2025 German Darts Championship Preview – JP
2025 German Darts Championship Preview
Luke Littler scuppered the win part of our outright bet on Humphries at the World Grand Prix but we managed to land a nice winner in the 180 match market in the final. Check out James Punt’s 2025 German Darts Championship outright betting preview below.
2025 German Darts Championship
Due to the time constraints of covering the F1 this weekend and the fact that two Players Championships events only conclude on Wednesday evening, this preview will be abridged.
There are quite a few withdrawals this weekend. The usual no show from Gary Anderson and he is joined on the absentee list by Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries and Callan Rydz. Luke Littler withdrew some time ago.
It is the final qualifying event for the European Championships and those players who have pulled out have already qualified, or in Rydz’ case, had no chance of making the final.
Reserves In
From the reserve list we now have Ricky Evans, Gabriel Clemens, Jeffrey de Graaf and Keane Barry joining the party. Players that are now elevated to seeded status are Mike de Decker and Ryan Searle.
The last ten German Darts Championships have seen seven different winners, and some outsiders going all the way. MVG won it twice, Peter Wright twice, including in 2024. The other winners include Gary Anderson, Alan Norris, Daryl Gurney, Devon Petersen and Ricardo Pitreczko. I tipped up Petersen back in 2020 at a very rewarding 67.00. Could we see another outsider take the spoils?
There are fourteen players who are either just inside or just outside the cut mark for the European Championships who are playing this weekend, Including Peter Wright, Rob Cross, Ricardo Pietreczko, Krzysztof Ratajski, Ritchie Edhouse and Dave Chisnall to name a few.
The 2025 German Darts Championship Draw
First Quarter
Stephen Bunting is now the top seeded player and he heads the first quarter. He went out in the second round of the Grand Prix and clearly had a problem with his back. I was keen to see how he would get on the this week’s Players Championship events, and even if he would play in them.
He did, and made back to back semi-finals. I think we can say that he is fine. Bunting has won ten of his last twelve matches. He picked up his second Euro Tour title of the year last time out in the Swiss Darts Trophy.
Josh Rock has lost five of his last ten matches and one of those was to Ricky Evans, who, if Evans can beat Cullen in round one, would play Rock in round two. Ryan Searle didn’t play in the midweek, but he recently won PC28 last month. Dave Chisnall is the final seed in the group but he has lost eight of his last ten matches.
Dangerman
Of the other unseeded players going into round 1, Ratajski is a dangerman. He really needs a win or two to make sure of his place in the finals. He faces local qualifier Felix Springer in round one and would then face Ryan Searle in round two. Searle is safely through to the finals, but that match could a bit of a toss up
Stephen Bunting looks a strong favourite to win the quarter, so long as his back holds up.
Second Quarter
It is squeaky bum time for three of the seeds in this quarter. Chris Dobey, Rob Cross and Peter Wright are provisionally qualified for the finals but they need a match win to kick it over the line.
Dobey has had a couple of recent Players Championship quarter finals, including one in the midweek. He has made a semi-final and lost three other quarter finals on this year’s Euro Tour, but he is a player who can play great and lose. In the Swiss Darts Trophy, he averaged 106.99 and lost 5-6 to Cor Decker.
Rob Cross has won six of his last ten matches but still lacks consistency and doesn’t look like a quarter winner, never mind a tournament winner. He will face the winner of Menzies vs. Plaisier and either player could beat Cross.
Wright On The Brink
Peter Wright, a two time tournament winner, defending champion and back-to-back finalist here, will face the winner of Pietreczko vs. Szaganski. It was Pietreczko who beat Wright here in the 2023 final and that would be a juicy match up. Wright has lost eight of his last ten matches and I have to fancy Pikachu to win that one, and that could be Wright out of the finals.
Martin Schindler is the other seed and he is safely qualified for the finals. His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches and he is hard to fancy.
First Round
Of the first-round entrants we have Dirk Van Duijvenbode who faces Karel Sedlack. That is no gimme and then he would face Dobey who is playing better darts.
Andrew Gilding will play William O’Connor for the right to play Schindler. Gilding has lost seven of his last ten matches, and O’Connor has been playing some good stuff, but with no great consistency. O’Connor needs a minimum quarter final to have a chance of making the finals, and that seems unlikely.
Cameron Menzies reached the Grand Prix quarter finals, but he bombed in the midweek events, including a loss to Wesely Plaisier, who he faces on Friday. Plaisier has won seven of his last ten matches, not with anything that suggests he can go deep but in this quarter, you never know.
In terms of form, I’d have to go with Dobey to win the quarter, but he is a dodgepot and unlikely to go all the way. I do not see a potential tournament winner in the second quarter.
Third Quarter
The four seeds are led by James Wade, who has lost five of his last ten matches and hit three sub 90 averages in his last four. Mike de Decker has won seven of his last ten matches and while his consistency could be better his form is promising.
Damon Heta has won six of his last ten matches but he is still not really showing his best form and has lost seven of his thirteen second round Euro Tour matches in 2025. Ross Smith was inspired by his mother’s passing to win PC 29 a couple of weeks ago, but since then has played five and lost four.
Machine Gun Firing
The unseeded players in this group are running hot, and none hotter than Jermaine Wattimena. The Machine Gun was in great form earlier in the year and won his first PDC title in late July. His form cooled off a bit after that, but he caught fire again in midweek, winning PC31 and reached the semi-final of PC32 on Wednesday.
He has won nine of his last ten matches and if he can take that floor form onto the stage, he could go deep. It must be said that his Euro Tour form in 2025 has been pretty rubbish. One quarter final and while he is a provisional qualifier, he will need to beat Keane Barry in round one to vastly improve his chance. He was runner up in last year’s European Championship and maybe this is his time of year?
Nijman
Wessel Nijman reached back-to-back quarter finals in the midweek (both defeats to Stephen Bunting). He won PC30 two weeks ago so he is feeling confident and he is an exciting talent who is coming to the boil. He has reached two semi-finals on the Euro Tour in 2025. It is a pain in the bum that he and Wattimena are not only in the same quarter of the draw, but in the top half of the quarter.
Nathan Aspinall has separated from his long-time management company and he is looking to kick on with his career. He has won ten of his last twelve matches, he is a two-time Euro Tour winner in 2025 and made another losing final. He lost the final of PC31 2-8 to Wattimena on Tuesday but he is close to his best form.
This is the toughest quarter. It has three players I want to back to win the title, and none of them are seeds. Aspinall is 8-2 with Wattimena but got a beating from the Dutchman on Tuesday. Nijman is right up there and the odds will decide who gets backed.
Fourth Quarter
There is a good bunch of seeds in the bottom quarter. Jonny Clayton has already won on the Euro Tour in 2025, had a semi-final and three losing quarters. His recent form saw him make the semi-final of the Grand Prix a few days ago and it was no surprise to see him be a bit flat in the midweek floor events. I still don’t think he is playing anywhere near his best, but he is very consistent in the majors, and dangerous on the Euro Tour.
Gian Van Veen is a beast who is due a hatful of titles. He played in the World Youth championship qualifiers on Monday and has qualified for the final for the third year in a row. He has been a runner up on the Euro Tour in 2025 and made two semi-finals in the last three events.
His problem is that he keeps on playing opponents who just go mad against him and he loses with huge averages, as he did at the Grand Prix. The highest ever losing average of 106.47, in a double in event. He cannot keep on being that unlucky.
Unconvincing Iceman
Gerwyn Price has won seven of his last ten matches but not been entirely convincing. He just doesn’t seem to have that killer blow right now. He has won on the Euro Tour in 2025 and has made at least a quarter final in five of his Euro Tours played in 2025. Price could very easily have another deep run.
Danny Noppert has won seven of his last ten matches and he has won his last two quarter finals, one on the Euro Tour and the other at the Grand Prix. He just doesn’t convert good runs into titles nearly often enough.
The unseeded players include Gurney, Woodhouse, Barney and Zonneveld. All can be dangerous opponents but it is hard to see any of them going deep.
