2025 Swiss Darts Trophy Betting Preview – JP
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy Betting Preview
James Punt’s 2025 Swiss Darts Trophy outright betting preview is below
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy
The penultimate Euro Tour event of the 2025 season is the second staging of the Swiss Darts Trophy. Last year’s event was won by Martin Schindler, who beat Ryan Searle 8-7 in the final.
This is the final event before the cut off for the World Grand Prix which starts on October 6th. Players who are just outside the cut-off point are William O’Connor, Raymond van Barneveld, Niels Zonneveld, Ricardo Pietreczko, Kevin Doets and Ritchie Edhouse.
O’Connor is just £1250 short of the cut off, so he needs to win more than that to leapfrog Ratajski for the final place. But Ratajski is playing here too, so O’Connor is chasing a moving target.
Andrew Gilding is 31st on the qualifying list and he is playing, as are Ryan Joyce and Daryl Gurney. These players are provisionally qualified, but they need to win a match or two, just to make sure.
Pressure On
Edhouse and Doets would need to win the title to qualify, Pietreczko needs to make the semi-final and probably the final, Zonneveld likewise. RVB is just £2500 behind Ratajski so he needs to reach the second round and hope that Ratajski doesn’t. So, all those players are under a lot of pressure to either make their way into the World Grand Prix, or hang onto their provisional places.
Every player who qualifies for the World Grand Prix will pick up at least £7500 in ranking money, with the chance to win more, so it is an important event to qualify for.
Last Weekend saw the unseeded Nico Springer win the Hungarian Darts Trophy and that pushed him up to 28th place in the Matchplay qualifying race and that is very probably enough to make him safe.
European Championships
With this and the German Darts Championship the only remaining Euro Tour events left, the qualifying list for the European Championships is reaching its crescendo. Edhouse is in the final spot with Chisnall, Barney, Wattimena and Gilding all in, but not safe.
Those just outside are Cullen, Cross, Ratajski and O’Connor. You can see what a big deal this weekend is for Edhouse, O’Connor, RVB and Ratajski in particular.
We have the usual list of seeded players, minus Luke Littler, and the Pro Tour OOM players and no doubt we will have a few late withdrawals. Hopefully not as late as Gerwyn Price pulling out a few minutes before his quarter final last weekend. I am always finding new ways to lose.
Withdrawals this week are the aforementioned Littler, who did it in good time, Gary Anderson, why do they even bother putting his name down? Van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price.
The players from the reserve list are Richard Veenstra, Chris Landman, Conor Scutt and Mensur Suljovic.
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy: The Seeds
1 Luke Humphries
Did very little wrong last weekend. He set a tournament record 113.05 average in round three but lost 4-6 to Springer in the quarter final, averaging 101.11. He is getting back to something like his best form and has to be a possible winner.
2 Stephen Bunting
Lost in the second round to Thibault Tricole last weekend, his third loss on the spin. His performances in the World Series finals, and in last week’s Hungarian Darts Trophy, were both very flat and well short of what he has been playing for the last three or four months. I would say he just needs a week or two off to recharge his batteries before the big events start coming up thick and fast.
3 James Wade
Had his run of three consecutive Euro Tour semi-finals ended by Josh Rock in last weekend’s quarter final. Wade is playing well on the hole, winning a lot of matches, but when he comes up against the elite players, he struggles.
His last four defeats have been against Rock, twice, and Humphries, twice. No shame in that, but it is a limiting factor when it comes to winning titles, rather than just having good runs.
4 Jonny Clayton
Didn’t play last weekend so he has had a two-week break, which may be a good thing with a very busy period ahead. The Ferret has lost four of his last six matches and there have been a few flat performances of late. He was runner up in PC25 a month ago but has played just five matches since. He might need a couple of events to get back up to speed.
5 Chris Dobey
Reached the quarter-finals last weekend and went out to Danny Noppert, despite averaging 104. That was enough to get him into the provisional qualifying list for the European Championships and it takes the pressure off his shoulders, but I am sure he will want to win another few matches before the end of the Euro Tour season. Dobey has won five of his last ten matches and he still lacks enough consistency for me to be backing him to win titles.
6 Rob Cross
Lost his third-round match to Niko Springer last weekend and he is still outside the qualification cut off point for the European Championship. He has this weekend and the German Darts Championship in three weeks’ time to move himself into the top 32 on the Euro Tour OOM. Cross has won five of his last ten matches and he has just lost that edge. He plays well and loses. Hard to fancy.
7 Damon Heta
Has lost six of his last ten matches and isn’t playing well, but there is some good stuff in there. He just has a bit of a losing habit right now and has had since coming back from the World Series events down under. Since then, he has played fifteen matches and won just seven.
8 Josh Rock
Just came up short last weekend, losing the semi-final 6-7 to Niko Springer to deny us a payout. He remains in very good form, with seven wins in his last ten. On the Euro Tour he has now had three semi-final defeats and two final defeats. If he doesn’t get frustrated, he does look like he is due one.
9 Dave Chisnall
Was battered 1-6 by Barney last weekend and he is clinging on to his European Championship spot by the skin of his teeth. Chizzy has lost five of his last ten matches overall, but on the Euro Tour it is now seven second round matches in a row that he has lost. That is a lot of travelling for no ranking money.
He is 31st of 32 on the European championship qualifying list and it looks very likely that he will need to win a match or more in this or the final event to make sure he makes the championship. Under pressure and not playing great.
10 Ross Smith
Had been playing some good stuff going into last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy but lost 4-6 to Menzies in his opening match. Since being runner up in ET5, Smith has played twelve Euro Tour matches and won just five. He really should be doing better.
11 Danny Noppert
Very nearly did the unthinkable last week. He won a quarter final, he won a semi-final (beating Littler) but fell at the final fence, losing the final 7-8 to Niko Springer. He has been having plenty of good runs recently but he usually comes up short before the final, so last week was a surprise, especially beating Littler. Another good run would not be a surprise, another final would be.
12 Peter Wright
Has only won two of his last eight matches and it is fair to say that he is struggling. Snakebite is best left well alone this weekend.
13 Martin Schindler
Will be defending his 2024 title this weekend. It is almost a home match for him as there will be a sizeable German contingent in the audience. That might explain Luke Littler’s absence.
Schindler has won seven of his last ten matches but he isn’t playing with as much consistency has that sounds. He defended his International Darts Open title by reaching the semi-final of that back in April and would be pleased to do something similar here, as he has struggled to string Euro Tour match wins together since he won the Austrian Darts Open back in late April.
He might be inspired by his fellow German winning the title last weekend, but he would need to up his performances to follow suit.
14 Gian van Veen
A welcome upgrade to seeded status as it gets a potential tricky first round match out of the way. We backed him last week and he came out swinging, averaging 105.95 and losing 3-6 to Springer. I was not happy.
Van Veen has lost his last three matches, but averaged 97.40, 102.94 and 105.95. He can’t go on playing this well and not getting a proper reward. He is saving up some serious karma points. Always a contender.
15 Mike de Decker
A great record of winning his opening match and losing the next on the Euro Tour. For that reason, he is hard to fancy.
16 Ryan Searle
Playing some very good darts but not getting much in the way of returns. Searle has lost five of his last ten matches. Still lacking a bit in terms of consistency, but a good run at a venue where he should have won last year’s final, wouldn’t be a surprise.
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy: Best Of The Rest
I have to say that looking at the form of the Pro Tour OOM qualifiers, or tour card qualifiers, it is hard to find many that are in any sort of form.
Niko Springer
The first unseeded player to go all the way and win a Euro Tour title in 2025. He played very well up until the final which was a bit of a struggle. He took out two of our outright selections on his way to the final, and he is off my Christmas card list.
Springer has won nine of his last ten matches and as a two-time Euro Tour finalist in 2025, it would be no great surprise to see him have another good run, but back to back winners are rare.
Nathan Aspinall
Has lost five of his last ten matches but The Asp is playing pretty well. He has won two Euro Tour titles already in 2025 and was runner up in another. He looks ready to have another good run and maybe it will this weekend.
William O’Connor
Definitely in good form, winning nine of his last ten matches, and he needs to be. The Magpie is on the cusp of reaching both the European Championship and the Grand Prix. He is under pressure to win as many matches as possible.
His best result on the 2025 Euro Tour is a quarter final and he has only won three of seven first round matches. A good first round draw would be a big help. He has reached two Euro Tour finals in his career but his record in the early rounds has been poor.
2025 Swiss Darts Trophy: The Draw
First Quarter
Luke Humphries and Josh Rock look the most likely to progress to the semi-final stage. Humphries looks to have a slightly harder path. He will face the winner of the Rydz vs. Scutt match, and both of those players can be dangerous in a best of eleven leg format. Ryan Searle would be his likely third round opponent and Searle is playing some good stuff.
In the bottom half of the quarter, Rock is the form player. Others include Wattimena, Woodhouse, Wenig and Chizzy. None of those should worry Rock if he can keep his good form up. Rock has won his last three matches vs. Humphries.
Second Quarter
Jonny Clayton is the top seed in the group. He took last weekend off but had been showing some good form. A Matchplay semi-finalist, followed that up with a runner up spot in PC25.
However, he has played just five matches in the last month and he lost three of them. I have my reservations due to that lack of competitive play.
Clayton should be facing Nathan Aspinall in round two. I quite fancy the Asp to have a good run this weekend. He has lost four of his last five matches but only one of those saw a poor performance and he is due a bit of luck. He has won his last four matches vs. Clayton. Aspinall has also reached three Euro Tour finals in 2025, and won two.
Defending champion Martin Schindler is in line to play the winner of Aspinall vs. Clayton. Schindler would be the outsider against either player, but not by too much.
The bottom half of the quarter has Dobey and Wright as the two seeds and none of the unseeded players in round one looks like doing much.
Third Quarter
This one looks wide open. Stephen Bunting is the top seed and the other are the out of form Heta, the inconsistent De Decker and the unpredictable Ross Smith.
Ratajski comes in at the first-round stage, he needs to win matches and is fully motivated. Ditto Raymond van Barneveld. Wessel Nijman is not in top form, but if he clicks, he can win matches.
Bunting blows hot and cold on the Euro Tour. He has lost five of his last eight opening matches and having played in just about everything, including all the World Series events, he may be a bit worn out. It is hard to confident in any player in this quarter.
Fourth Quarter
There is a lot of talent in this quarter. Wade is the top seed and playing well in the earlier rounds. Rob Cross needs wins if he is to make the European Championship. Danny Noppert was a runner up last weekend.
In the first round we have in in-form O’Connor facing Daryl Gurney. O’Connor is another that must win if he is to make the Grand Prix and European Championship. O’Connor is 2-8 with Gurney, but he did win their last match 6-3 just four weeks ago. Noppert will hope to face O’Connor as he is 0-2 vs. Gurney on the Euro Tour in 2025.
Van Veen Due One
I picked him last week and I will pick him again this weekend. Gian van Veen is due a break, no, he is due a lot of breaks. His first one was being elevated to seeded status after the three late withdrawals. He is due to face Van Duijvenbode in round two and he is yet to beat The Aubergenius.
However, Dirk is low on confidence and Van Veen should be able to take advantage. He also has a poor record vs. Wade and is 1-3 in 2025. That is the key to his run in this quarter.
Another first round entrant is last week’s winner, Niko Springer. It is hard to go back to back and he may have used a few of his lives up in Budapest.
