2025 Austrian Darts Open Betting Preview

James Punt has now fired in six winners from his last seven match bets, incluidng a fantastinc full house on Monday. Check out his 2025 Austrian Darts Open betting preview and tips below.

2025 Austrian Darts Open

The fifth European Tour event of the season is the Austrian Darts Open taking place in the Steiermarkhalle in Premstätten, Graz. The first thing to say is that many of the top seeds have decided to skip the event. There is no Littler, Humphries, MVG, Cross or Anderson. We have had four different winners of the four Euro Tour events so far in 2025 and chances are, we will get another this weekend.

The only previous winner, indeed a two time Austrian Darts Open winner, is Jonny Clayton. The Ferret won this in 2018 and again in 2023.

Of this year’s European Tour title winners, only Aspinall and Bunting are in the field this weekend. As I was working on this on Thursday, we had more withdrawals. Not surprisingly, Dimitri van den Bergh is out. He is taking time out from the game to work on his mental health.

James Wade has also withdrawn, along with Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith. That means Gian van Veen, Daryl Gurney and Joe Cullen are elevated to seeded status, and we have four players from the reserve list joining in the first round.

It is safe to say that this is weakest field we have seen on the Euro Tour this season, and there will be plenty of players seeing this as a big opportunity.

The 2025 Austrian Darts Open Seeds

1 Jonny Clayton 

The number one seed, befitting of the two time winner. Clayton went into last weekend’s German Darts Grand Prix on the back of winning PC14 and playing fantastic darts. He then averaged 85.30 in a 1-6 loss to Martin Schindler. The question now is, can he bring his PC14 form to his favourite Euro Tour event? If so, he is in the running for a third title.

2 Stephen Bunting 

His big homecoming in the Premier League fell flat last night as he lost out to Rob Cross 1-6. I would say he wanted it too much and played way below his recent standards. Bunting has won seven of his last ten matches and won ET3 three weeks ago. He is also a two time semi-finalist here.

3 Damon Heta 

Failed to take his PC13 winning form onto the Euro Tour last weekend, losing 0-6 to Ryan Joyce in his opening match. As I said in last weekend’s preview, he may have won PC13, but he was far from convincing. He has won just two matches on the Euro Tour in 2025.

4 Nathan Aspinall 

Suffering with yet another injury. A ‘partially dislocated’ shoulder. That sounds bad but he was able to hit a 104 average in a 3-6 loss to Luke Humphries last night. He can still play, but would he have any problems playing three matches on Sunday? He should be used to it, as he won ET2 and was runner up in ET3, but that was before the shoulder problem. Easy to fancy on form, but that injury is a concern.

5 Chris Dobey 

Won PL Night 11 and took the weekend off last week. He returned to action last night, averaged 105.61 but lost 2-6 to Gerwyn Price. That was his fifth ton plus average in a row and he is in good form. The big concern is that Dobey has now lost his last seven Euro Tour matches in a row.

6 Dave Chisnall 

Has won five of his last ten matches and continues to be plagued by a lack of consistency. It is nearly a month since he strung more than two wins together.

7 Peter Wright 

Enjoyed a bit of a run last weekend, reaching the quarter final and taking Luke Littler to a deciding leg. That was all the fault of those beastly Germans cheering on Snakebite, rather than kissing Littler’s arse. Littler has now withdrawn from all the remaining Euro Tour events in Germany. Wright has won five of his last ten matches and while his form is improving, there is still too much inconsistency. He did reach the final of PC11 three weeks ago, so I wouldn’t rule out a decent run this weekend.

8 Danny Noppert 

Has won six of his last ten matches, but he is winless on the Euro Tour in 2025. In fact, he has lost his opening match on the Euro Tour for the last six tournaments, and it is nearly a year since he got beyond the third round stage.

9 Josh Rock 

Our second semi-final loser on the Euro Tour in a row. He just seemed to run out of gas a bit on Monday. He averaged 111.42 when beating Price 6-4, but then struggled to beat Ratajski, before losing the semi-final to MVG, 2-7. Rock was runner up here in 2023 and given that his win rate is now 70% in 2025, he can be fancied to have another good run this weekend.

10 Ross Smith 

Reached his third Euro Tour semi-final of 2025 last weekend and he was a semi-finalist here last year. His time must come, but is he playing well enough right now? He has won six of his last ten matches and has hit eight 97+ averages. His record at the business end of events could be better, but he is a major winner and has won four Players Championships, so he can get it done.

11 Ryan Searle 

Didn’t make the most of his seeded status last weekend, beating Menzies in the second round before losing to MVG in the third. He only averaged 90 in both and his scoring has been off for a few matches now. He has gone from inconsistent to just being quite poor.

12 Mike de Decker 

Has won six of his last ten matches and is playing well enough, but he doesn’t strike me as a winner in waiting right now. He is seeded this week and doesn’t have to play in the first round for the first time this year.

13 Martin Schindler 

No real home advantage this weekend. Schindler has won seven of his last ten matches, but he is not playing with enough consistency to think that he will be picking up a third Euro Tour title any time soon. He has won at least two matches in all four Euro Tour events in 2025, so he should be around on Sunday.

14 Joe Cullen 

Last year’s runner up, Cullen has lost six of his last ten matches and remains hard to fancy.

15 Gian van Veen 

Runner up in Munich last weekend, his second Euro Tour runner up placing. He is knocking on the door and one will open soon. It might have to be one that doesn’t have MVG playing int it….and guess who isn’t playing the this weekend? Getting a leg up to seeded status means one less match to win and with so many of the big names missing, Van Veen has to be one of the favourites to win it.

16 Daryl Gurney 

Really needs to take advantage of being bumped up to seeded status. The fact that so many top players have called off, it means that, as sixteenth seed, he will not have to face Littler in round three, should he win round two.

His win rate in 2025 is not good, 47% is as low as it has been, and down from 63% in 2024. Unless he starts picking up some decent money, he could be missing out on some of the big majors he has been used to playing in for years. He has lost five of his last ten matches and is showing no consistency whatsoever.

Best of the Unseeded Players

Ryan Joyce 

Up to tenth place in the European Championship OOM. He was the runner up in ET3 and a quarter finalist last week. Overall, his form isn’t great, losing five of his last ten matches, but on the Euro Tour he has played eleven and won eight. A very underrated player and one that is usually available at big odds.

Karel Sedlacek 

Winner of seven of his last ten matches and reached the quarter final of his only Euro Tour event of the year so far. That was played in Riesa, not far from the Czech border, and while this is not quite as close, it is easily accessible for his small, but noisy band of followers. Evil Charlie has reached three quarter finals on the Euro Tour and while winning one might be a bit unlikely, he is another player who nobody wants to face in the early rounds.

Ian White 

Not a name that has cropped up in my previews for the last few years, but Ian White, a three time Euro Tour winner, has been playing some good stuff in 2025. He was runner up in PC9 last month and beat Littler, Rock, Nijman and Menzies, before losing 4-8 to Price in the final. More recently he was a semi-finalist in PC12 a couple of weeks ago. He lacks the consistency to think a title is due, but he is feeling much more confident and might surprise a few people. He was runner up here in 2019.

Niko Springer 

Keeps on improving and his seasonal average is up to 94.99 which is 6.5 points up on his 2024 average. He hasn’t really had a good run on the Euro Tour yet, but he has played in eight events and he is getting more experience. In his last four matches in the Euro Tour he has averaged 95.70, 95.34, 98.90 and 101.73 and he only got one win. With a bit of luck and a decent draw, he could have a better run.

William O’Connor 

Playing the best darts of his career but still underachieving. In the qualifier for this, O’Connor averaged 98.85, 107.36 and 107.20. He has reached two Euro Tour finals, one in 2018, losing 2-8 to MVG, and the second was in 2022, which lost 2-8 to Joe Cullen. He has only played in eight Euro Tour events since then and won just four matches, but if he can just keep his chin up and his head screwed on, his A-game can do some damage. Sadly, he just gives up too easily.

The 2025 Austrian Darts Open Draw

First Quarter 

Two time Austrian Darts Open winner, Jonny Clayton, is the top seed. He was dreadful last weekend after coming into that event in top form. If I was being generous, I would say he lost to a very hostile German crowd, and he won’t have that problem this weekend. He has to be on the short list. He is joined by the out of form Daryl Gurney, the out of form Danny Noppert and the very hot Josh rock as the seeds.

Of the unseeded players entering in the first round, Jermaine Wattimena will be tough for Clayton in round two. He has a 10-8 H2H record with The Machine Gun. Niko Springer faces fellow German Lukas Wenig in the first round, with the winner playing Danny Noppert. That could be a tough one for Noppert and certainly a possible opening for Springer. Josh Rock will face the winner of the Mansell vs. Ratajski match, and he has very good records against both those players.

It looks like Rock and Clayton are the most likely to be in the running for a semi-final slot.

Second Quarter 

Aspinall, Schindler, Dobey and De Decker are the four seeds. Aspinall tops the European Championship OOM, but is he fully fit? Schindler is eighth on the OOM and he is another that has become used to having good runs on the Euro Tour.

Chris Dobey is one of the three PL players to make the trip this weekend. He didn’t play last weekend and his long losing run on the European tour is off putting. Mike de Decker is the final seed in the quarter, and while he is playing some good stuff, and has been a runner up in 2025, he hasn’t struck me as someone who is near his best form, certainly not consistently.

Of the unseeded players, Pietreczko is starting to play well and he looks likely to face Dobey. William O’Connor plays Wessel Nijman with the winner playing Mike de Decker.

It is a tough quarter to call. A lot depends on now fit Aspinall is. He is the form player, but he may not even turn up. If he doesn’t, Doets or Van Peer gets straight through to the third round. Schindler is always dangerous, but does he need a home crowd? There are likely to be a fair few Germans hare, so he should be far from friendless.

Third Quarter 

Stephen Bunting is another PL player who is making the trip over to Austria. He has won a Euro Tour title already this season, so he is keen to play in more. He is in good form, and so long as he isn’t a bit jaded, he has a great chance to go deep again. He has been a semi-finalist here for two of the last three years. His biggest problem is that he is likely to face another in form player in the third round, the ET4 runner up, Gian van Veen.

This could be Van Veen’s big chance. Well, he will face Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second round, and should he win that, Bunting in the third. Of course he can win both, but it is another tough draw. He is 0-3 vs. Dirk and 4-5 vs. Bunting.

Peter Wright and Ross Smith are the other two seeds. Wright is heading in the right direction, but going all the way looks bit fanciful. Ross Smith has already reached a semi-final and two quarter finals in 2025. He was a semi-finalist here last year and he has to be considered.

Fourth Quarter 

This one looks wide open. The seeds are all dodgy. Damon Heta is a recent Players Championship winner, but he didn’t really impress. His Euro Tour form is poor, winning just two matches in 2025. Heta is a Euro Tour winner and while this draw is as good as he could get, he will play either Barney or Sedlacek, so another banana skin second round match awaits for him.

Joe Cullen is in poor form, given his high standards. Dave Chisnall doesn’t look likely do go deep and will face either Madars Razma or Ian White in the second round. Again, not an easy opener. Ryan Searle is not in good form and he is likely to face Ryan Joyce. I would have to fancy Joyce in that match.

Ryan Joyce has already made a Euro Tour final in 2025, was a quarter finalist in ET4 on Monday, and he may have landed on his feet with this draw.

2025 Austrian Darts Open Selections

With so many of the big names missing this weekend there is the chance for some of the supporting cast to be the headlining act come Sunday. The lack of big names doesn’t make selecting potential winners any easier, and the odds are lower than usual. I will have a go with four selections, one from each quarter, and hope we can go one or two steps further than in the last two events.

Josh Rock 0.5 point e/w to win the 2025 Austrian Darts Open @ 11.00 with Boylesports

Martin Schindler 0.5 point e/w to win the 2025 Austrian Darts Open @ 26.00 generally available

Ross Smith 0.5 point e/w to win the 2025 Austrian Darts Open @ 17.00 Ladbrokes, Betfred

Ryan Joyce 0.5 point e/w to win the 2025 Austrian Darts Open @ 41.00 with Boylesports, Betfair, BET365

-JamesPunt