The annual summer break from the European Tour is finally over, and now we are treated with three consecutive European Tour weekends in a row.
With the Hungarian Darts Trophy hosted in Budapest this weekend, it will be followed by Prague and Antwerp in quick succession before the World Series of Darts Finals in September. This makes the next couple of weekends incredibly important.
Firstly, it is the final three events prior to the cut-off for the 2026 Grand Prix, with the likes of Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen, Martin Schindler and Daryl Gurney all currently sitting outside of a qualification spot.
There are likely four spots still to play four, occupied by Cristo Reyes, Sebastian Bialecki, Niko Springer and Kim Huybrechts, with the Pole looking for a debut, Reyes looking for a return after ten years, and Huybrechts after five years.
With the World Championships looming large, the next few weeks could become very important in the ProTour race for that too. This weekend, Adam Leek will make his debut, currently sitting £9,000 outside of a World Championship spot, so a few wins could be massive for his season.
Likewise, Samuel Price sits £13,000 adrift as it stands.As always, there will be a focus on the European Championship race too, as we move into the final third of the European Tour with the likes of Stephen Bunting, Daryl Gurney and Gary Anderson outside of the top 32.
The most dangerous though, with the looming of defending his prize money from winning the European Championships in 2024, is Ritchie Edhouse, who sits on just £7,500, £15k below the current cut-off.
The final thing worth mentioning is that the likes of Jonny Clayton, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert and Stephen Bunting are all yet to qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts, having not picked up a single ranking title, or major final, in 2026.
These upcoming European Tours could be important in ensuring they can avoid the last-minute Tour Card Holder qualifier in November. This weekend will see several European Tour debuts in Budapest, but none bigger than that of Beau Greaves.
On Friday, she will become the very first woman to play on the European Tour, 14 years after its inaugural event on the PDC Tour. While this is a massive deal in itself, Greaves currently sits £13,000 outside of the Grand Prix spots and will be at all of the next three European Tours before it’s cut-off.
A couple of deep runs will be necessary, but there is certainly a chance for her to make more history. She will take on Rob Cross in Round 1.
Another debut comes from the man who made a mark down-under earlier this month. Adam Leek managed to get the better of Ross Smith on his World Series of Darts debut in Auckland and will take on Joe Cullen on his European Tour debut on Friday. Another big step in the career of the Australian World Cup star.
The final two debutants come from the batch of Host Nation Qualifiers, in László Kádár and Milán Biró. Kádár had previously presented Romania his entire darting career but has always played under the Hungarian flag in PDC events but had gone unnoticed due to him not making any big steps in that circuit.
He has a yearly average of 80.43, and will be making his debut aged 57, having qualified for his event in his second attempt in a European Tour qualifier, having failed to get through the Host Nation Qualifiers in 2023.
Milán Biró will also be making his debut this weekend, having spent the year on the Development Tour and the WDF circuit, with a yearly average of 74.45. This was Biró’s 6th attempt at qualifying for a European Tour.
András Borbély will return for the first time since last years Hungarian Darts Trophy, while Eastern European Qualifier David Písek is making his first appearance since his debut in 2023!
Images: PDC
