2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Preview – JP
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Preview
It was an up and down afternoon with another couple of near misses but at least our 2 pointer hit the target. James Punt’s 2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday preview and tips are below.
Josh Rock vs. Paul Krohne
Rock will be trying to put the nightmare of the Premier League behind him, which he managed to do at the UK Open last weekend. He did look haunted on Thursday night, but if he can see this as some light relief, he should be OK. However, he has lost six of his last ten matches and that is a confidence killer.
Paul Krohne is well regarded in German darting circles. He has a very high ceiling, a very good A game, even when playing at a fairly low level. He needs to make the most of these chances to get experience at the higher level.
90 Average
Krohne saw off Cameron Menzies 6-4 last night with an OK performance. It was a 90 average and he has played better than that in seven of his last ten matches, of which he has won nine.
Playing Rock should be a step up from playing Menzies, but with the home crowd behind him, he is not without a chance.
Rock is the 1.40 favourite, Krohne 3.25. This is all about Rock. Can he keep his chin up and forget about the PL? If so, he wins, if he misses a few doubles, the demons may come back. You can get 1.75 for Krohne getting a +2.5 handicap, but this is a match I am happy to leave alone.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: No Bet
Gerwyn Price vs. Joe Cullen
Price is the 1.30 favourite, Cullen 3.75, which is very disrespectful to the GOAT. He will be fuming if his son tells him about those odds.
The odds are, of course, spot on. Price has won six of his last ten matches, hit six ton plus averages and only lost to Littler (twice), Van Veen and Wade. With all due respect, Cullen is not in that bracket.
Cullen has won seven of his last ten matches. He was a semi-finalist in PC5 a couple of weeks ago and had a solid 95.27 average last night. He is in decent form, if lacking the required consistency to have deep runs very often.
Their H2H record is very close, 13-12 to Price. Cullen won their last match 8-7 to win PC27 late last year. Their last four matches have all been very close and Cullen has won two of them. Whisper it quietly, but Cullen has a chance here.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: 1 point Joe Cullen to win +2.5 legs @ 1.85 with Boylesports, Unibet
Richard Veenstra vs. Martin Schindler
Veenstra took advantage of a disappointing performance from Florian Hempel yesterday. Both players averaged under 90 in a very forgettable match. His reward is to play another German, but this time in front of a sold out, and well refreshed Saturday night crowd.
Schindler is a three-time Euro Tour winner and he does get to play at ‘home’ a lot. His recent form is not great, losing five of his last ten matches. He is losing to some very bang average players, but he may have turned a corner, his last four matches have seen averages of 104, 98, 97 and 94. Not so long ago he hit a 65.57 average and lost his game for a few weeks.
Their H2H record is 3-1 to Schindler. Two narrow wins last year and a 6-1 win on the Euro Tour in 2024. Schindler is 1.80 and back on home soil on the Euro Tour, with his form looking to be returning, Schindy can delight the home fans.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: 1 point Martin Schindler to win @ 1.80 with Bresbet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Neils Zonneveld
An all-Dutch affair and the first thing to do in this situation is to check the H2H record. Some of the younger Dutch players are still a bit in awe of MVG. Zonneveld has only played MVG twice and lost both, 6-2 and 6-3. However, they were back in 2020 and 2022. Since than MVG has dropped his form and Zonneveld has improved, but MVG is still the better player.
Van Gerwen is the 1.46 favourite, Zonneveld 2.80. MVG has lost five of his last seven matches and showing a lack of consistency.
Zonneveld has won six of his last ten matches and like MVG, is very inconsistent. This one is best avoided.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: No Bet
Karel Sedlacek vs. Mensur Suljovic
Suljovic’s pace of play was glacial against Willy O’Connor last night. O’Connor allowed it to get to him which just encouraged Suljovic to carry on at his snail’s pace. He will play mind games if he feels it gives him an advantage. I don’t think it will be any advantage against the stoic Sedlacek
The Czech darter just gets on with it, plays the board and won’t be paying attention to Suljovic.
Sedlacek is a late call up and gets the bonus of coming straight in at the second-round stage, and with a chance to make round three and at least £5k. A nice bonus weekend, if he can win. Sedlacek has won seven of his last ten matches and playing decent, consistent darts. He reached the semi-final of PC5 a couple of weeks ago.
These two have met four times with two wins each. Sedlacek is the better player these days and is a backable price.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: 1 point Karel Sedlacek to win @ 1.90 with SpreadEx
Gian Van Veen vs. Krzysztof Ratajski
Ratajski is one of our outright bets, and this is a very tricky match, but also for Van Veen. Ratajski has lost five of his last ten matches, but he is playing well with a lot of mid to high 90 averages and he is hard to beat. His recent defeats have tended to be in very close matches.
These two have met twice and it is 1-1. We are on Ratajski, which should be enough, but I can’t resist having a go at over 9.5 legs.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.15 with Boylesports
Stephen Bunting vs. Niko Springer
Springer beat Kai Gotthardt 6-5 last night. It was a high-quality match, but very competitive. Springer has lost five of his last ten matches and hit seven sub 91 averages, so he is not in good form.
Bunting has won six of his last ten matches and while he has not been as consistent as he would like, he is playing a lot better than Springer.
Their H2H record is 2-2 but Bunting has won their last two. Both Springer’s wins have been on the Euro Tour. All matches were played last year.
Bunting is the 1.44 favourite and I expect he can justify the odds, but it is a no bet for me.
2026 European Darts Trophy Saturday Tip: No Bet
Cameron Crabtree vs. Kevin Doets
Crabtree was the other late call up and apparently, he is flying in from the USA. He must have been on holiday and bizarrely has decided to fly back to Germany for a crack at winning £5k. He gets £3.5k for making the trip but how much will cost him to get here? But it is ranking money and he feels he needs it.
It is a bit unfair on Doets. He has been shifted to the last match of the night, to accommodate a reserve player. He played his first-round match at lunchtime yesterday, so it has been a long wait between games.
Huge Average
Doets was quite good in round one. He hit a few maximums and averaged a modest 117.12 in a 6-0 win over some poor sod from Finland. We are on him as an outright selection and hopefully he can play at least something half decent. It is very hard to follow up a tournament record average with another great performance. Maybe he will have forgotten about it as it was so long ago.
Their H2H record is 2-2 and Crabtree has won their last two, both last year.
Crabtree has hit seven sub 90 averages in his last ten matches and he is likely to need more than that, and any jet lag isn’t going to help.
Fingers crossed that Doets wins, but he is a no bet at 1.40.
