Preview Friday afternoon Poland Darts Open: Cameron Menzies set for big stage return after Ally Pally moment

This Friday afternoon, 02/20, the European Tour season kicks off with the Poland Darts Masters in Krakow, Poland. It marks the Euro Tour’s debut in the Eastern Bloc nation, with all the big names in attendance. Among others, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, and Gerwyn Price will be present for the European Tour opener.

The field features 48 players in total and a prize fund of £230.00 is up for grabs, with the winner pocketing 35,000. As mentioned above, this marks the European Tour’s debut in Poland, where in previous years World Series events were already staged under the Poland Darts Masters banner.

Below we preview the first eight matches to be played this Friday afternoon, 20/02. Which players will launch their European Tour season in style and perhaps make a run at the title in Krakow?
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We open the afternoon session with Cameron Menzies against Ritchie Edhouse. For Menzies, this is his first TV appearance since his headline-making exit at the World Darts Championship. ‘Cammy’ lost in the first round to 20-year-old talent Charlie Manby, but it was what happened after the match that stuck with everyone. Menzies lost his composure, repeatedly slammed his fist into the underside of his table on stage, and left with a bloodied hand. The Scot spent several days in hospital and later apologized for his behavior.

Edhouse endured a disappointing 2025 after his European Championship title at the end of 2024. He also disappointed at the last World Championship, losing 3-0 in the opening round to New Zealander Jonny Tata. ‘Madhouse’ booked his spot at the Poland Darts Open by reaching the last 10 at the first Tour Card Holder Qualifier. There he defeated Stephen Burton, Stefan Bellmont, and Niall Culleton in succession. Edhouse and Menzies have met once before on the European Tour last year, when Menzies came out on top.

Next up are William O’Connor and Andreas Harrysson. Harrysson impressed at the last World Championship, reaching the last 16 after beating Ross Smith, Motomu Sakai, and Ricardo Pietreczko. In the last 16 he narrowly lost 4-2 in sets to Jonny Clayton. The Swede was then one of the big favorites to win a Tour Card at Q-School, but missed out on leg difference. ‘Dirty Harry’ still qualified for this weekend’s opener via the European Tour Nordic and Baltic Qualifier.

O’Connor played 9 of the 14 European Tour events in 2025, with his best result coming at the seventh event, where he reached the quarterfinals. At the World Championship, he was unlucky to draw Michael van Gerwen in the second round, which ended his run early. He also impressed late last year by reaching the semifinals at the final two PC events. On paper, both men look evenly matched. Head-to-head offers little guidance, as this will be the first meeting between Harrysson and O’Connor.

In the third match, Ryan Joyce and Boris Krcmar take to the stage. Joyce missed only two European Tour events last year and even reached two semifinals. His World Championship was disappointing, however, as he lost in the second round to the Pole Krzysztof Ratajski.

Krcmar qualified for the Poland Darts Masters via the East European Qualifier. He won the final 6-5 in a deciding leg against Hungarian Andras Borbely. Krcmar also played the PDC World Darts Championship last December, but was eliminated in the first round by Luke Woodhouse. On paper, Joyce will be the favorite, although the head-to-head stands at 2-2. Looking only at the European Tour, they have met once before, when the Croatian edged it 6-4.

The next match on the schedule features Luke Woodhouse against Carl Sneyd. Woodhouse had a very strong World Championship, reaching the last 16 by defeating Boris Krcmar, Max Hopp, and Andrew Gilding in succession. In the fourth round, the Englishman lost 4-2 to Krzysztof Ratajski. ‘Woody’ has been steadily climbing the Order of Merit for years and has now risen to 21st in the world rankings, edging ever closer to the top 16. Woodhouse also reached the final at the penultimate Euro Tour event, where he eventually lost to Stephen Bunting.

Sneyd is still a relatively unknown name within the PDC. The Englishman won his PDC Tour Card for the first time this past January on day two of the final stage, and has now qualified via the European Tour Card Holder Qualifier for the first European Tour event of 2026 straight away. In addition, he reached the quarterfinals at Players Championship 2 last week, where he lost to eventual day winner Wessel Nijman. With his experience, however, Woodhouse will normally be the favorite to win this match.

In the fifth match of the afternoon, Niels Zonneveld faces the Pole Piotr Maciejczak. Zonneveld had a strong World Championship, defeating both Haupai Puha and Michael Smith. In the last 32 he met Jonny Clayton. Averaging nearly 100, he stayed in the contest for a long time, but ultimately lost in the deciding set. ‘Triple Z’ played six of the fourteen tournaments last year, reaching the last 16 twice.

Maciejczak is one of the four Host Nation Qualifiers who managed to qualify on Thursday afternoon. The Pole saw off Radek Szaganski (6-4), Sebastian Steyer (6-5), and Jakub Pietrzyk (6-0) before proving too strong for Jakub Janaszkiewicz 6-2 in his decisive match. This marks Maciejczak’s PDC debut. Normally, Zonneveld will be a clear favorite to reach the second round.

Andrew Gilding and Jeffrey de Graaf take to the stage. De Graaf, born in the Netherlands but living in Sweden for several years now, qualified for this first event of the year via the European Tour Card Holder Qualifier. The Dutch Swede endured a disappointing World Championship, losing in the first round to the absolute darts legend Paul Lim. During the Qualifier, however, he beat two established names among others, Gabriel Clemens and Mervyn King.

Gilding was automatically seeded for the first two European Tour events, which suits ‘Goldfinger’ just fine. Although he made a good impression in his first two World Championship matches, he ultimately lost fairly comfortably 4-1 to Luke Woodhouse in the last 32. The first Players Championship events of 2026 also went poorly for Gilding, who suffered three early exits to the likes of Jurjen van der Velde, Derek Coulson, and Cor Dekker. He also failed to qualify for ET 3 & 4, so he will want to start well in Poland to pick up some prize money for the Order of Merit. The head-to-head also favors De Graaf, who has won two of their three meetings.

Then it’s time for the last Dutchman this Friday afternoon. Jermaine Wattimena faces another Host Nation Qualifier, Miroslaw Grudziecki. Wattimena also reached the third round at the last World Championship after narrowly winning his first two matches against Dominik Gruellich and Scott Williams. In the last 32 he lost 4-3 in a deciding set to eventual semi-finalist Gary Anderson. ‘The Machine Gun’ played every European Tour event last year, with two quarterfinals as his best results at the eleventh and final events.

Grudziecki was one of the four Polish Qualifiers on Thursday afternoon. He beat Mariusz Krasnowski (6-3), Maciej Luczak (6-1), and Pawel Styczynski (6-2). This will not be his debut, however, as Drudziecki already played his first Euro Tour event last July. He did lose his opening match there 6-3 to Mickey Mansell.

We end the afternoon with Dave Chisnall against Darryl Pilgrim. Chisnall faces a pivotal year after a disappointing 2025. Where ‘Chizzy’ had been strong on the Euro Tour in previous years, he reached just two quarterfinals in 14 attempts last year. On eight occasions the Englishman even went out in the first round. At the last World Championship, Chisnall also suffered a disappointing second-round exit against the German Ricardo Pietreczko. He has now dropped to 22nd on the Order of Merit and must start worrying about falling out of the top 32 if he does not perform better this year.

Pilgrim returns to a European Tour stage for the first time since June 2025. Back then, he went out in the second round against Peter Wright. He has now qualified via the European Tour Card Holder Qualifier, where he beat Tavis Dudeney, Arno Merk, and Kim Huybrechts.