2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Tips – JP
2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Preview
James Punt has already posted his outright betting preview for this weekend, see that here. Check out his 2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 preview and tips below.
Karel Sedlacek vs. Callan Rydz
It seems a bit harsh to put a player, who is right on the cusp of making the European Championship, first out on a Friday afternoon. This is a big, significant match, worthy of an evening slot.
Sedlacek is one of the form players in round one. He has won ten of his last eleven matches and was the winner of PC30 last month. Evil Charlie is under some pressure as only a win will do, but given his form, he will be feeling confident.
Callan Rydz is playing pretty well, winning six of his last ten matches, and scoring well. His Euro Tour season has been short and unsuccessful. He has qualified for three events and won just one match. Rydz did play well in all three first round matches, losing 4-6 to Woodhouse, 5-6 to Ratajski, and he beat Reyes 6-1 at ET12 last month.
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Rydz, but Sedlacek won their last match, back in February, 6-2. None of their matches have been close with scorelines of 6-3, 6-1 and 6-2. However, both players have been scoring well enough to think that we could have a close match this time around.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.92 with Livescorebet
Cameron Menzies vs. Nick Kenny
Like Sedlacek, Menzies won a Players Championship last month, but he is very likely through to the finals, and under less pressure. He has lost his three matches since winning that title last month, so is he in good form? He lost 4-6 to Reyes in the first-round last week, and has lost half of his fourteen first round matches on the Euro Tour this year.
Nick Kenny is a rare visitor to the Euro Tour, but he did play last weekend, losing 3-6 to Kevin Doets. He also played in ET6 and lost 3-6 to Niko Springer. He has lost his last three Euro Tour matches 3-6, maybe he can make it four?
These two have met four times, with Menzies winning all four, two 6-4, and two 6-2. In the middle of those would be nice.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Tip: 0.5 point Cameron Menzies to win 6-3 @ 5.25 with SpreadEx
Jeffrey de Graaf vs. Mickey Mansell
De Graaf reached the third-round last weekend for only the second time in his career, and has won his last three first round matches on the Euro Tour. He has won six of his last ten matches and is playing OK, if with very little consistency.
Mansell has won five of his last ten matches, but is playing a bit better, and bit more consistently than Mansell. His Euro Tour record in 2026 sees three wins from his five first round matches.
Their H2H record is 2-0 to De Graaf, a 6-0 in June this year and a 6-4 in May last year. At least that tells us that De Graaf can cope with Mansell’s deliberate pace of play.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point De Graaf to win -1.5 legs @ 2.20 with SpreadEx
Ryan Joyce vs. Owen Bates
Joyce has won his last ten Euro Tour first round matches in a row and is very comfortable on the stage these days. He has won six of his last ten matches and is playing OK.
Bates has played six first round matches on the Euro Tour in his career and lost five. He has won seven of his last ten matches at senior level.
Their H2H record is 3-2 to Joyce, but it is Bates who has won their last two, 6-2 and 6-0, both this year.
Tricky
It’s a tricky match to call. Joyce is now an accomplished Euro Tour player, Bates certainly isn’t, but he has given Joyce a couple of thrashings in 2026. Those matches were bizarre in how bad Joyce played. He averaged 81.55 in one, and 77.57 in the other. I can’t see him playing that badly this time.
Joyce won their only previous stage match 3-0 at last year’s World Championship. I suspect that Joyce’s greater comfort on the Euro Tour stage will be the deciding factor. He has covered a -1.5 handicap in eight of his twelve first round matches.
2026 Dutch Darts Championship R1 Tip: 1 point Ryan Joyce to win -1.5 legs @ 2.00 with SpreadEx
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. James Hurrell
Dirk’s heart must have sunk when he saw the draw. His H2H record with The Hillbilly is 1-5. Hurrell has won five in a row vs. Van Duijvenbode, three of them in 2026. Their only stage match was in last year’s World Championships, which Hurrell won 3-2.
Dirk has won six of his last ten matches, but he isn’t playing well. Six of his last ten matches (excluding the Grand Prix) have seen sub 90 averages. He has lost half of his first-round matches in 2026.
Hurrell has won six of his last ten, and he isn’t playing much better than Dirk, but certainly no worse. He has played five Euro Tour first round matches in 2026 and lost four. I will have a go on the outsider.
