2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Preview – JP
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Preview
It was a bad day for two of our outright selections on Friday but at least James landed a couple of winners in the evening session. His 2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 evening preview and tips are below.
R1 Reflections
It was a bit of a dull first day at the darts. A tiny +0.11 point profit on the bets, but two outright selections binned, with Nijman and Springer falling at the first fence. I seem to have the misfortune to back players whose opponents are putting unusually good performances. That can’t last.
Today the big guns join the action and we have some interesting match ups.
Ross Smith vs. Cameron Menzies
Menzies won a low-quality match with Sietse Lap, winning 6-2. One minute Lap was on a nine darter, and the next he was beaten. It was hard to read too much into that match. Menzies has won five of his last ten and is playing OK, but nothing more.
Ross Smith has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing good darts, consistently. His three defeats have come in his last five matches, but they were all very close affairs.
Smith is 6-4 vs. Menzies and while Menzies has won their last two, Smith is playing better darts right now.
Smith is the 1.50 favourite to win, Menzies 2.95. Their last three matches ended 6-4 and Smith won their last Euro Tour match 6-4.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 1 point Ross Smith to win -1.5 legs @ 1.88 with Unibet
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 0.5 point Ross Smith to win 6-4 @ 6.00 generally available
Jermaine Wattimena vs. Ryan Meikle
Meikle should have lost to local qualifier, and serial Euro Tour loser, François Schweyen. On the brink of his first Euro Tour win, the Belgian shat the bed and ended up losing 4-6. Meikle averaged 85.36 and it was a match that was a welcome gift. His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches, but seven sub 90 averages. His win rate in 2026 is just 38%.
Wattimena has also won five of his last ten matches but had six 96+ averages. He is the better player, playing better.
Their H2H record is 7-1 to Wattimena and he is the 1.44 favourite, Meikle 3.10.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 1 point Jermaine Wattimena to win -1.5 legs @ 1.67 generally available
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 0.5 point Wattimena to win 6-3 @ 8.00 with Betfred, Bresbet
Chris Dobey vs. Dave Chisnall
Chisnall put in a much-improved display against Thibault Tricole yesterday. A few missed doubles near the end depressed his average but it was much closer to vintage Chizzy. He does do this occasionally, so it doesn’t mean he has turned a corner.
Chisnall has lost eleven of his last twelve second round matches on the Euro Tour. What do we pick, Chisnall because he played well yesterday? Or go with his strong tendency to lose second round matches?
Chri Dobey has won six of his last ten matches and is generally scoring well. He isn’t quite banker material but he is playing better, more often.
Their H2H record is 11-6 to Chisnall, but they haven’t played since September 2024, which was just before Chisnall developed his back problem.
Chisnall is the 1.36 favourite, Chisnall 3.50. I expect Dobey to win, but there is no value in his odds. No bet.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: No Bet
Ryan Searle vs. Ricky Evans
Rapid beat a surprisingly poor Scott Williams yesterday. It was a decent effort from Evans, who has won five of his last ten matches and is very hard to predict.
Searle has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing OK. He hasn’t got past the second round on the Euro Tour in 2026 and he isn’t a Euro Tour specialist. He is better than Evans and deserves to be the 1.62 favourite.
Their H2H record is 4-2 to Searle and half of his wins ended 6-2, which sounds plausible.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 0.5 point Ryan Searle to win 6-2 @ 8.00 with Boylesports
Martin Schindler vs. William O’Connor
Schindler has lost six of his last ten matches and is not playing with any consistency. He has lost both of his second round Euro Tour matches this season. The last second round match he did win on the Euro Tour was a 6-4 win over O’Connor, last October.
O’Connor played well in his 6-1 win over Tyler Thorpe yesterday, but can he repeat that form? Probably not. He has lost five of his last six Euro Tour second round matches.
Schindler is 4-1 against O’Connor and is the 2.00 marginal outsider of the two. Both players are high risk betting wise, and it’s a no bet for me.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: No Bet
Damon Heta vs. Daryl Gurney
Superchin put in one of his better performances in a 6-1 win over Ian White. It was one way traffic, but a 97.88 average was impressive. Unfortunately, he now faces a player who hit some good form last week, reaching the semi-final in Germany, and a player who has a 7-0 record against him.
Heta was really struggling for results going into ET2. He wasn’t playing badly but was very low on confidence. A bit of confidence was enough to allow him to win matches, rather than folding. If he is still on a roll, he should beat Gurney again, but we have backed Heta outright, which is a bit of a curse and I am happy to watch this and hope that Heta can move on to the final day’s play. No bet.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: No Bet
Danny Noppert vs. Luke Woodhouse
Noppert is one of the most consistent players in the game, scores well and consistently loses quarter finals. He didn’t reach the quarter final last weekend as he ran into Gerwyn Price, who is even more consistent and high scoring than Noppert.
Woodhouse has been on a path of improvement for the last couple of seasons and he is now talking about winning titles. He is moving on from the journeyman stage, to wanting to be a contender. He beat a 97-year-old local qualifier yesterday, which wasn’t much of a warm up, but Woody averaged 96.90.
Woodhouse has won five of his last ten matches, but he hasn’t beaten much to be honest. He does tend to struggle to beat the top players. That is the next step he needs to take.
Their H2H record is 8-1 to Noppert, and that is what happens to Woodhouse when he plays with the big boys. They have only played once on the Euro Tour and Noppert won that 6-3 last October, in what was a terrible match. Woodhouse averaged 78.85, and Noppert was not much better.
Noppert is the 1.65 favourite and he has covered a -1.5 leg handicap in seven of their nine matches.
2026 Belgian Darts Open R2 Tip: 1 point Danny Noppert to win -1.5 legs @ 2.05 with Betfred
Nathan Aspinall vs. Ryan Joyce
Joyce beat Adam Gawlas 6-4 in a poor match yesterday. Both players hit sub 90 averages and Joyce has been doing a lot of that recently. He has lost six of his last ten matches and hit seven sub 90 averages. That isn’t going to get him very far.
Aspinall withdrew from the European Darts Trophy last weekend, despite being the defending champion. He wouldn’t have wanted to miss it, so there must have been a good reason, and that is putting me off getting involved here. He is a player prone to injury and I am just going to pass.
Aspinall is the 1.40 favourite and Joyce 3.25, but Joyce is just about unbackable right now.
