2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Preview & Tips – JP
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Preview
A similar story last night with one winner but we were just one 180 and one Gotthardt leg away from a full house. Small margins. James Punt’s 2026 European Darts Trophy R2 preview and tips are below.
Round 1 Reflections
The opening skirmishes in round one left us -2.15 points down, but all three of our outright selections won. There was a hugely impressive performance from Kevin Doets who set a tournament record 117.12 in his 6-0 win over Jonas Masalin. Hopefully he can follow that up with a decent performance, but mental let down is a worry.
The big boys enter the draw today and we have some interesting match ups.
Jermaine Wattimena vs. Lukas Wenig
Wenig beat last year’s runner up Ryan Joyce 6-3 in what was very poor match. He averaged just 80.33, which tells you everything. He now gets to play Wattimena, who is not in great form.
The mercurial Dutchman has lost five of his last ten matches, but one of his wins was over Lukas Wenig. That was a 6-2 win in PC4 a month ago. Wattimena is 3-1 with Wenig and he is the 1.62 favourite. He can’t be backed at those odds and this is a no bet for me.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: No bet
Damon Heta vs. Darius Labanauskas
Lucky D was a winner for us yesterday, beating Andrew Gilding 6-3. It was a very good game and Labanauskas averaged 98.16. He has that sort of game in him, but can he reproduce something similar today? He has won just four of his last ten matches and consistency is not his forte.
Damon Heta is a fading force these days. I think it is the Village People tash. He too has lost six of his last ten matches and while he has been playing better than Labanauskas, his confidence is in the bin. He has perfected the art of scoring well and losing.
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Labanauskas and the default position on Heta these days is to oppose him.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: 1 point Darius Labanauskas to win @ 2.75 generally available
Danny Noppert vs. Ricky Evans
Rapid had a meaningless 6-0 win over a local qualifier last night but it was no sort of form guide. Evans is a player who can be backed when he is in form, but losing five of his last ten matches isn’t being in good form.
Noppert is just too steady for a spluttering Evans. The Freeze has won seven of his last ten and he does his losing in the latter stages of tournaments. He has lost four quarter finals already in 2026, which is typical Noppert.
Noppert is the 1.36 favourite. He is only 5-4 vs. Evans, but he has won their last three. No bet.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: No Bet
Ross Smith vs. Dave Chisnall
Chisnall somehow manged to beat Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5, but it would be more accurate to say that De Zwaan blew it BIG time. The once magnificent Dutchman was 5-0 up and cruising, but he started missing doubles and it all went a bit Dog and Duck. Chisnall has won six of his last ten matches and he is still able to beat the very average players, like De Zwaan. Ross Smith is very flaky, but he is not average.
Smudger has won twelve of his last fourteen matches, but he went all Smudgy in an 8-10 loss to Daryl Gurney at the UK open, just when it looked like he was set for a good run. He is a great talent, but unreliable.
Their H2H record is 10-6 to Smith and he has won their last seven in a row, all pretty comprehensively.
Smith is the 1.40 favourite but I will have a good bet on the handicap.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: 2 points Ross Smith to win -1.5 legs @ 1.75 with Boylesports
Rob Cross vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dirk is one of our outright selections but he made a real meal out of beating Mario Vandenbogaerde last night. It was a 6-2 win, but it seemed closer. It was played at a pace that Dirk didn’t like and he very nearly boiled over.
Cross is a very hard player to work out. He loses more matches than he should, but he is in decent form right now, winning six of his last ten. He lacks the consistency that he had in his prime and hopefully he has an off day.
Their H2H record is 4-3 to Dirk, but they have only played twice in the last three years, Dirk winning both. However, both players have regressed a bit in the last couple of seasons.
Van Duijvenbode is the marginal 1.91 favourite, Cross 2.10. I am nearly tempted by the odds for Cross, but happy to sit this one out.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: No Bet
Mike de Decker vs. Wessel Nijman
Nijman only just beat Reyes in the first round. It was a 6-5 score line and not a great match quality wise. It was a poor display on the doubles from Nijman, for the second match on the bounce. He will need to sort that out before it becomes a thing. He has won seven of his last ten matches and he started ET1 with a poor performance in round 1, before averaging 103.46 in a 6-2 win over Gart Anderson.
Mike de Decker has lost five of his last ten matches and has hit three ton plus averages, but also three sub 90s, very sub.
Their H2H record is 4-4 but Nijman won both of their matches last year. Nijman is the 1.45 favourite but I will take him on the handicap, which he covered in both matches last year.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: 1 point Nijman to win -1.5 legs @ 1.75 with Boylesports
Chris Dobey vs. Luke Woodhouse
Dodgy Dobey has won seven of his last ten matches and he even had a run to the semi-final of ET1. A rare display of good darts on a stage. He is playing very well but can’t win titles on stage. He can win matches and he is the 1.62 favourite here.
Woodhouse kicked off with a 6-0 win over a hopeless Dragutin Horvat. Woody has won five of his last ten matches and played some good stuff and some not so good.
Their H2H record is 6-3 to Dobey and he has won six of their last seven, three of them 6-3.
2026 European Darts Trophy R2 Tip: 0.5 point Dobey to win 6-3 @ 6.25 with Livescorebet
Daryl Gurney vs. Ryan Searle
It was a 6-4 win for Gurney over Bialecki. It was a poor match and Gurney is going to have to find his A game for this one.
Searle is not a Euro Tour specialist and he is not in great form, losing five of his last ten matches. Searle lost his opening match in the Poland Darts Open.
Their H2H record is 10-3 to Searle and they played two second round matches on the Euro Tour last year and Searle won both, 6-5 and 6-4. Something similar?
