |
| Friday, 6pm | Kim Huybrechts - Jimmy van Schie |
| Friday, 6pm | Cristo Reyes - Krzysztof Kciuk |
| Friday, 6pm | Damon Heta - Maikel Verberk |
| Friday, 6pm | Michael Smith - Stephen Burton |
Two ties stand out. In one, a Benelux derby between Niels Zonneveld and Belgian number one Mike De Decker. In the other, Michael Smith faces Stephen Burton, a direct contest in the race for the European Championship for the former world champion.
On Saturday the sixteen seeds enter against the first-round winners. Michael van Gerwen will meet William O’Connor or Richard Veenstra, while Jonny Clayton begins his title defence against Damon Heta or Maikel Verberk.
Van Gerwen at home
Michael van Gerwen plays on home soil, and he needs it. The Dutchman left the World Grand Prix at the first round against Ryan Joyce, before falling in the second round of the Swiss Darts Trophy to Mensur Suljovic last weekend. His last big success came at the Nordic Darts Masters in June, where he beat Luke Humphries in the final, and his last major televised title was won in the Netherlands, at the 2025 World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.
The weekend also closes the race for the European Championship, a £750,000 event staged in Dortmund later this month. The top thirty-two in the European Tour rankings after Maastricht will secure their place, which keeps several players in the field under pressure until the final match.
Prize money
As with all events on the 2026 European Tour, the prize fund has risen to £230,000.
| Round | Amount |
|---|---|
| Winner | £35,000 |
| Runner-up | £15,000 |
| Semi-finalists | £10,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | £8,000 |
| Third round | £5,000 |
| Second round | £3,500 |
| First round | £2,000 |
| Total | £230,000 |
One thing to bear in mind: a player who has pre-qualified via the Orders of Merit but is knocked out in their opening match does not receive the corresponding prize money.
Last chance for Dortmund
This event also marks the final stage in the race for the European Championship, reserved for the highest-ranked players on the European Tour Order of Merit. Maastricht is awarding the final points of a season in which the gaps have narrowed, and several players in the field are competing here for their place in Dortmund.
In a venue where the Dutch crowd is cheering on their players, the pressure will be twofold: the pressure of the rankings for everyone, and the pressure of representing their country for a very large local contingent.
