Dutch Darts Championship Saturday Afternoon Round-up | Smith and Nijman advance, Searle stays strong against hostile crowd as Schindler confirms Dortmund participation

The seeds entered the tournament in the second round of the Dutch Darts Championship, and they were totally dominant. The Dutch crowd in Maastricht passionately cheered on their players with mixed success, while huge results in the European Championship race setting up a tantalising rest of the event.

This weekend was all about the race to the European Championship, and the first match of the afternoon would be huge. Martin Schindler and Karel Sedlacek began the day under threat, but it would be the former number one in Europe who proved to be more clinical, sealing a 6-4 win and guaranteed himself a trip to Dortmund on home soil.

The story of the opening stages was that Sedlacek missed, and Schindler hit. Two at double 16 were spurned as ‘The Wall’ opened his account with a 164 outshot. Sedlacek then missed the bull for a 170 before finding that round target for an 84 finish to get his first leg. A 120 and 108 checkout by either bumped it up to 3-2 with both players competing at a very high level.

Finally, the German missed on the outer ring, and Sedlacek made him pay. The next leg would be a crucial one in the match. Sedlacek missed 10 darts on the outer ring to hold, and Schindler finally got the break back. He would see it out from there, failing to get the job done on double 16 for a 143 checkout but returning in the next leg to complete one of the biggest victories of his 2026 campaign.

This means Sedlacek and Kim Huybrechts sit in 31st and 32nd with £34,500. Stephen Bunting can rise above both of them with a win tonight, with Sebastian Bialecki and Michael Smith needing a semi-final run.

The number one in Europe, Ross Smith, will return to the European Championship as a two-time major champion. He won the 2022 title in Dortmund and goes into next week in good nick after reaching the third round in Maastricht with a 6-2 win over Ryan Joyce. ‘Smudger’ averaged 101.55 but had some patchy moments in the tie. He took a 3-0 lead with a 11 and 12 darters the highlight, but his form fell off, and Joyce got a lifeline, levelling at 3-2. From that point on, Smith had no issue. He ticked off the final three legs and will return tomorrow to battle for a third European Tour title in 2026.

Also a European Tour winner in 2026, Luke Woodhouse was not troubled by an underwhelming Andrew Gilding, swiping the former UK Open winner aside 6-1. A dreadful first leg was followed by a 68 checkout to hold by ‘Woody.’ He could have secured another break, but he could not take out 110, and Gilding got on the board. That would be about it for ‘Goldfinger.’ Woodhouse cruised to glory, constantly having chances as Gilding floundered. 66 went in three, and Woodhouse is in another European Tour third round.

While all this was happening, the Dutch crowd were making themselves known. Ryan Searle was on the end of a barrage as Dirk van Duijvenbode attempted to stage a comeback in a thriller. ‘Heavy Metal’ held him off to win 6-5.

Searle stormed out into a 3-0 lead with a perfect record on the outer ring, a 144 checkout the pick of the bunch. Van Duijvenbode got himself back in the match and won four of the next five legs. His scoring had improved, and he had the momentum behind him. Double 13 was found by Searle to go one away, but a pumped ‘Aubergenius’ took out 121 to force a decider. It was packed full of drama and tension. Neither could take out the 151 or 150 checkouts they left. Searle was back first and took out 93 in two darts to culminate an enthralling tussle while showing real maturity against a hostile crowd.

Wessel Nijman was not at his dazzling best, but he was still too strong for Jeffrey de Graaf. After losing the first leg, de Graaf won three on the spin as Nijman floundered with his average below 80 at some points. He kicked into gear as his opponent started to struggle. A 15 and 14-darter got him back level, and that was the start of a five-leg burst that got him out of the woods and into the next round.

Danny Noppert put on a show on home turf. He averaged over a ton in a terrific performance, and it was needed against a much-improved Dave Chisnall to win 6-4. The Dutch number two was the first to get his nose in front as ‘Chizzy’ missed darts to draw level at 2-2. From 4-1 down, Chisnall clawed his way to 4-4 as he ignored the partisan crowd. He did not have the firepower to sail on and clinch the win, with Noppert finding another gear at the end. He had six darts at 65, needing five to finish on double 10 as he continues to look for a first European Tour title.

The dream debut is over for host-nation qualifier Heine Uuldriks. He captured the imagination yesterday against Rocardo Pietreczko but was unable to repeat that heroic effort after blowing a 4-1 lead against Brendan Dolan, losing 6-4. Dolan entered from the reserve list after Rob Cross pulled out and took the lead. However, three legs later, Uuldriks was stamping his authority. He won three games on the spin to lead 3-1. Dolan then bust 70 after looking at the wrong score. Uuldriks capitalised from that error and seized a double break. The bull was missed for a 127 checkout and Dolan got one of the breaks back in 14 darts. The charge had begun. He won legs in 13, 16 and 12 darts with the rise in game not reacted to by Uuldriks. Dolan saw it out on double 16 to reach the third round of the European Tour for the first time since 2023.

Krzysztof Ratajski was the last seed to take to the stage in this afternoon's session and was the only one to lose after being pipped at the post by Niels Zonneveld 6-5. It took 10 darts at a double for Ratajski to get his first leg, and he struggled on the outer ring to go 2-1 up. ‘Tripple Z’ was hitting the treble 20 for fun with two maximums, leaving him 42 to break, in which he took out in two. After four holds, there would be four breaks, with Ratajski clapping back twice as Znneveld failed to steam further clear. A 110 checkout with Zonneveld on 20 made it 4-4 and soon edged one from the win. Zonneveld forced a decider and stole the darts. He finished 60 in three and was the third Dutchman to make it into the third round in Maastricht.