2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Preview – JP
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Preview
James landed one winner from his two bets earlier. Check out his 2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday preview and tips below.
Andrew Gilding vs. Stefan Bellmont
Gilding is the 1.40 favourite to beat the Swiss number 1. Gilding’s recent form isn’t good, losing six of his last ten matches. On the Euro Tour he has won 8 from 12 first round matches.
Bellmont came through the host nation qualifier yesterday, which was low on quality. At Pro Tour level, Bellmont has won four of his last ten matches. He has played in nine Euro Tour events over the years and won just two first round matches.
Gilding has the experience to win this but he makes no appeal at the odds. No bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: No bet
Jeffrey de Graaf vs. Sietse Lap
Another short price favourite. This time it is De Graaf who is the 1.33 jolly. He is playing OK, winning six of his last ten matches, but his consistency is poor. He has hit four sub 90 averages in those ten.
De Graaf has only played in four Euro Tours this season and won two first round matches. He is far from a Euro Tour specialist, only making three third rounds from twenty-two tournaments.
Lap has lost six of his last ten matches and like De Graaf, is very inconsistent, with five sub 90 averages, including a sub-80. His A game is good, so he can be dangerous, but he lacks experience. He played in ET3 and lost his first-round match 1-6 to Cameron Menzies.
I doubt De Graaf will get a 6-1 win, but he should win. However, there is no value here. No bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: No bet
Dave Chisnall vs. Alan Soutar
Chizzy made the quarter final of ET11 which got him through to the World Grand Prix, where he was really poor and lost 0-2 to a Luke Humphries who was stuck in first gear.
Chisnall has made two QFs in 2026 and won six of his ten first round matches. He is 31st on the provisional qualifying list for the European Championship. He needs more to make sure he qualifies for that.
Chizzy will be in the final event of the season, so this is the second-last chance saloon. Chisnall’s recent form sees six wins from his last ten matches and he has hit three ton plus averages, but four sub 90s.
Off The Radar
Alan Soutar has really fallen off the radar, but he is still out there, plying his (part-time) trade. He has lost six of his last ten matches and five of his last six. He has played in two Euro Tour events in 2026 and won one first round match against Barney. Soots has averaged sub 90 in all three of his Euro Tour matches.
Their H2H record is 4-4. They have not met in 2026. Soutar won their last match 6-4, just over a year ago.
Alan Soutar is the marginal 1.95 favourite, Chisnall is 2.00. Two players in poor form and the market either can’t split them, or don’t care either way. I am in the latter camp. No bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: NO Bet
Raymond van Barneveld vs. Maik Kuivenhoven
An all-Dutch affair and the first thing to look at here is their H2H record. Barney is the Godfather of Dutch darts, albeit a fading force, but some Dutchies can be a bit too respectful.
Barney is 7-2 vs Kuivenhoven and he won their only match in 2026, a 6-3 win back in April. RVB has won their last six matches and won them comfortably, covering a -1.5 leg handicap in all of them.
Barney has won six of his last ten matches, but his scoring has been pants, with six sub 90 averages. Kuivenhoven has lost six of his last ten matches and hit four sub 90 averages.
Low Quality
This looks like being a low-quality affair, but Barney usually gets the job done against Kuivenhoven. The younger of the two Dutchmen has played in four Euro Tour events in 2026 and lost three of his first round matches, and lost them badly. 1-6 to Cullen, 2-6 to Pietreczko, and 1-6 to Springer. He did beat Daryl Gurney in his other appearance.
Kuivenhoven is the 1.90 favourite, Barney 2.05. I will be a bit more ambitious and back Barney on the handicap.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip:1 point Van Barneveld to win -1.5 legs @ 2.75 with Livescorebet
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Bruno Stockli
Bruno Stockli came through the local qualifier yesterday and is the 5.20 outsider. He qualified for this in 2024 and beat Ratajski 6-4 in round one, averaging 79.58. Bizarre. He only dropped seven legs across his four matches, but all matches saw sub 90 averages.
Dirk has won six of his last ten matches and is playing with very little consistency, hitting four sub 90 averages, not counting the Grand Prix double in format. He has lost seven of his thirteen first round matches in 2026. However, he really should have no trouble winning this, but it is not a betting match. No bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: No Bet
Michael Smith vs. Robert Owen
Michael Smith is 36th on the Euro Tour O.O.M. He needs to make the final if he is to have any chance, but he will be back next week for another go.
His recent form sees five wins from his last ten matches. There is no consistency in his game anymore. In those last ten, he has hit six sub 90 averages, including two sub 80s, but he has hit three 95 +.
Smith is trying to play with arthritis and if he is feeling OK, he can play, if he is in pain, he can’t. Sadly, I don’t know what his medical situation is right now, and that makes betting on his matches very risky. He has only played nine matches on the Euro Tour in 2026, and won five.
Lost Six of Ten
Robert Owen has lost six of his last ten matches and hit six sub 90 averages. He has played in three Euro Tour events in 2026 and won two first round matches, both 6-5.
Their H2H record is 6-0 to Smith and he has won both their matches in 2026, but they were both back in February. Four of their six matches went to a deciding leg.
Robert Owen is the 1.73 favourite, and being backed. That suggests to me that some people may know more about Smith’s fitness than I do. I was thinking of an overs bet, but I am not happy with the way the market is moving. No bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: No Bet
Damon Heta vs. Alexander Fehlmann
Another mis-match first round match. Alexander Fehlmann came through the local qualifier and is making his Euro Tour debut. Heta has won five of his last ten matches and he has been a bit unlucky in that he has walked into a few players in top form.
The Heat reached the semi-final in the last Euro Tour event, his fourth Euro Tour semi-final of the season. He has only had to play four first round matches and lost two. Heta is the 1.18 favourite and it is another no bet.
2026 Swiss Darts Trophy Friday Tip: NO Bet
Kevin Doets vs. Nick Kenny
Nick Kenny is a call up from the reserve list. He has won seven of his last ten matches, all qualifiers for different events. He has played some good stuff, and some rubbish. His only Euro Tour appearance in 2026 saw a 3-6 loss to Niko Springer. He has only ever played three Euro Tour events but did reach a quarter final in one of them back in 2024.
Doets has won seven of his last ten matches, has a 72% win rate in 2026 and on the Euro Tour, Doets has played in eleven events and won ten first round matches. He won three of them 6-0, and another 6-1. He has covered a -2.5 leg handicap in eight of his first-round matches.
Their H2H record is 6-0 to Doets and in those six he covered a -2.5 leg handicap in five.
