2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tips – JP
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Preview
James Punt fired in a couple of winners this afternoon to get us off to a nice start this weekend. Check out his 2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday preview and tips below.
Sebastian Bialecki vs. Daryl Gurney
A big match for Bialecki, but not so much for Superchin. The Northern Irishman would need to reach the final to have any chance of making the European Championship, while Bialecki might get there with a quarter final, but his chances were badly hurt when he lost last week’s first round match vs. qualification rival, Karel Sedlacek.
Bialecki has won six of his last ten matches at senior level, and is playing quite consistently, with a lot of low 90 averages. He is not a power scorer but he is effective. His first-round record on this year’s Euro Tour is played seven and won four.
Not So Superchin
Daryl Gurney didn’t qualify for the Matchplay for the first time in ten years, the Grand Prix for the first time in twelve years, and unless he has a minor miracle, he won’t qualify for the European Championships for the first time in five years.
He will only have the last four Players Championships to play before the Players Championship Finals, and then the World Championship. He has played in twelve Euro Tour events in 2026, so he had plenty of chances to rack up enough price money to qualify.
First Round Woes
His first-round record has been very poor. He has lost his last six in a row, and he was getting beaten by lightweights. Oskar Lukasiak, Jim Long, Maik Kuivenhoven and Laszlo Kadar all beat the once mighty Superchin.
He has taken to tinkering with his equipment to try and find a way back. It is the same story, practising great but not taking it to the board. Can’t get the darts to land at the right angle, can’t score well, can’t win, lose confidence and down and down it goes. He has lost six of his last ten matches and is in poor form.
At least he has no pressure on himself now. He can do his old stable mate, Evil Charlie, a bit of a favour, and beat Bialecki, but Sedlacek’s destiny is in his own hands.
The H2H record here is 1-1. Both matches played this year. Gurney won 6-4 in ET2’s first round, Bialecki won 6-2 on the floor a couple of weeks later.
Bialecki is the 1.80 favourite, Gurney 2.10. Bialecki looks the value, even at odds on.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point Sebastian Bialecki to @ 1.80 with BET 365
William O’Connor vs. Richard Veenstra
O’Connor has had a better 2026 season, and he has taken enough chances to win a place at the European Championships. Qualify, and win your first match. Do that enough times, and you are in.
The Magpie has won six of his last ten matches, having had a run to the semi-final of PC29 a month ago. O’Connor has won eleven of his fourteen first round matches, only won two second round matches, but he is 22nd on the Euro Tour O.O.M. Job done.
Getting drawn to face a local qualifier is usually a result for the pro tour players, but not so much this weekend. O’Connor gets to play another tour card holder, Richard Veenstra. The standard of local qualifier in the Netherlands is likely to be a lot higher than say, in Switzerland, or Hungary.
93 + Average
Veenstra averaged 93.20 across his four qualifiers, which is a nice warm up for the main event. He hadn’t really been playing well going into that qualifying session, very inconsistent and scoring poorly on the whole.
Veenstra has played just two Euro Tour events in 2026 and reached the quarter final of the European Darts Trophy back in March. He lost the quarter final to Zonneveld, and lost his first-round match in ET8, to Zonneveld.
Their H2H record is a comfortable 6-0 to O’Connor. He is the 1.62 favourite. I will take the Irishman to cover the handicap, make his usual wee speech about how good the crowd is, and then lose tomorrow.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point William O’Connor to win -1.5 legs @ 2.05 with Boylesports
Niko Springer vs. Scott Williams
Springer is not in good form, losing six of his last ten matches. On the Euro Tour he has won his last five first round matches in a row, and ten from fourteen played. He has been good at beating the lesser lights, but he is getting done in by the better players. He lost his second-round match 0-6 to Van Veen last weekend.
Very much like O’Connor, Springer has mastered the art of winning the first-round match, banking the money and reaching the European Championship (23rd on the O.O.M). Springer reached the final here last year, losing to Jonny Clayton.
Do we consider Scott Williams as a ‘lesser player’? He is best known for reaching the semi-final of the 2025 World Championship and the quarter final of the Players Championship the same year. In his next tournament after that, the World Championship, he beat Springer 3-1 and reached round three. Williams does have his moments, he loves the TV cameras and can play great stuff. He can also be a bit of a knob.
Knob
Like when referencing ‘two world wars and one world cup’ after beating Schindler at Ally Pally. He recently lost the final of PC30 7-8 to Karel Sedlacek and flounced off in a foul mood, not stopping to say well played to the winner. Knob.
Williams has won nine of his last ten matches. That great run to the final of PC30, and then three qualifiers for this. That was three weeks ago, so it is hard to say if he can pick up where he left off. Williams hasn’t got a great Euro Tour record because he doesn’t qualify for very many of them. He has only played in one event this year and lost in round 1. He has played in a total of ten in his career and won seven first round matches.
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Williams, and on the Euro Tour 1-1.
It is an interesting matchup. On recent form, Williams has been the better player. Springer has a good first round record on the Euro Tour, but he has been beating bums. If Williams has retained his form of three weeks ago, he wins.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point Scott Williams to win @ 1.83 with Betfred
Niels Zonneveld vs. Mike De Decker
Zonneveld is in great form and has won seven of his last ten matches. He hit a ton average in defeat last weekend and he would be very unlucky to meet another opponent averaging 100 and hitting seven 180s in a first-round match.
De Decker, it is easy to forget, was the 2024 World Grand Prix champion. He is now an also ran getting a call up from the reserve list. He has played in ten Euro events in 2026 and lost eight of his opening matches. The Real Deal was seeded for nine of the ten, now he has to prequalify. His stock has fallen badly, because his scoring has gone down the drain. In his last 50 matches, 44% have seen sub 90 averages.
Their H2H record is 4-3 to De Decker, but they have only played once in 2026 and Zonneveld won that 6-5 in ET3. Before that, the form is all 2024 or earlier, when De Decker was a proper player.
Zonneveld is the 1.54 favourite and deservedly so. He should cover the handicap here.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point Zonneveld to win -1.5 legs @ 1.91 with Boylesports
Kim Huybrechts vs. Jimmy van Schie
Van Schie came through the local qualifier yesterday and averaged 92.07 across four matches. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing OK. He has only ever played in just one Euro Tour event. That was this year’s Baltic Sea Darts Open, where he reached the quarter final. He is a handy player, or should I say armsie. He is nine feet tall and has arms to match.
Huybrechts form has dropped off a bit and he is on the bubble qualification wise. He has won five of his last ten matches, and remarkably, his last seven matches have all gone to a deciding leg, and eight of his last ten.
Huybrechts won his first seven first round matches on the Euro Tour, but lost the last two, you guessed it, 5-6. Squeaky bum time. He will know that Karel Sedlacek won his first-round match and moved above him on the O.O.M. That puts Kim into 31st place.
These two have played five times and Huybrechts has won the lot, two of them 6-5, both in 2026, but the other two in 2026? Both 6-0!
Guess what I am going to back?
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.96 with Livescorebet
Cristo Reyes vs. Krzysztof Kciuk
Reyes is one of the bubble boys. He can probably afford a defeat, but he has got lucky with the draw. Kciuk is the East European qualifier. His recent form is nine wins from his last ten matches, which sounds great, but they have all been in Eastern European qualifiers. His last match which wasn’t a qualifier? A 2-6 loss to Joe Cullen in ET1. His 12 month average is 82.38.
Reyes has won six of his last ten matches and hit four ton plus averages, and seven 98+. If he kicks off, this could be a rout. He was under a lot of pressure last weekend, on a run of losing six first round matches. He beat Menzies 6-4 and went on to reach the quarter final. A win here and he is definitely through to the finals.
Reyes is the 1.17 favourite, but I will go for a wide margin win.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point under 8.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair, Unibet
Damon Heta vs. Maikel Verberk
Another uncompetitive match on paper. Heta is the 1.22 favourite, and the local qualifier, Maikel Verberk, 4.80. The Dutchman only averaged 86.35 across his four qualifying matches. He is a Challenge tour player and averages 87.08. Chances are, with a big home crowd, he will play better than that. These unfancied local qualifiers can be complete pests at times.
Heta has lost six of his last ten matches but he is playing quite well scoring wise. He has won four of his six first round matches and five have been over 9.5 legs. However, he has had pretty tough opponents. Last week he played a Swiss local qualifier and won that 6-2. Maybe a Dutch qualifier will be a bit tougher.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship Friday Tip: 1 point over 8.5 legs @ 1.73 with Livescorebet
Michael Smith vs. Stephen Burton
Smith still has an outside chance to make the finals, but he has to start with a win here. Smith made the third-round last weekend and hit a 103 average in one match. He has won six of his last ten matches but his consistency is not there.
Burton is an occasional visitor to the Euro Tour. He qualified for three in 2026 and won one first round match. He has only ever won two matches from ten appearances. Burton has lost six of his last ten matches and hit seven sub 90 averages.
Their H2H record 3-1 to Smith, all floor matches.
Smith got a bit of a renewed taste for the Euro Tour last weekend and said that he is going to play in more next year. I suspect he will enjoy being back in front of a big, noisy crowd again, doing his stuff.
Smith is the 1.67 favourite but I will take him to cover the handicap.
