DISCUSSION Hungarian Darts Trophy | Gary Anderson rewarded for snubbing the circuit? Concern for Stephen Bunting as Beau Greaves shines in defeat

The Hungarian Darts Trophy was on the calendar this past weekend with rampant Ross Smith doubling up his European Tour title tally adding Budapest to Riesa in his 2026 title haul after taking years to even have one European Tour, two show up at once.

He saw off Gary Anderson this weekend who turned up to Hungary as he heard the country was nice. He left with a hunger to play Prague this weekend due to the fact that he is closing in on Dortmund and seems to have got a kick out of playing in front of adoring fans.

In our discussion, we look at the weekend including Smith and Anderson as well as the fortunes of others including Beau Greaves, concerns for Stephen Bunting and the crowd turning on Nathan Aspinall.

Samuel Gill, Head Editor for DartsNews.com looks back at a weekend of action in Budapest with delight.

"Personally one of my favourite cities, Budapest came out in force for the darts this weekend with a European Tour record supposedly during that final session of 6,000+ in the MVM Dome which looked like a Premier League night over a European Tour.

"Ross Smith is the big story. I loved watching him over the weekend. That metronomic action is an absolute joy and watching him make light work of Gary Anderson was like a painter and a tapestry much to the bemoaning of the Budapest crowd who of course wanted him to win.

"Anderson is both very much an interesting case in that he nearly qualified for the European Championship and even the Grand Slam despite not playing barely anything. But it is also how he rolls. He doesn't care much for schedules and keeping up appearances, he plays when he wants.

"But this much is clear. When he is at his best or has the crowd on his side, he is a joy to watch. He was this weekend. Dirk van Duijvenbode for me too is an absolute star and one that will be back in title contention soon. He saw off both Humphries and Cross this weekend.

"Euro Tours like ProTours now are seeing the big names not have it all their own way and with one eye on Prague, I don't see the big names who will all return including a certain Luke Littler having it all their own way. Beau Greaves too deserves a mention, she is an absolute superstar and one that the sport needs. I see her even winning one of these eventually after she gets her first win overall of course. But she heads into Prague this weekend with that first taste and now it is about building."

Mats Leering, Editor for DartsNieuws.com praised Anderson but found the treatment of Nathan Aspinall and also the excellence of Beau Greaves even in defeat to be other main talking points.

"Ross Smith produced a superb tournament and, in my view, was a thoroughly deserving champion. He was particularly impressive in the final, averaging well over 100 and showing exactly why he deserved to get his hands on the title. His performance when it mattered most was a clear statement of intent.

"That said, Gary Anderson also deserves plenty of praise. What a phenomenon he continues to be. After months away from the European Tour, the Scot decided to enter a tournament again and immediately went all the way to the final. It just goes to show that when Anderson sets his sights on a tournament, he remains an incredibly dangerous opponent. On his day, there are still very few players you would want to face less.

"Danny Noppert will have to wait a little longer for his maiden European Tour title. The Dutchman reached the semi-finals but ultimately found Ross Smith too strong on the day. Nathan Aspinall, meanwhile, could arguably have been the man standing alongside Smith in the final. ‘The Asp’ had five match darts in his semi-final against Anderson, but was unable to convert any of them.

"Interestingly, Aspinall also appeared to have a few issues with the Hungarian crowd this weekend, despite normally being one of the most popular players with the fans. Following his semi-final defeat, ‘The Asp’ left the stage remarkably quickly, bringing an abrupt end to his weekend.

"Finally, Beau Greaves deserves a special mention. Although she lost her opening match to Rob Cross, there is absolutely no shame in that given the form Cross is currently showing. More importantly, Greaves demonstrated that she belongs on this stage. There were no signs of nerves whatsoever, and she produced an outstanding average of 104.88 on her European Tour debut.

"If that is anything to go by, it surely won’t be long before Greaves picks up her first European Tour victory. There is every reason to believe that maiden win will come sooner rather than later."

Lucas Michael, Editor for DartsNews.com touched upon the brilliance of Ross Smith, but also the downward spiral of Stephen Bunting.

"The European Tour continues to deliver with a number of the big names in the sport making the trip to Budapest, only to watch on as Ross Smith again showed why he is such a dangerous player.

"The way he won it was impressive. Defeating William O’Connor, Jonny Clayton, Dave Chisnall, Danny Noppert and Gary Anderson while not really encountering any trouble is something that is very commendable. When he gets it right, there are very few players who can stop him, and getting it right he is currently doing.

"It may come to more of a surprise to see Anderson actually compete in one of these events. He entered the event without a win on the European Tour in 2026 following a brace of second round exits but showed his experience and bottle in contests against Stephen Bunting, Gian van Veen and Nathan Aspinall. The quest to Dortmund is very much on, and despite him saying at the start only a title would interest him, this final run may have motivated ‘The Flying Scotsman’ to book some more flights.

"Some of the best players in the world competed in Budapest, but many did not make it that far. Luke Humphries won a ProTour title in the week while admitting he was not playing his best with a bit of rust in his game. Those words of confidence did no echo very far in yet another really disappointing exit. The consistency with Humphries is not always there, and he cannot always bail himself out. It is all good winning a title on the floor, but you then need to back it up with something better than a second round exit to Dirk van Duijvenbode.

"On a different topic, Bunting is a player that is going the wrong way and needs to chance his trajectory imminently. His last European Tour quarter-final came all the way back at the start of the year in Poland, and he is not even in the top 32 for the European Championship. A hugely concerning sign for a top player who is not making it deep in too many tournaments as of late. Things like his Premier League Darts status were already under threat, and if he does not buckle his ideas sooner rather than later, he may have a much freer schedule in 2027.

"The story of the tournament very well may be about someone who exited in the first round. Beau Greaves made European Tour history by stepping onto that stage in Budapest, and if she was playing against anyone else than Rob Cross she would have been the first to win. Averaging almost 105, her performance was immaculate aside from a blip at the end. She will be returning to more of these in the future, and most definitely as one of the contenders to win the whole thing.

"Finally touching on the venue, and it is a majestic one. Budapest is a lovely place to visit on a good day but to play at the MVM Dome which can be compared to a Premier League stadium was one packed with thousands of eager darts fans watching on the action. The whistling at times do put the crowd down a notch but overall, it is starting to cement itself on the European Tour as one of the more anticipated events, and for good reason.

Pieter Verbeek, Editor for DartsNieuws.com saw the negative in Gary Anderson managing to reach the final in that he had been rewarded almost for skipping basically everything.

"It's great for Ross Smith that he won his second European Tour title in Hungary, but I'm mainly glad that Gary Anderson didn't hand it to him. As much as I enjoy watching Anderson play, he has competed in just twelve European Tour events over the past four years and did not play a single one between 2017 and 2022.

"Anderson had not earned any prize money for the European Tour rankings this year, and winning the title would presumably have given him enough in one fell swoop to qualify for the European Championship.

"That would effectively have been a reward for skipping almost the entire circuit. Anderson also won a European Tour title in each of the previous two years, which gave him a reason to skip the remaining tournaments. There is a good chance Anderson would not have travelled to Prague next week otherwise.

"After losing the final, 'The Flying Scotsman' therefore acknowledged that there is nothing else for it but to have another go at the Czech Darts Open next weekend."