The King To Make European Darts Return in 2026

European Tour qualification took centre stage today in Leicester following the latest PDC Players Championship darts double-header.

All Tour Card holders yet to secure their places in the forthcoming events in Bratislava and Leverkusen competed for the opportunity to be amongst the ten qualifiers advancing to next month’s Slovak Darts Open and July’s European Darts Open.

For several of those successfully navigating the qualifying process for what will be the inaugural Slovakian staging of a European Tour event in the competition’s thirteen-year history, the achievement also represents their first continental appearance of the 2026 season.

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Among the most notable names to progress was veteran Mervyn King, whose most recent European Tour appearance came in April 2024, when he suffered a first-round elimination at the International Darts Open in Riesa, Germany. One must look back to late 2022 to locate King’s most recent victory on European soil, a triumph over Danny Baggish at the Belgian Darts Open.

Tom Sykes, Darts Player, England, MODUS Super Series, 2025 — Tom Sykes in action – Modus Super Series Week 8, Series 12, 2025

For England’s Tom Sykes, qualification for Bratislava will represents his maiden appearance on the European Tour circuit. As for Canadian veteran Jim Long, a first in the current campaign. Both impressed overcoming Madars Razma and Max Hopp respectively to seal the deal.

Slovenia’s Benjamin Pratnemer will also make his seasonal debut on the European stage, qualifying for an event hosted in a nation whose name bears a curious phonetic resemblance to his homeland despite the considerable geographical separation between the two countries.

The Spartan, Cristo Reyes continues to enjoy an encouraging return campaign following his five-year absence from the professional circuit and will now feature in Bratislava after another accomplished qualification performance. Owen Bates, Tyler Thorpe, and Justin Hood also secured progression – who along with Sykes and King – accounting collectively for half of the successful qualifying field.

Completing the list of qualifiers were Ireland’s Keane Barry and Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf, both further reinforcing the increasingly cosmopolitan complexion of the modern European Tour landscape.

SLOVAK DARTS OPEN (ET9)

Bratislava, Slovakia (19-21 June)

Tour Card Qualifiers

MERVYN KING (ENG)
OWEN BATES (ENG)
BENJAMIN PRATNEMER (SVN)
JIM LONG (CAN)
KEANE BARRY (IRE)
TYLER THORPE (ENG)
JUSTIN HOOD (ENG)
TOM SYKES (ENG)
JEFFREY DE GRAAF (SWE)
CRISTO REYES (ESP)

In the second qualifier staged at the Mattioli Arena, an entirely different contingent of ten competitors secured qualification for July’s European Darts Open in Leverkusen.

Frequently, players who successfully navigate the opening qualifier of a double-header proceed to replicate that accomplishment in the subsequent event. On this occasion, however, such continuity proved absent. Instead, the second qualifying tournament produced a notably varied collection of successful participants, several of whom will now make their inaugural European Tour appearances of the 2026 campaign.

Among the most noteworthy qualifiers were Welshman Rhys Griffin and England’s Samuel Price, both of whom booked their places in Leverkusen with highly commendable performances. For Price in particular, qualification represents a moment of considerable professional significance, as it will constitute not merely his first European Tour appearance of the season, but the first of his entire career.

Former PDC World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks also emerged among the successful qualifiers, thereby adding another prestigious continental engagement to his increasingly demanding schedule. Having already secured participation in this weekend’s event in Riesa, Brooks will now look ahead to a further German excursion later this summer with renewed confidence and momentum.

Elsewhere, Poland’s gifted young prospect Sebastian Bialecki continued his encouraging progression by securing another European Tour qualification, while Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde similarly reinforced his growing consistency on the professional circuit.

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For Germany’s Lukas Wenig, qualification carries additional personal resonance, with the opportunity to compete on home soil arriving after an intensely competitive victory over compatriot Max Hopp, who endured the frustration of falling agonisingly short on both qualifying occasions throughout the day.

There was further success for recent Nordic & Baltic Tour champion Darius Labanauskas, the accomplished Lithuanian continuing his impressive resurgence with another qualification of considerable merit. Ireland’s Mickey Mansell also progressed successfully, ensuring the experienced Clonoe Cyclone will once again feature on the European stage later this year.

Perhaps the most surprising statistical anomaly from the day’s proceedings, however, concerned the Netherlands. Despite the nation’s traditionally formidable depth within professional darts, only a solitary Dutch representative managed to secure qualification across both events – Maik Kuivenhoven standing alone as the country’s sole successful qualifier. That is unless you wish to count Netherland’s born, De Graaf.