2026 Austrian Darts Open Betting Preview

We are back in action on the Euro Tour this weekend. Check out James Punt’s 2026 Austrian Darts Open Betting Preview below.

2026 Austrian Darts Open

The Stadthalle, Graz, Austria is the new venue for the sixth Euro Tour event of the year. The Austrian Darts Open was the very first European Darts tournament back in 2012. It was won by Justin Pipe, who beat James Wade in the final. James Wade is back again this weekend but we have a few big names absent.

There is no Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, nor two time winner, Jonny Clayton. That leaves us with the weakest entry list of any Euro Tour event so far this year, but it does give more chances for the midranking players to pick up good ranking money.

Of the five events played in 2026, four have been won by a top 8 ranked seed, and all the runners up in the top 12 twelve seeds. The only non-seed to make a final, and win, was Wessel Nijman, who won ET2, the European Darts Trophy in March.

With so many of the top players giving this weekend a miss, it means players like Nijman, Woodhouse, Gurney and Cross get seeded status and head straight into the second round.

Past winners present this weekend are Michael van Gerwen (x4) and Martin Schindler, who is the defending champion.

2026 Austrian Darts Open: The Seeds

1 Gian van Veen 

Two ton plus averages in Night 13 of the PL may have been early signs of a return to form for Van Veen. His Euro Tour record in 2026 is not great. He was runner up to Littler in ET1, but since then he has played just four matches and lost three, but that has reflected his general loss of form.

2 Michael van Gerwen 

Keeping himself busy, playing in this week’s Players Championship events, with mixed results, much in line with his form of the last year or so. MVG went out at the third-round stage on both days, but he hit three consecutive ton plus averages on Tuesday. Two losses, to Ratajski and Suljovic, doesn’t inspire much confidence.

This is the quandary when considering MVG. He is playing well but loses matches that would have been meat and drink to him a few years ago.

He was the most consistent player on the planet at his peak, but he has lost that ability. He has played in four Euro Tour events and made a semi-final, and a quarter final last time out, but his scoring has got progressively worse.

3 James Wade 

Runner up in the very first Euro Tour event in Austria in 2012, but he hasn’t done a lot since, and he has only ever won two Euro Tour titles, the last back in 2016, and his last final was in 2018.

Wade is playing OK, but just lacking a bit of consistency. He has won six of his last ten matches and played pretty well earlier this week, but much like MVG, Wade struggles to convert those good performances into as many wins as he used to.

On this year Euro Tour Wade has won just one match from four events played, but his last two matches did see ton plus averages. I can’t be having him as an outright selection given his lack of success over a long period of time.

4 Josh Rock 

Runner up in 2023 and a semi-finalist in 2025, Rock has some positive associations with his trips to Austria. His 2026 form has been marked by a disappointing PL campaign. His recent form has been poor, winning just three of his last ten matches (before Thursday’s PL), but he didn’t play in this week’s Players Championships.

While Rock had back to back Euro Tour quarter finals in ET1 & ET2, since then he has played five matches and lost three.

5 Danny Noppert 

With Euro Tour form figures of 2/3/QF/RU/QF, Noppert has to be considered for another good run. However, the fact that he has never won a Euro Tour event from 57 played does tell its own story. Maybe he is due one, and in a lower strength field, this could be a good chance. But it is a big leap of faith, and his odds are rarely good value.

Noppert has won seven of his last ten matches and has played some great stuff, and some ordinary darts. He reached the semi-final of PC14 on Tuesday and got hammered 2-7 by Nijman. His A game is right up there, but his B game is not the best and his consistency has been lacking. Another good run before coming up short again?

6 Ryan Searle 

Having looked to be on the verge of winning his first Euro Tour title in 2024, Searle’s Euro Tour form has regressed. Just two quarter finals in 2025 and in 2026 he has played in all five events so far, and won just two matches, not getting any further than the third round.

Searle missed a flight to Germany for this week’s Players Championship events and pulled out of day two. He has lost five of his last ten matches and remains hard to fancy.

7 Chris Dobey 

Another player in the Noppert/Searle bracket. A player whose ability suggests that he should have won one of these titles before, probably more than one. He made a final back in 2019, and five semi-finals in his last thirty played, but for a player who has won ten Players Championship titles, that is a poor return.

Dobey continues to win a lot of matches on the floor and is ranked 2nd in the Players Championship OOM, but in Europe in 2026, he has played in four events and reached one semi-final and won seven of his ten matches.

Hollywood warmed up for this by playing in the Players Championships earlier this week. He averaged 101 on Monday, reaching the quarter final and on Tuesday he lost in the second round. Dobey has won seven of his last ten matches, all on the floor.

8 Ross Smith 

Finally ended a run of 12 Euro Tour events in which he failed to get past the 3rd round by reaching the final of the European Darts Grand Prix three weeks ago. That was his first final since being runner up here last year. He was a semi-finalist in 2024.

A bit Like Noppert, Dobey and Searle, Smudger is a multiple Players Championship winner, with seven titles, but he has failed to win on the Euro Tour. Smith has made four finals since the start of the 2024 season. He lost in round one of PC14 on Tuesday and round three on Monday, meaning he has won six of his last ten matches.

9 Martin Schindler 

The defending champion remains in poor form. His seasonal win rate is 42% and his 12 month average is 93.20. He has occasional big performances, but he hits a lot of sub 90 averages.

Schindler did make the semi-final in the last Euro Tour event, and he showed some better form, but the consistency, on the whole, is just not there. He played in the Players Championships this week, reaching the third round on both occasions. He has won five of his last ten matches.

10 Jermaine Wattimena 

Something of a Euro Tour underperformer, having only reached six quarter finals as his best performances, and he hasn’t got past the third round in 2026. The Machine Gun was runner up in PC12 twelve days ago and he was at his best in PC13 on Monday, averaging 102.59 across four matches, losing to eventual winner Kevin Doets in the fourth round, despite averaging 107.83.

He didn’t back it up in PC14, going out in round two. A decent run would be no surprise, but he is likely to come up short at some point.

11 Mike de Decker 

Since being runner up in the 2015 Belgian Darts Open, De Decker has failed to get past the second round fourteen times from eighteen played and never got past the third round. He has lost six of his last ten matches and just doesn’t look likely to have any sort of run once again.

12 Damon Heta 

A quarter finalist here last year and Heta has made a semi-final in 2026 but failed to get beyond the second round in the other four. Heta has won five of his last five matches and is very inconsistent, but predictably so. On Tuesday, he hit a 110.78 average in one match and followed it by an 86.58. Not for me.

13 Wessel Nijman 

The best player on the Pro Tour right now, by a margin. He has won five of the first fourteen Players Championship events and been runner up in another. He won his fifth on Tuesday.

On this year’s Euro Tour he won the European Darts Trophy and was a semi-finalist last time out in the European Darts Grand Prix. His stage form has taken time to get to the to same standard has his floor game, but unlike Dobey, Noppert et al, he has won, and he is getting the hang of these events. Has to be the favourite this weekend.

Nijman has won fifteen of his last sixteen matches and in a weakened field, he is head and shoulders ahead of the rest in terms of form.

14 Luke Woodhouse 

Must be getting frustrated with his trips to Europe this season. He has played in four events and reached the third round just once. More recently Woodhouse made the final of PC13 on Monday, losing 5-8 to Kevin Doets. Woody has won seven of his last ten matches and I wouldn’t rule out a deep run, but there are more likely winners.

15 Rob Cross 

Played some nice stuff at this week’s Players Championship events, but not with any sort of consistency. He has only played in two Euro Tour events in 2026 and he is under pressure to win decent money now that he is sliding down the rankings.

Cross is outside of the provisional qualifying positions for the Matchplay, the Grand Prix and European Championships. There is still a way to go, but the clock is ticking, and the Tax man is waiting. Under pressure and lacking confidence, he could struggle again.

16 Daryl Gurney 

Still on the provisional qualifying lists for the majors, but not yet comfortable for the Grand Prix or European Championship. He has played in five Euro Tours this season and won three matches. He gets seeded status this weekend and even one win would win him a very handy £5k.

Superchin has lost five of his last ten matches, didn’t play earlier this week and his form is all over the place. He really needs some luck with draw as he is due to face Van Veen in the third round, should he win his opening match.

2026 Austrian Darts Open: Best of the Rest

Kevin Doets 

The latest player to win his first senior PDC title. Having had back to back Players Championships semi-finals last week, Doets won PC13 on Monday. Doets has steadily been getting better and more consistent and it was all but inevitable that he won a title sooner than later.

He has played three Euro Tour events in 2026 and had a semi-final appearance. His win rate in 2026 is a very strong 75% and he has won eight of his last ten matches. Has to be on the short list.

Neils Zonneveld 

His form has dropped off since he reached back-to-back Euro Tour semi-finals in March, but with his neighbour having won his first title this week, Zonneveld may get some inspiration by association. Zonneveld has lost six of his last ten matches and that is poor form, but I will be keeping an eye on him for the next few weeks.

Krzysztof Ratajski 

A semi-finalist in the last two Euro Tour events, and a quarter finalist in PC 14 on Tuesday. The Polish Eagle is playing with a good degree of consistency and he knows how to win these events, but his last was back in 2023. A good run is possible.

Andrew Gilding 

Playing well on the floor and has had a Euro Tour quarter final in 2026. Probably lacks the consistency to go very deep, but he could win a few matches. Averaged 118 in a 6-0 win over Joe Cullen on Monday, on his way to another quarter final.

2026 Austrian Darts Open: The Draw

First Quarter 

Van Veen, Gurney, Ross Smith and Schindler are the seeds. Is Van Veen coming back  into form? Ross Smith will have been encouraged to have made the last Euro Tour final and he was runner up here last year. Gurney and Schindler are not in good form.

Of the unseeded players we have Dirk van Duijvenbode, who plays Razma for the right to play Van Veen in round 2. Dirk has been playing some good stuff but doesn’t strike me as mentally able to win a title. He is 4-1 against Van Veen but did lose their last match 0-6 on the Euro Tour last year.

Michael Smith played some lovely darts on Tuesday, but only for about 5 minutes. His head is not in a good place. Zonneveld and Hurrell face off to see who plays Ross Smith. I would go for Ross Smith in this quarter. He has gone well in Austria and was runner up three weeks ago.

Second Quarter 

Rock, Nijman, Noppert and Heta are the seeds. In The bottom half, Noppert looks likely to make the quarter finals. In the top half, Rock and Nijman should be locking horns for the seventh time, with their H2H record 3-3. Nijman won their only match in 2026, 6-2 in the quarter final of ET2. Given their current form, Nijman has to get the nod to make the semi-finals.

The unseeded players in this quarter make no appeal. Christo Reyes is playing some good darts, but is very inconsistent, and this quarter looks like going to a seed. And that seed is Nijman.

Third Quarter 

Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Chris Dobey and Jermaine Wattimena are the four seeds and all have some sort of claim for winning the quarter. Cross looks the weakest link, but none strike me has a potential tournament winner. All have shown some good form, but ultimately all are coming up short.

There are a few unseeded players that could be disrupters. Ratajski got his first ever win over MVG on Monday, and reached the quarter final on Tuesday. He faces a local qualifier in round 1, and then gets another crack at MVG in round 2.

William O’Connor should make round 2, where he would face Rob Cross. The Magpie has played some great darts in the last few weeks, and has won a few Euro Tour matches in 2026, which isn’t like him. He has won his last three matches vs. Cross, but he is too inconsistent to back outright.

Wattimena could have a good run, he has played well recently. He will likely face the very weird Andrew Gilding in round 2, and the clash of styles will not suit the Machine Gun, but he has beaten him a few times.

Fourth Quarter

This looks up for grabs. James Wade is the top seed. Luke Woodhouse, fresh from his PC13 final, is in decent form. Ryan Searle has been disappointing in Europe for some time now and Mike de Decker is lacking confidence.

Maybe a chance for Woodhouse to continue to make progress? He is drawn to play Wade in round 3, and Wade is 5-1 vs. Woody, so maybe it is Wade who can make the semi, but going all the way? Not for me.

Wade is very likely to face Cameron Menzies in round 2, and the Ayrshire Plumber beat Wade 6-0 in ET1, and has won seven of their last ten matches. He is not in great form, however.

The GOAT

Joe Cullen has been his usual unpredictable self of late. At time he has played like the GOAT, and other times like a goat. If he can beat Robert Owen, he would face the in-form Luke Woodhouse in round 2, and Woody has won their last three matches, all last year.

Kevin Doets had his breakthrough Players Championship win on Monday. He lost his first-round match on Tuesday, but that is understandable. He is the form player in the quarter, plays Chris Landman for the right to play Ryan Searle, who is opposable right now.

2026 Austrian Darts Open: Selections

With so many of the top players not playing this weekend, I think it is fair to say that those players further down the list of seeds come into play, and even some of the unseeded players. So far in 2026, only Wessel Nijman, has won, or even reached a final from outside of the top 12 seeds.

Many of the players in the top 12 seedings this week are not in great form. Those that are showing decent form such as Noppert, Dobey and Wattimena are far from Euro Tour specialists, so maybe we will see something of a surprise winner?

There is one player who is a must back this weekend. The form player on the pro tour and already a Euro Tour winner in 2026.

Wessel Nijman 1 point to win the 2026 Austrian Darts Open @ 7.00 with Betfred

Ross Smith 0.5 point e/w to win the 2026 Austrian Darts Open @ 21.00 with Ladbrokes

Kevin Doets 0.5 point e/w to win the 2026 Austrian Darts Open @ 21.00 with Ladbrokes

Jermaine Wattimena 0.5 point e/w to win the 2026 Austrian Darts Open @ 34.00 generally available

There will be a first-round preview tomorrow, but due to holidays I will not be covering the rest of the weekends action.

-JamesPunt