Basel delivered drama, brilliance and upsets by the bucketload on a breathless Day Two of the Swiss Darts Trophy.
Ten seeds crashed out at the St. Jakobshalle as Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton produced performances that will live long in the memory, setting up a Finals Day that will crown a brand-new champion.
Newly crowned World Grand Prix winner Humphries was forced to dig deep in a high-octane clash with Kevin Doets. The world number one raced into a 3-0 lead with clinical 122 and 121 finishes, only to face a ferocious Dutch fightback.
Doets averaged a stunning 105.64, but Humphries refused to yield, closing out a breathless deciding leg while averaging almost 103 and converting 67% of his doubles.
“I was really pleased with that performance,” Humphries said afterwards. “I felt like I was the better player for most of the game, but Kevin was really strong at the end there, so I had to really work my socks off.”
European Champion Gian van Veen was even more ruthless. The Dutchman dismantled Niko Springer in under ten minutes, completing a whitewash with a hat-trick of ton-plus checkouts that included successive 107s and a majestic 164 on the bull.
“I finished really well,” Van Veen reflected. “There wasn’t much between us in the scoring department, but in the fifth leg Niko missed a couple of chances, I took mine and I think that was the story of the match.”
If Van Veen was clinical, Jonny Clayton was simply unstoppable. The Welshman tore into Maik Kuivenhoven with an average of 108.81, landing two bullseye finishes in a dominant display that announced his title credentials in emphatic style.
Clayton now faces Rob Cross for a place in the quarter-finals after the former world champion held off a mid-match surge from Luke Woodhouse to seal a hard-fought 6-4 win.
Elsewhere, the day belonged to the giant-killers. Reigning champion Stephen Bunting was clinically dispatched by Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf, while Martin Schindler was swept aside by Tom Bissell, who reaches Finals Day for the first time in his European Tour career.
Michael van Gerwen’s misery against Mensur Suljovic continued as the Austrian claimed a fourth successive victory over the Dutch superstar. Dirk van Duijvenbode made it five in a row against James Wade, ending the left-hander’s hopes of back-to-back European Tour titles, and now faces a resurgent Michael Smith.
Smith produced one of his finest performances of the year, converting consecutive 116, 124 and 144 checkouts on his way to a 6-4 success over Jermaine Wattimena while averaging just shy of 103. The victory keeps his European Championship qualification hopes very much alive.
Karel Sedlacek also remains in the Dortmund hunt after accounting for Wessel Nijman. He will face sixth seed Josh Rock, who edged Dave Chisnall in a gruelling last-leg decider.
Current European Tour rankings leader Ross Smith underlined his status with a 6-4 win over William O’Connor, despite the Irishman averaging 104 in defeat.
Damon Heta continued his strong European Tour form with a convincing 6-3 victory over Danny Noppert and now meets Cristo Reyes, who staged a dramatic comeback from 4-2 down to beat Ryan Searle.
Bradley Brooks punished Chris Dobey’s doubling struggles with a four-leg burst to set up a last-16 clash with De Graaf, while Krzysztof Ratajski opened proceedings with a comprehensive 6-2 win over Swiss number one Stefan Bellmont and will face top seed Humphries.
With former champions Bunting and Schindler both eliminated, a new name will lift the Swiss Darts Trophy on Sunday evening.
Finals Day promises more fireworks as the surviving contenders battle for European Tour glory in Basel.
Finals Day at the Swiss Darts Trophy will begin from the earlier time of 1200 CEST (1100 BST), before the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a blockbuster evening session, which gets underway from 1800 CEST (1700 BST).
Live coverage is being streamed on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with additional coverage available on CANAL+ SPORT 5 and via the CANAL+ streaming service in Poland.
Coverage will also be broadcast on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
2026 PDC Swiss Darts Trophy
Saturday October 10
Round Two
Afternoon Session
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Stefan Bellmont
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Rob Cross 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
Tom Bissell 6-4 Martin Schindler
Cristo Reyes 6-4 Ryan Searle
Ross Smith 6-4 William O’Connor
Bradley Brooks 6-4 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Evening Session
Josh Rock 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-5 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Humphries 6-5 Kevin Doets
Gian van Veen 6-0 Niko Springer
Damon Heta 6-3 Danny Noppert
Sunday October 11
Afternoon Session (1200 local time, 1100 BST)
Round Three
Josh Rock v Karel Sedlacek
Jonny Clayton v Rob Cross
Jeffrey de Graaf v Bradley Brooks
Gian van Veen v Tom Bissell
Mensur Suljovic v Ross Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Michael Smith
Damon Heta v Cristo Reyes
Luke Humphries v Krzysztof Ratajski
Evening Session (1800 local time, 1700 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
Images: Sebastian Doppstadt/PDC Europe
