Dutch Darts Championship 2026

16 – 18 October 2026 · MECC Maastricht, Maastricht

Part of: European Tour

The Elten Safety Shoes Dutch Darts Championship 2026 was the 15th and final event of the PDC European Tour 2026 and was held from 16 to 18 October at the MECC in Maastricht. In the all-Dutch final, Niels Zonneveld won 8-5 against Danny Noppert.

The Dutch Darts Championship 2026 was the annual stop of the PDC European Tour in the Netherlands and took place from 16 to 18 October 2026 at the MECC in Maastricht. Under the name Elten Safety Shoes Dutch Darts Championship, the tournament rounded off the 2026 European Tour season as European Tour 15, with the season expanded to a total of 15 events this year. It was the sixth staging of the tournament, which was first played in 2018, also at the MECC in Maastricht. Play followed the classic knockout format with 48 players. The first four rounds were played as Best of 11 Legs, in the semi-finals the distance rose to Best of 13 Legs and in the final to Best of 15 Legs. Every Leg was played in Double-out mode. The 16 seeded players only entered the tournament on Saturday in Round 2, while the other 32 players were already in action on Friday in Round 1. The afternoon sessions each started at 1 pm (doors open from 12 pm), the evening sessions at 7 pm (doors open from 6 pm). On Sunday the last 16 followed in the afternoon, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening. A total of £230,000 in prize money was paid out – the European Tour had increased its prize money significantly for 2026. The winner received £35,000, the runner-up £15,000. The prize money counts towards the PDC Order of Merit, the ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit, through which the top 32 qualify for the European Darts Championship in Dortmund. The defending champion was Jonny Clayton, who had come out on top 8-6 against Niko Springer in a gripping final in 2025. The Mainz native led 3-0 and 5-2 at first, but ultimately had to settle for a narrow defeat – for Clayton it was his 17th PDC title. Luke Littler, James Wade, Josh Rock, Gary Anderson and Kevin Doets did not enter for Maastricht in the first place, while Luke Humphries and Joe Cullen withdrew afterwards. As a result Sebastian Białecki, Cristo Reyes, Martin Schindler, Karel Sedláček and Jeffrey de Graaf moved up via the Pro Tour Rankings, as did Mike De Decker and Daryl Gurney from the reserve list. The seeding list was therefore headed by Gian van Veen ahead of Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen. Rob Cross initially took the 16th seeded position, but withdrew after the draw for family reasons – his place was taken by Brendan Dolan from the reserve list. At the Tour Card Holder Qualifier on 24 September 2026, Michael Smith, Scott Williams, Nick Kenny, Callan Rydz, Stephen Burton, James Hurrell, Mickey Mansell, Max Hopp, Owen Bates and Ricardo Pietreczko secured the last places; via the Host Nation Qualifier on 15 October 2026, Heine Uuldriks, Jimmy van Schie, Richard Veenstra and Maikel Verberk joined the field, along with Jonas Masalin as the Nordic & Baltic qualifier and Krzysztof Kciuk as the East Europe qualifier. The opening match on Friday at 1 pm went to Karel Sedlacek, who beat Callan Rydz 6-4; Cameron Menzies then saw off Nick Kenny 6-1, before Jeffrey de Graaf won 6-3 against Mickey Mansell. Dave Chisnall reached Round 2 with a 6-4 against Jonas Masalin, Andrew Gilding had the upper hand 6-5 against Max Hopp, Ryan Joyce did not concede a single Leg in a 6-0 against Owen Bates, Heine Uuldriks won the duel of the qualifiers 6-5 against Ricardo Pietreczko, and Dirk van Duijvenbode closed the afternoon session with a 6-1 against James Hurrell. The evening session was opened by Sebastian Bialecki with a 6-4 against Daryl Gurney, before William O'Connor won 6-2 against Richard Veenstra, Scott Williams came through 6-5 against Niko Springer, Niels Zonneveld had the upper hand 6-4 against Mike De Decker, local favourite Jimmy van Schie won 6-5 against Kim Huybrechts, Cristo Reyes advanced 6-2 against Krzysztof Kciuk and Damon Heta prevailed 6-4 against Maikel Verberk; Michael Smith had the final word on Friday, winning the duel of the Tour Card qualifiers 6-5 against Stephen Burton. In Round 2 on Saturday at 1 pm, Martin Schindler opened proceedings and came through 6-4 against Karel Sedlacek despite the weaker Average (92.24 to 96.39). Wessel Nijman then won 6-3 against Jeffrey de Graaf (88.24 to 87.21), Luke Woodhouse gave Andrew Gilding no chance in a 6-1 (87.18 to 80.34), Ross Smith booked his ticket for the last 16 with a 6-2 against Ryan Joyce (101.55 to 80.95), and Danny Noppert followed with a 6-4 against Dave Chisnall (100.84 to 95.50). In the tightest match of the afternoon, Ryan Searle prevailed 6-5 against Dirk van Duijvenbode (97.96 to 96.42). Brendan Dolan, who had taken over the 16th seeded position as a replacement after Rob Cross's withdrawal, then won 6-4 against Heine Uuldriks (93.46 to 88.31). To close the afternoon session, Niels Zonneveld knocked seeded Krzysztof Ratajski out of the tournament 6-5 (96.77 to 88.61). Saturday's evening session was opened by Gerwyn Price with a 6-3 against Scott Williams (97.14 to 86.01). Jermaine Wattimena then ended the hopes of Dutch qualifier Jimmy van Schie with a 6-2 (90.09 to 88.31), before Stephen Bunting followed with a 6-2 (92.70 to 80.72) against Cameron Menzies. Top seed Gian van Veen did not concede a single Leg in his 6-0 against Sebastian Bialecki and set the highest Average ever played on the European Darts Tour with 120.24 points – comfortably beating Dave Chisnall's previous record of 118.66 points from 2018. William O'Connor then came through 6-5 against fourth seed Michael van Gerwen (101.83 to 99.27). The next big surprise came from Damon Heta, who knocked defending champion Jonny Clayton out of the tournament 6-1 with an Average of 103.57. Nathan Aspinall then won 6-1 (102.45 to 91.06) against Michael Smith, and Cristo Reyes had the final word on Saturday, beating seeded Chris Dobey 6-2 with an Average of 110.26. The last 16 on Sunday was opened by Gian van Veen, who won 6-1 against Brendan Dolan at 1 pm (96.72 to 86.35). Ryan Searle followed, holding off Ross Smith 6-4 (92.70 to 91.14), before Luke Woodhouse became the third quarter-finalist with a 6-4 against William O'Connor (98.01 to 94.20). In the all-Dutch tie, Danny Noppert then came through 6-3 against Jermaine Wattimena (100.44 to 99.17). The next surprise came from Niels Zonneveld, who beat second seed Gerwyn Price 6-4 (95.59 to 94.87). Wessel Nijman then won 6-3 against Cristo Reyes (97.04 to 89.93). In the seventh last-16 match, Damon Heta had the upper hand 6-4 against Martin Schindler, even though the German threw the higher Average with 104.09 (Heta: 102.50). Stephen Bunting had the final word in the afternoon session, winning 6-1 against Nathan Aspinall (92.30 to 90.98). The evening session began at 7 pm with the quarter-finals, the first of which went to Gian van Veen with a 6-3 against Ryan Searle (99.24 to 100.50). Danny Noppert followed, winning 6-2 against Luke Woodhouse and setting the second-highest Average in the tournament's history with 113.42 points. In the third quarter-final, Niels Zonneveld had the upper hand 6-5 against Wessel Nijman in the deciding Leg (102.06 to 100.80), before Stephen Bunting completed the semi-final line-up with a 6-3 against Damon Heta. In the first semi-final over Best of 13 Legs from 9 pm, Danny Noppert came through 7-5 against top seed Gian van Veen; in the second semi-final Niels Zonneveld won 7-4 against Stephen Bunting – making it an all-Dutch final. The final over Best of 15 Legs from 10.30 pm went to Niels Zonneveld, who beat Danny Noppert 8-5 to claim the title and the winner's cheque of £35,000. The highest Checkout of the tournament was taken out by Martin Schindler with 164 points.