Preview European Darts Trophy 2025 - Will Michael van Gerwen succeed in defending his title in Göttingen seven years later?
PDC
In Göttingen, Germany, the European Darts Trophy is on the program this weekend. This tournament made a noted return to the darts calendar. Six consecutive editions of this tournament took place between 2013 and 2018, now it returns to the PDC Pro Tour after a seven-year absence.
The European Darts Trophy first took place in 2013, when it was won by Wes Newton. Michael Smith then managed to win the 2014 and 2015 editions by beating Michael van Gerwen in the final each time. However, it turned out to be third time lucky for the Dutchman, who did take the title in 2016 after losing two finals. Van Gerwen then won the tournament in 2017 and 2018 as well. So after seven years, 'Mighty Mike' may try to defend his title.
Follow the European Darts Trophy 2025 also via our live scores!
The European Darts Trophy is the second tournament of the European Tour 2025 after the Belgian Darts Open, which was held earlier this month in Wieze. In Wieze, Luke Littler was unbeatable, beating Mike De Decker 8-5 in the final to successfully defend his title from last year.
However, Littler will be absent this weekend for the European Darts Trophy and that may open up opportunities for other players. Luke Humphries will be there and the number one of the world will be eager for a strong performance, after his quick exit against Decker in Wieze. Humphries is already in form, as he proved by winning the Masters early this year and he is also currently leading the Premier League Darts.
Doubts
Van Gerwen is currently third in the world rankings, but in Göttingen this weekend he is seeded second due to Littler's absence. 'Mighty Mike' did reach the final at the World Darts Championship earlier this year, but has been on the wane ever since. A quarterfinal at Players Championship 5 is his best result in the past two months. Can Van Gerwen prolong his title from seven years ago at the European Darts Trophy? Then he not only has to deal with the strong opposition, the Dutchman has also been struggling with a virus for some time (as his best friend Vincent van der Voort indicated) and the question is whether Van Gerwen can have his full arsenal of strength at his disposal this weekend.
Anderson
And what can Gary Anderson do? The Scot impressed with very high averages last year and also won some Players Championships and a Euro Tour. This year, however, it was all much less for the 54-year-old Scot. Until this week, when he made his presence felt again by winning the seventh Players Championship of the year. Enough for Anderson to be launched again? That will have to be seen this weekend.
In addition, with Rob Cross, Jonny Clayton, Dave Chisnall, Damon Heta, Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobey, among others, just about all the top-ranked players in the world rankings are present in Göttingen this weekend.
The sixteen highest-ranked players in the world rankings are unranked for the first round. In the second round, they will take on the winners of the matches between the top 16 on the Pro Tour Order of Merit and the 16 qualifiers.
TV Guide
The tournament will be broadcast by PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the European Darts Trophy consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions will start daily at 12 p.m., while the evening sessions will start at 6 p.m.
The first round will take place on Friday, where the 16 Pro Tour players will face 16 players who emerged from the various qualifying tournaments. The winners of these matches will face a player from the top-16 of the world rankings in the second round on Saturday. The third round will be played on Sunday afternoon, before the quarterfinals, semifinals and final are completed on Sunday evening.
Distribution of prize money
All entrants starting from the first round are guaranteed £1250 in prize money, while the top 16 enter from the second round and receive £2,500 anyway. This amount eventually rises to the grand prize of £30,000 for the winner.
An important detail is that players who are automatically seeded via the Order of Merit and lose their first match will not be awarded prize money on the various rankings. This does apply to qualifiers who are later designated as seeded by the withdrawal of others.
Draw European Darts Trophy
(6) Damon Heta v Cameron Menzies/Alan Soutar
(11) Peter Wright v Mike De Decker/Martin Lukeman
(3) Rob Cross v Andrew Gilding/Callan Rydz
(14) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Joyce/Joe Cullen
(7) Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle/Laurin Welk
(10) Danny Noppert v Wessel Nijman/Paul Krohne
(2) Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney/Niko Springer
(15) Josh Rock v Gian van Veen/Connor Scutt
(5) Dave Chisnall v Raymond van Barneveld/Ricky Evans
(12) James Wade v Ross Smith/Michael Unterbuchner
(4) Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler/Adam Hunt
(13) Gary Anderson v Luke Woodhouse/Dominik Gruellich
(8) Nathan Aspinall v Ritchie Edhouse/Kevin Doets
(9) Chris Dobey v Jermaine Wattimena/Marko Kantele
(1) Luke Humphries v Dirk van Duijvenbode/Boris Krcmar
(16) Michael Smith v Ricardo Pietreczko/Daniel Klose
The ten Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for next month's European Darts Trophy (ET2) have been confirmed!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 12, 2025
🏴 Joe Cullen
🏴 Alan Soutar
🏴 Adam Hunt
🏴 Connor Scutt
🇩🇪 Dominik Gruellich
🏴 Martin Lukeman
🏴 Callan Rydz
🇳🇱 Kevin Doets
🇩🇪 Niko Springer
🏴 Ricky Evans pic.twitter.com/XimGq6LEyG
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- you've printed the wrong score for the final.colt18-03-2025
- Covid or the vaccine. Which one done him?Mysstree16-03-2025
- Beau also skipped Players Championships 7 & 8 next week, and PC 3 & 4 four weeks ago. If she next chooses to miss the Women's Series and PC 13 & 14 in mid-April then we can make a fair guess as to her reason.Scoobedybop13-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- Aspinall was a no-show: Carl Sneyd steps in from the Challenge Tour.Scoobedybop11-03-2025
- Likewise, I have always been a fan of Mervyn and with this worry on his mind, it explains why his form and ranking plummeted. It is really sad to hear this, often chatted to Mervyn and Tracey during the Lakeside days, both are lovely people. It does seem naive not acknowledging the fact it was earnings, surely there must be others in the same situation. I really hope the Kings can get through this....would a go fund me be permittedrichieburnettrocks11-03-2025
- I always like Merv,but he does he seems slightly naive with his comments. I wish you all the best, hope you can get sorted,and try and get back to a decent game,a bit of money.....and get rid of the dogs,if that's your main concern,I believe your priorities may be slightly wrongrick6710-03-2025
- What’s with the dogs element to this story, trying to pull at the heart strings? Just goes to show that being a good dart player does not equate to being that bright. Seriously, ‘I thought you didn’t have to pay tax on winnings’ , your a pro dart player and its your line of work, your not playing the lottery or placing a bet. I think it was Phil Taylor who said you should put a third to one side of all winnings into a bank account, obviously Merv was wearing his earplugs at the time.Mysstree10-03-2025
- The thing is... the folks who "humiliated" Taylor in the Seniors Events never really achieved anything in the important events - like Taylor did. Taylor had/has nothing to prove... and beating Taylor after he had retired is of zero value. Taylor in his prime would have made easy work of all of them. Cheers.MrYnyslas197107-03-2025