PDC Europe Super League 2026: groups drawn – four spots to be decided on Monday evening
The groups for the PDC Europe Super League 2026 in Hildesheim are set. Four spots will be decided on Monday, and SPORT1 shows all matches live on free-to-air TV.
The draw is done: on Sunday lunchtime, PDC Europe published the group allocation and the complete schedule for the PDC Europe Super League 2026. From 10 to 13 November, 24 players from the German-speaking countries will fight at Halle 39 in Hildesheim for the most coveted ticket in German-speaking darts: a starting place at the 2027 PDC World Championship at London's Alexandra Palace. It is the 14th edition of the tournament.
Four groups of six players
The field has been split into four groups of six players each. Four places are still open – in the draw they are listed as the winners of Monday's play-offs.
- Group A: Mika Donnevert, Jan Schmidt, Florian Preis, René Eidams, Kimi Seemann, winner of Sebastian Stute/René Damm
- Group B: Jaimy van de Weerd, Dragutin Horvat, Patrick Tringler, Kevin Jußen, Deniz Baudis, winner of Christian Gödl/Thomas Scheirer
- Group C: Paul Krohne, Lenny Schlüter, Tim Scholz, Finn Behrens, Kilian Hohnstedt, winner of Marcel Walpen/René Kern
- Group D: Patrick Reisenegger, Liam Maendl-Lawrance, Marcel Hausotter, Carsten Hoffmann, Luca Wolff, winner of Lukas Nußbaum/Maik Charras
That spreads the four top seeds of the NEXT GEN ranking neatly across the field: Jaimy van de Weerd (No. 1) plays in Group B, Paul Krohne (No. 2) in Group C, Patrick Reisenegger (No. 3) in Group D and Mika Donnevert (No. 4) in Group A.
Four starting places decided on Monday evening
The last four Super League tickets will be played out on Monday 9 November from 19:00 in the play-offs of the newly created tournament series PDC Europe Start. There the Regional Champions meet in direct one-on-one duels; the winners then take the four open places in Groups A to D. SPORT1 is also showing these matches live and free of charge in a livestream.
PDC Europe Start covers eight regions – four in Germany plus two each in Austria and Switzerland. The remaining 20 starters come through the ranking: the 16 best-placed players in the PDC Europe NEXT GEN Main Order of Merit are eligible, as are the four best players in the Youth Order of Merit who have not already qualified through the main ranking.
The schedule at a glance
- Monday 9 November, 19:00: PDC Europe Start play-offs
- Tuesday 10 November, 17:00: group stage, day 1
- Wednesday 11 November, 17:00: group stage, day 2
- Thursday 12 November, 20:00: last 16
- Friday 13 November, 20:00: quarter-finals, semi-finals and final
On both group days matches start every 30 minutes, with the last fixtures beginning at 00:00 in the night leading into the following day. Thursday's last 16 is scheduled to run until 23:30; on finals Friday the semi-finals follow at 22:00 and 22:35 before the final starts at 23:20.
The format: home and away, Best of 11
The groups are played as a round robin with home and away fixtures – so every player meets each of the five opponents twice, always in Best of 11 legs. The top four in each group reach the last 16; for the bottom two the tournament is over.
From the last 16 onwards it is straight knockout: the last 16 and the quarter-finals are played over Best of 11, the semi-finals over Best of 13 and the final over Best of 15 legs.
SPORT1 shows the complete tournament on free-to-air TV
For the very first time, SPORT1 is broadcasting the complete Super League live on free-to-air television – from the first group match on Tuesday to the last match dart in Friday's final. 23.5 hours of live darts have been announced. Internationally, a free stream will also run on every day of play via PDC Europe TV.
Play takes place at Halle 39, Schinkelstraße 7, in 31137 Hildesheim; tickets are available for the two final days on 12 and 13 November.
No defending champion
There is no defending champion in Hildesheim: Arno Merk, who won the 2025 final 8:6 against Daniel Klose, is no longer eligible because he has since earned a PDC Tour Card.
Others do bring experience, though. Dragutin Horvat in Group B won the Super League in 2016 and 2023 and reached three further finals, René Eidams in Group A triumphed in 2015. Paul Krohne lost an extremely tight final 7:8 against Kai Gotthardt in 2024 – and in Group C gets the next chance to make the leap to the Ally Pally.