The 2026 PDC European Tour continues this weekend. Following a historic maiden Poland Darts Open last month, the circuit’s travelling spectacle heads to German soil for the second event of the season.
Of the newly expanded fifteen tournaments scheduled across the year, Göttingen in the Lower Saxony region hosts Germany’s curtain raiser and the first of six visits to the country before the tour concludes its German itinerary with a July stop in Leverkusen.
Two-time PDC major winner Nathan Aspinall is the defending champion, having finally broken his European Tour duck twelve months ago with a memorable triumph on the banks of the River Leine.
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However, The Asp has opted to give this particular trip a miss, leaving the door open for another name to etch itself into the tournament’s honour roll.That absence leaves Michael van Gerwen as the only player in the field who has previously lifted the European Darts Trophy.
The Dutch colossus last achieved the feat immediately before Aspinall, completing a hat trick of consecutive triumphs. The Green Machine will now patiently await the outcome of the opening round clash between Niels Zonneveld and Keane Barry to determine his opponent for Saturday evening.
A handful of other high-profile names are also absent from the Göttingen line up. Luke Littler, unsurprisingly, is not in attendance, with the teenage world champion historically tending to avoid German events whenever possible. James Wade, fresh from his runner up finish to Littler at the recent UK Open, has also chosen to skip the event.
Meanwhile Gary Anderson, who produced a couple of vintage displays in Minehead before eventually becoming another Nuke victim, will likewise not be making the journey.
Those absences have allowed the next four cabs on the main PDC Order of Merit rank to be elevated into the seeded positions, meaning Damon Heta, Jermaine Wattimena, Rob Cross and Mike De Decker will begin their campaigns on Saturday.
Fresh from his recent excursion to the Cheltenham Festival, Luke Humphries returns to business as he begins his pursuit of a ninth European Tour title. Cool Hand will face either Willie O’Connor or Mensur Suljović, who contest their opening round encounter on Friday evening.
For Dutch number one Gian van Veen, the quest continues for that elusive maiden continental tour crown although ironically, he is currently in possession of the daddy of them all – the European Championship. The Giant will await either Krzysztof Ratajski, whose recent form has been impressively consistent, or former Lakeside champion Shane McGuirk, who meet in Friday afternoon’s session.Welsh stars Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have both been handed potentially awkward openers.
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Price could meet Kevin Doets if the Dutchman navigates past Nordic and Baltic qualifier Jonas Masalin of Finland. Clayton, meanwhile, may face Joe Cullen should The Rockstar successfully negotiate his opening match against the East European representative, Poland’s Wojciech Brulinski.
Stephen Bunting knows his opponent will be from the very shores he stands, though he must wait until after the German derby between Nico Springer and Kai Gotthardt to discover which of the pair it will be. And Josh Rock could also face a home nation opponent should Paul Krohne progress, though Cameron Menzies will have something to say about that when the pair clash on Friday.
As ever, the European Tour promises a weekend brimming with compelling match ups and tantalising potential encounters. One thing is guaranteed in Göttingen that proved rather less certain in Minehead last weekend: we will have a different champion to that of twelve months ago.
EUROPEAN DARTS TROPHY (ET2)
Göttingen, Germany (13-15 March)
Friday Afternoon Session
Andrew Gilding v Darius Labanauskas
Kevin Doets v Jonas Masalin
Ricky Evans v Florian Preis
Niels Zonneveld v Keane Barry
Cameron Menzies v Paul Krohne
Richard Veenstra v Florian Hempel
Krzysztof Ratajski v Shane McGuirk
Ryan Joyce v Lukas Wenig
Friday Evening Session
Dave Chisnall v Jeffrey De Zwaan
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Mario Vandenbogaerde
Luke Woodhouse v Dragutin Horvat
Daryl Gurney v Sebastian Bialecki
Joe Cullen v Wojciech Brulinski
Niko Springer v Kai Gotthardt
William O’Connor v Mensur Suljović
Wessel Nijman v Cristo Reyes
Saturday Afternoon Session
Jermaine Wattimena v Joyce/Wenig
Damon Heta v Gilding/Labanauskas
Danny Noppert v Evans/Preis
Ross Smith v Chisnall/De Zwaan
Rob Cross v van Duijvenbode/Vandenbogaerde
Mike De Decker v Nijman/Reyes
Chris Dobey v Woodhouse/Horvat
Ryan Searle v Gurney/Bialecki
Saturday Evening Session
Josh Rock v Menzies/Krohne
Gerwyn Price v Cullen/Brulinski
Martin Schindler v Veenstra/Hempel
Michael van Gerwen v Zonneveld/Barry
Luke Humphries v O’Connor/Suljović
Gian van Veen v Ratajski/McGuirk
Stephen Bunting v Springer/Gotthardt
Jonny Clayton v Doets/Masalin
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC Europe
