2025 Dutch Darts Championship Preview – JP
2025 Dutch Darts Championship Preview
We are back on the Euro Tour this weekend and James Punt is hoping to continue his good form on the ET. Check out his 2025 Dutch Darts Championship betting preview below.
2024 Dutch Darts Championship
The seventh European Tour event of the season is the 2025 Dutch Darts Championship, taking place in Rosmalen in the Netherlands. The Players Championships have been to Rosmalen twice already in 2025. PC2+3, and PC13+14.
PC3 was won by Chris Dobey, PC4 by Ryan Searle in the following day. PC13 was won by Damon Heta, PC14 by Jonny Clayton, who had been a semi-finalist the day before.
The Dutch Darts Championship has only been played three times. Ian White won in 2018, Michael Smith in 2022 and Josh Rock in 2024. Last year was the first time it was played in Rosmalen. Jonny Clayton was runner up, so it seems he likes the Autotron in Rosmalen.
Six Different Winners
The first six Euro Tour events have produced six different winners. Littler, Aspinall, Bunting, MVG, Schindler (who we backed) and Anderson. The Euro Tour OOM is headed by Martin Schindler, followed by Aspinall, Ross Smith, Anderson and MVG.
There are a number of players who have been knocking on the door of a Euro Tour win. Ross Smith has been a beaten finalist and beaten semi-finalist. Ryan Joyce is another runner up and beaten semi-finalist. Josh Rock, the defending champion, has lost two semi-finals.
The entry list is missing the name of Luke Littler. He doesn’t need to play in any more of these events and it seems he certainly won’t play in any German Euro Tour events. Gary Anderson is entered, but as he won the European Darts Grand Prix three weeks ago, I would be surprised if he turns up.
The final entry list does see that Gary Anderson has withdrawn, along with Rob Cross. That means that Ryan Searle and Michael Smith are moved up to seeded status and Martin Lukeman and Ricardo Pietreczko got a late call up to join at the first round stage.
The 2025 Dutch Darts Championship Seeds
1 Luke Humphries
I am a little surprised to see Humphries turn up for this. He has the big Premier League playoffs next Thursday and I am not sure that his mind will be fully on the job at hand this weekend. Cool Hand has won six of his last ten matches, all but two of them PL matches. On the Euro Tour he has won six of his ten matches, with a high finish of the semi-final of ET3 nearly two months ago.
His quarter of the draw is surprisingly tough. He will face the winner of the Plaisier vs. Menzies tie, and that will not be easy. The other seeds in his quarter are Gerwyn Price, Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith, Also entering at the first round stage are Gian van Veen and Ryan Joyce. Whoever comes through that quarter win have earned it.
2 Michael van Gerwen
Dumped out of the PL last night and it was no surprise in the end. MVG is not playing well, is low on confidence and hard to fancy. He has lost seven of his last ten matches, and his last six in a row. He has won eight of his last eleven Euro Tour matches and he won ET4 a month ago, but his whole demeanour is very negative right now.
3 Stephen Bunting
Finished bottom of the PL table and he has lost eight of his last ten matches. He can now press the reset button and put the PL behind him. Like MVG, Bunting won a Euro Tour title but that was seven weeks ago. Since then he has lost two second round matches, despite averaging over a ton in both.
This is the problem with the PL. You can get used to losing and nobody lost more than Bunting. He is playing well enough to contend for more Euro Tour wins, but it might a couple of weeks for him to get used to the post PL rhythm.
4 Jonny Clayton
The Ferret has enjoyed some success in his visits to Rosmalen. Runner up last year and he picked up PC14 here last month, as well as reaching the semi-final of PC13. Nobody has won more matches at the Autotron than Clayton. The downside for Ferret fans is that his Euro Tour form is dire in 2025. He has lost his opening match in the last five events.
5 Damon Heta
Another venue winner in 2025. That was six weeks ago and more recently, Heta has lost six of his last ten matches and only won four matches on the Euro Tour in 2025. He has become a very inconsistent player in 2025 and remains hard to fancy.
6 Chris Dobey
Another player that picked up a Players Championship title at this venue. That was PC3 back in February and he was in great form at the time. More recently he has lost six of his last ten matches, mostly in the PL, but his Euro Tour form is poor, winning just two matches from seven played. He is not really a Euro Tour kind of player.
Hollywood played well last night, averaging 109 when coming from behind to beat Gerwyn Price 6-5, but lost 2-6 to Luke Humphries in the semi-final. It is hard to knock his scoring form but his Euro Tour record cannot be overlooked. He is the kind of player who really should have been able to win a Euro Tour title by now, but his best is a runners up spot six years ago.
7 James Wade
A beaten semi-finalist in ET1, Wade has not been doing much of note since. Since losing that semi-final he has lost four from six on the Euro Tour. Overall he has lost five of his last ten matches and remains hard to back.
8 Gerwyn Price
Seems to have come off the boil a bit recently. He reached the quarter finals of ET1 & ET2 but since then he has won just two matches. Perhaps his form will pick up after the PL is over. He blew a 5-1 lead when losing 5-6 to Chris Dobey last night and that sort of sums his form up. He is not getting enough out of his game.
The Iceman has lost five of his last ten matches and on the Euro Tour, he has played eleven and won six. His best finish is two quarter final appearances, which is slim pickings for a player of his quality. He has a tough quarter this week and his mind might well be on next week’s PL play offs.
9 Dave Chisnall
Runner up in PC15 a couple of weeks ago and there were signs that he is getting back to something like his best. He was poor in the following day’s play, which is confusing, but at least this Euro Tour specialist can be considered as a possible contender this weekend.
10 Peter Wright
Has won five of his last ten matches. On the Euro Tour he has made three quarter finals and he can put in good performances, but can he string five of them together? There are better options.
11 Josh Rock
The defending champion and semi-finalist in two of the last three Euro Tour events. Rock reached the quarter final of PC4 here earlier in the year, so he has good positive mental associations with the venue.
Consistency is still a little bit lacking but he has been playing some great stuff in the last couple of months. He was a runner up in PC12, but did win PC10 last month. If he can keep his head screwed on and stop having these occasional weak matches, he should be winning one of these titles soon.
12 Danny Noppert
Showed some better form in the last Players Championship event a couple of weeks ago, reaching the semi-final of PC15, and he reached the quarter final the next day. Noppert has only won two Euro Tour matches in 2025 but at least he ended a seven match losing streak. Maybe he can have a better run this weekend. However he is not a Euro Tour specialist, having never won a title and his last final was back in 2022.
13 Ross Smith
Has been knocking on the door of a Euro Tour win for the last year or two. He is a three time runner up, the last time in ET4 a few weeks ago. We backed him e/w for that one, but luckily also backed Schindler to win it. Which he did.
Smudger’s recent form is excellent, winning PC16 a couple of weeks ago. He won his last three matches in the event 6-0, 7-0 and 8-0. He only lost ten legs across his seven matches. Smith has won eleven of his last twelve matches and he has to be on the short list for the weekend.
14 Martin Schindler
Winner of ET5 and a three time Euro Tour winner in the last thirteen months. Schindler was a semi-finalist here last year but while he has won seven of his last ten matches, his scoring has dipped and there have been four sub 90 averages in his last ten.
15 Ryan Searle
Elevated to seeded status, which is a bit of an issue for him. Searle might well be reverting to type. Win a Players Championship title early in the season and win nothing else for the rest of it.
Searle has won five of his last ten matches, but he has won just two matches on the Euro Tour in 2025. He made great strides on the Euro Tour in 2024 and set a target of winning one of these in 2025. It is not going to plan.
16 Michael Smith
Won this event in 2022, but in a different arena. Smith is getting a bit desperate for ranking money. He is outside the entry list for the Matchplay as it stands, and only just inside the Grand Prix qualifiers. He needs to get more ranking prize money to ensure his place in both.
Smith was very emotional when he beat Daniel Klose in ET6. It was a very narrow margin victory, but he was just so relieved to get a win. He knows that if he fails to qualify for any of the big majors, that his ranking is going to suffer. He is trying to salvage his career as a top flight darts professional and that means he is under a lot of pressure.
Best of the Unseeded Players
Gian van Veen
Has won seven of his last ten matches but his consistency leaves something to be desired. He hasn’t been playing as well as he was when runner up in PC4 a month ago.
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Putting in many great performances recently. He is scoring well and playing with good consistency. I remain unconvinced about his ability to play his best at the business end of events, but he is playing well enough to give himself the chance to get one of these won. He was a semi-finalist in ET6 and was easily beaten by Gary Anderson.
Andrew Gilding
A surprise runner up in ET6. He was not in great form going into the event and while he had a couple of outstanding performances in the tournament, he got away with a couple of not so good ones. Still hard to fancy.
Luke Woodhouse
A semi-finalist in ET6 and followed that up with a semi-final in PC16. Woodhouse may not have the fire power of some of the players but he is having a good season and you can’t rule out another decent run.
The 2025 Dutch Darts Championship Draw
First Quarter
The toughest of the four quarters. Humphries, Price, Chisnall, Michael Smith, Van Veen, Ryan Joyce and Cameron Menzies are all top class players and capable of having a good run. However, I don’t actually fancy any of them to win.
Humphries and Price have Thursday on their minds and while those listed above are capable of a good run, they have not been on fire recently. Joyce is a player whose top form comes and goes, and he might have just gone off the boil recently.
Chisnall showed some better form on the floor recently, reaching the final of PC15, and if he is back, then he might be the call at 41.00. He has won eight Euro Tour titles and he can get the job done if his uptick in form was not just a flash in the pan. I suspect he will come up short, but his odds are better than expected.
2025 Dutch Darts Championship Tip: 0.5 point e/w Dave Chisnall to win @ 41.00 with Ladbrokes
Second Quarter
This is an easier quarter from which to find a selection. Ross Smith has been knocking on the door of his first Euro Tour title. Twice a runner up in 2024 and runner up again in the Austrian Darts Open last month. Since then he won PC16 ten days ago, winning twenty one legs in a row from quarter final to final.
Jonny Clayton has positive mental associations with this venue having won PC14 here a few weeks ago and being runner up in this event last year. However, his Euro Tour form in 2025 sees him losing his last five matches.
2025 Dutch Darts Championship Tip: 0.5 point e/w Ross Smith to win @ 17.00 generally available
Third Quarter
The four seeds in this quarter are easily opposed. MVG, Wright, Wade and Searle are in questionable form. Of the unseeded players one name stands out. Dirk van Duijvenbode. I have said time and time again that I am not sure if he has the mental strength to win stage titles. He has won five floor titles, but never on stage. It is in his head and he lets himself get very tense at the business end. He could be a good value loser, but he is the form player in the quarter and his odds are surprisingly good.
2025 Dutch Darts Championship Tip: 0.5 point e/w Dirk van Duijvenbode to win @ 29.00 with Boylesports
Fourth Quarter
Another competitive group. Stephen Bunting is now free from PL duties and I expect his form to improve as a result, but so soon after finishing last on Thursday night? Martin Schindler is a Euro Tour specialist and must be respected, but his recent form is not great. Chris Dobey is in the same boat as Bunting and Dobey is the opposite of a Euro Tour specialist.
Josh Rock is the defending champion and while he does struggle to get the ball over the line as often as he should, he is playing good darts. He has lost his last two matches, and both to Schindler, so having him in the same quarter is not ideal, but he should be able to beat the German if they meet again.
