2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Preview

James Punt got back on track last night with two winners, including one at odds of 7.50. His 2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 preview and tips are below.

Saturday Reflections

 It was better evening session with a +3.38 point profit and we are now -1.78 down for the tournament so far.

Our four outright selections are still all in the running. Tournament favourite Luke Humphries is out and Gary Anderson is now the 7.50 favourite. Can the old guy manage to win four matches in a day?

We have Clayton, Cross, Aspinall and Wattimena batting for us, so fingers crossed. Clayton is now 9.00, Cross 11.00, Aspinall 11.00 and Wattimena 23.00. Why is nobody rating Wattimena?

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Rob Cross

Dirk finally got a stage win over Luke Humphries and he was very pleased. He now needs to keep his head screwed on and get on with the job. That might be asking too much.

Rob Cross has needed deciding legs to get past Beau Greaves and Luke Woodhouse. Two ton plus averages for Cross and he is in fine form.

Their H2H head record is 5-5 and it is a tricky match to call. They have already played three times in 2026, with Cross winning the last two matches. They have met on the Euro Tour twice in 2026 with one win each and both required a deciding leg. Their last three Euro Tour meetings have gone to a deciding leg. Can Cross seal another win in the eleventh leg?

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.95 with Boylesports

Danny Noppert vs. Ryan Searle

Heavy Metal has Gary Anderson to hold his hand this weekend and both are through to the final day. Searle beat Springer 6-4 in a good match, while Noppert wasn’t so impressive against Ritchie Edhouse. Noppert should have wrapped it up with a bigger margin and his doubling was once again suspect.

Searle is the 1.80 favourite, a bit short for a player who has struggled on the Euro Tour in 2025 and now 2026? He has lost four of his five third round matches in 2026 and won only three of his last eleven.

Noppert is hardly a Euro Tour specialist himself but he has won eight of his last sixteen third round matches. Noppert tends to go well, if he wins his opening match, but he will come up short at some stage.

Two dodgy players and their H2H record is 9-2 to Noppert and 2-0 in 2026.That includes a 6-5 win in ET3 back in March. Five of their best of eleven leg matches have seen over 9.5 legs.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.91 with Boylesports

Jonny Clayton vs. Ross Smith

Clayton had to work harder than he would have expected to beat local qualifier László Kádár 6-3, but it was a good performance and gets him up to speed for the big day ahead. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is playing well.

Smith was very impressive in a 6-2 win over William O’Connor. Both played well but Smith was more effective. Smith has lost six of his nine third round matches on the Euro Tour in 2026, but he has won a title and made another final.

Their H2H record 10-4 to Clayton and he is the 1.80 favourite. Clayton has won their last six matches and is 3-0 on the Euro Tour.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: 1 point Jonny Clayton to win @ 1.80 with SpreadEx, Hills, BET365, Bertvictor

Keane Barry vs. Dave Chisnall

Not two players I expected to see playing in the third round. Barry has not reached the third round since April 2023, but he has won two of the four third round matches he has played. He has won seven of his last ten matches and has played well in his last six.

Chisnall has looked all washed up for the last couple of seasons. Are we seeing a comeback, or just a rare uptick in form? He has lost six of his last ten matches and his ton plus average against Nijman was his first in 63 matches. He would seem unlikely to hit those heights again today.

Their H2H record is 3-1 to Chisnall. Chisnall is 1.91 to win. Barry 2.00. It is just too hard to call and the rewards for finding the winner not great. No bet.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: No Bet

Gian van Veen vs. Jermaine Wattimena

An all-Dutch affair with Van Veen the 1.57 favourite. He has won seven of his last ten matches and he is showing some signs that his A game is back, but just not on a consistent basis yet.

Wattimena got a rare win over Andrew Gilding yesterday and has won nine of his last ten matches. He is in top form.

Their H2H record is 4-0 to Van Veen, but they have only played once in the last three years. Their only Euro Tour match required a deciding leg back in 2023.

Wattimena is growing in confidence, winning titles and his last two Euro Tour events have seen him reach the quarter final and a final. He won his third Players Championship earlier this week and hopefully he can get his first win over Van Veen today. Three of their four matches have been over 9.5 legs.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.00 with Hills

Stephen Bunting vs. Gary Anderson

Anderson means business. A 105.27 average in his 6-2 win over Ratajski tells us that he is trying to get the job done this weekend, so he can bugger back off to the fish farm.

Bunting also looked the part with his 97.86 average in a 6-1 win over Finland’s Jonas Masalin. This is a whole different ball game and Bunting hasn’t been in great form of late, losing six of his last ten matches.

Their H2H record is 16-6 to Anderson and he is the 1.62 favourite to improve an already impressive record against Bunting.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: 1 point Anderson to win -1.5 legs @ 2.05 with Betvictor

Michael van Gerwen vs. Nathan Aspinall

MVG got past the injured James Hurrell with a 6-4 win last night. It was an OK display, but nothing special. He has won six of his last ten matches, but he has become very inconsistent and is not the player he once was.

Aspinall was OK in his 6-4 win over Ryan Joyce. It was a tough match and should have set him up nicely for the final day. The Asp has won six of his last ten matches and he is playing with a good deal of consistency.

Their H2H record is 22-12 to MVG and he has won both of their matches in 2026. Aspinall is the 1.91 favourite, MVG 2.00. The odds look about right to me and hopefully Aspinall gets through. No bet.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: No bet

Josh Rock vs. Chris Dobey

Dobey wasn’t the bottler in his match with Tom Sykes yesterday. He was 0-4 down but found a couple of gears and turned it round to win 6-5. It was a strange performance but he was as good in the second half as he was poor in the first.

Rock won a dire match with Cullen 6-0, averaging just 85.89. I don’t know what to make of that, but it was hardly a sign of good form. He has won six of his last ten matches but he does not look like a player whose game is in great shape. He was absolutely pissed out of his head in his match with Cullen and you can’t play at this level when drunk as a lord. Maybe he will not have been on the sauce in the afternoon.

A tricky match, but we don’t have to bet on it, and I will give it a miss. No bet.

2026 Hungarian Darts Trophy R3 Tip: No bet

-JamesPunt