2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Preview – JP
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Preview
Check out James Punt’s 2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday afternoon preview below.
Day 2 Reflections
A mixed bag of results on day 2 but we are ahead by 1.81 points overall and we have all three outright selections still alive as we head into the final day. With Gerwyn Price out, Wessel Nijman is the new 6.00 favourite, but he is going to have to up his game on what we saw yesterday.
Rob Cross vs. Kevin Doets
Our first outright selection of the day, Rob Cross, faces another difficult match. He beat the number 1 seed, Gian van Veen, 6-3 yesterday and played well. Cross has won nine of his last ten matches and is in top form.
Doets is a very good player and we have backed him a few times this season, including when he was runner up in the Austrian Darts Open. Doets beat Damon Heta 6-2 yesterday and has won seven of his last ten matches. He isn’t playing with the same kind of consistency as Cross, but he is likely to be hard to beat.
Their H2H record is 3-3 and Doets has won their last two, including a 7-3 win in said Austrian Darts Open semi-final.
Doets is the 1.85 favourite, Cross 2.00. Hopefully Cross can keep his winning run going, but it is too close to call for me. No bet.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: No Bet
Ryan Searle vs. Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall came out of hibernation yesterday and beat Jim Long 6-4. It was a match low on quality and Aspinall was complaining about the continuing struggles with his throwing action. He certainly made hard work of beating a player averaging 87.
Searle is in great form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He beat Kim Huybrechts 6-3 yesterday in a poor match. It was a day notable for low scoring.
Their H2H record is 6-5 to Aspinall and he is the 1.80 favourite, with Searle 2.10. I am surprised. Aspinall hasn’t played a lot of darts in the last two months and was poor yesterday, while Searle has made two finals in recent weeks.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: 1 point Ryan Searle to win @ 2.10 generally available
Cameron Menzies vs. Tom Sykes
Sykes is the new darling of the commentators! The Ginger Littler. Nothing can stop him.
Sykes beat Martin Schindler 6-5 in round two and it was a battling performance, rather than the heavy scoring display of round 1. Sykes has won six of his last ten matches and he may be being a little over-hyped by some.
Menzies was genuinely impressive when beating Gerwyn Price 6-2 last night. It was a 106.00 average and he hit seven 180s for good measure. Menzies has won five of his last ten matches and that sums him up. Capable of great performances but not so good at stringing them together.
He did reach the semi-final of the International Darts Open last month and has won a couple of Players Championship titles. He is mentally unstable and that makes it hard for him, but he is trying therapy to improve things and is making progress.
I am surprised that the market isn’t quite going with the commentators’ hype and making Sykes the odds on favourite, but Menzies makes enough appeal at 1.73.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: 1 point Cameron Menzies to win @ with Betfred, BET365, Livescorebet
Danny Noppert vs. Jermaine Wattimena
Noppert was very lucky to have played a version of Madars Razma who just couldn’t hit his doubles yesterday. Noppert averaged 81.45 and won 6-2. It was absolute rubbish from both players. It was one of the worst performances I have seen from Noppert, so he can only be better today. Noppert has won six of his last ten matches and has been inconsistent.
Wattimena beat Chisnall 6-3 in a solid if unspectacular performance. The Machine Gun has won five of his last ten matches and is playing with very little consistency.
Their H2H record is 6-5 to Wattimena. Two players who are impossible to call, with a very close H2H record. An easy no bet.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: No Bet
Michael van Gerwen vs. Andrew Gilding
MVG bullied Ratajski into defeat yesterday. He was giving it beast mode, but underneath the bluster, he needed a deciding leg against a player averaging 86.18. It was almost sad. MVG has won seven of his last ten matches and is feeling happier about things, but he remains very inconsistent.
Gilding has also won seven of his last ten matches and saw off in the in-form Luke Woodhouse 6-4 yesterday. He should have won by a bigger margin but after a dreadful start, Woodhouse woke up and started to play. Gilding is playing quite well, not his best but pretty good.
Their H2H record is 8-2 to MVG, but it was MVG who Gilding beat to win the 2023 UK Open final, so MVG can’t give it large to Captain Weird.
They have played seven best of eleven leg matches and five have been over 9.5 legs. MVG is the 1.45 favourite, Gilding 3.00. I am tempted by anyone at 3.00 against MVG these days, but I will stick with an overs bet.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 2.10 with Betfair
Chris Dobey vs. Ross Smith
The second of our outright selections, Ross Smith, is in great form, winning 12 of his last 14 matches. He wasn’t great in his 6-5 win over Joe Cullen in round 2, but it was a win.
Chris Dobey beat Tyler Thorpe 6-4 in a very ordinary match. Both players were OK, but it was just a 90.75 average from Dobey and he is now up against a Major winner, and Euro Tour winner (something you can’t say about Dobey), and not a player playing his third Euro Tour match.
Dobey has won seven of his last ten matches, but he has lost six of his last ten on the Euro Tour. Dobey is 8-6 vs. Smith, but Smith won their only match in 2026 8-2 in the final of PC5 back in February.
Dobey is the 1.80 favourite, Smith 2.10. If we were not already invested in Smith, I would likely take the 2.10, but I will stick with the outright bet.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: No Bet
Ryan Joyce vs. Mike de Decker
Players can tinker with their equipment and often with little effect. However, every now and then, a player can make a change that makes a noticeable difference. Bunting moving to a heavier dart for example.
De Decker has been looking for something to get his game back on track and before the World Cup, he put in shorter points and played better. He used the same ones yesterday and averaged 107.14, his best performance since last October. The trick will be doing it more consistently, but he looked very happy yesterday and he hasn’t been happy for some time now.
Joyce beat Jonny Clayton 6-5 last night and it was a good performance. He is feeling confident, having reached the final of the Baltic Sea Darts Open a few weeks ago. I can’t say that he is playing his best stuff, or is playing with any great consistency, however.
Their H2H record is 4-3 to Joyce and he beat De Decker 6-3 in the Austrian Darts Open seven weeks ago, but that was De Decker was down in the dumps.
De Decker is the 1.80 favourite and that is good enough for me.
2026 Slovak Darts Open Sunday Tip: 1 point Mike de Decker to win @ 1.80 with Betfred, SpreadEx
Stephen Bunting vs. Wessel Nijman
Bunting has won eight of his last ten matches and he was right up against it last night, beating Zonneveld 6-5. The Dutchman was on his A game, averaging 98.53, and it is likely Bunting will be facing more of the same this afternoon.
Nijman beat Benjamin Pratnemer 6-2 yesterday, but that flattered the Dutchman. He really should have been in trouble, but Pratnemer was another player who couldn’t hit a double. Nijman has won nine of his last ten matches but silly as it sounds, he isn’t quite at his best.
Their H2H record is 4-4 and they have very similar games and stats. Nijman won their last match 6-3 in the European Darts Grand Prix in April. That was a dreadful match, Nijman won with an 87 average, Bunting missing thirteen doubles.
Nijman is the 1.67 favourite, Bunting 2.30. The odds look about right, but hopefully Bunting can make it through. No bet.
