Preview Saturday afternoon Hungarian Darts Trophy including Wright-Huybrechts, Chisnall-Van Barneveld and Cross-Gurney

The Hungarian Darts Trophy is scheduled from September 19-21, 2025, at the imposing MVM Dome in Budapest. The tournament is the twelfth of 14 PDC European Tour events this season and is an important hurdle toward the European Darts Championship later in October.

The field features 48 players and a total prize pool of £175,000 is up for grabs, with the winner alone taking home £30,000. Title holder Michael van Gerwen won the tournament last year after a blood-curdling 8-7 victory over compatriot Gian van Veen.

Previously Dave Chisnall and Joe Cullen, among others, won the trophy in the Hungarian capital. This time, besides Van Gerwen, top names such as Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price will also appear on the oche.

Below we preview the first eight matches from the second round scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
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The afternoon session at the MVM Dome will kick off with the duel between Martin Schindler and Ryan Joyce. Schindler won the Austrian Darts Open earlier this year and has also won a title at the Players Championship. 'The Wall' is on the verge of top 16 and hopes to crack that gate open for good this weekend. The German starts his match against Joyce as the favorite, but will certainly not underestimate the Englishman. Joyce is one of those players who on a good day can compete with the best players in the world, only his game lacks regularity, otherwise he would be higher up in the Order of Merit.

Next it was the turn of Ross Smith and Cameron Menzies. Smith impressed at the World Series of Darts Finals last week, but faced an even more impressive Luke Littler. With the European Championship coming up - a tournament Smith won in 2022 - his form is in good shape. In his opening match at the Hungarian Darts Trophy, Menzies will face a player who has been in good form this year, but has sometimes completely let down, such as last week at the World Series of Darts Finals.

Danny Noppert is the first of two Dutchmen in action during this afternoon session. The Freeze' starts the tournament as the fourteenth seed and is the clear favorite to play Rob Owen. The Welshman - who is still engaged in a battle to retain his PDC Tour Card - somewhat surprisingly defeated Ryan Searle in the previous round. If Owen can show the same level against Noppert, the Dutchman will certainly not be handed it on a silver platter.

Sixth-seeded Chris Dobey will take on Darren Beveridge in his opening match, rather than Wessel Nijman. The Dutchman - especially given his recent results - started that match as the favorite, but it was still Beveridge who was victorious 6-2. The Scot is not in a good position to keep his PDC Tour Card, so a good result this weekend is more than welcome for him. However, another stunt against Dobey seems unlikely. 'Hollywood' is having a good year and has a particularly high scoring ability. If he throws his doubles at a decent percentage, Beveridge will probably lose out.

Rob Cross has been a fixture at the top for several years, yet this year he is blowing hot and cold. In fact, especially cold in recent months. So 'Voltage' could use a success, why not this weekend? In his opening match, the 35-year-old Englishman takes on Daryl Gurney. The Northern Irishman, two-time major winner, won this year's World Cup of Darts alongside Josh Rock and has been playing with particular confidence ever since. For example, he recently reached the semifinals at the Flanders Darts Trophy. Gurney has shown several times in the past that he can compete with the best players in the world. If both players reach their best level, we may get to see a particularly exciting match.

'I'm still standing' it sounds in James Wade's rise song and that is by no means a lie. After more than 20 years at the top, 'The Machine' is still there, more so, he has even climbed back up to fifth in the world rankings. Wade already reached two major finals this year and yearns for a new tournament victory on the European Tour, which is already from 2016. With Luke Woodhouse, he meets a compatriot who is also in excellent form this year. Woody defeated Hungarian Andras Borbely in his opening match here.

In the penultimate match of the afternoon session, Peter Wright takes on Kim Huybrechts. 'Snakebite' has been a mere shadow of the player he once was this year. Early eliminations are piling up, often with low averages. At 55, the question is whether Wright's best years are behind him, or will he manage to surprise the darts world once again? With Huybrechts he also meets a doubtful player. The Hurricane' is experiencing one of the worst years of his career and longs for another good result. In that view, it is a good chance for both players to make it to the last sixteen.

The afternoon session in Budapest will be closed by Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld. Chisnall starts this tournament as the tenth seed. The 45-year-old Englishman has not won a single tournament this year - contrary to his habit - and is only just in the top 16 in the world rankings. The latter also applies to Van Barneveld, who has dropped to 34th place in the world rankings. 'Barney' was too strong in his opening match 6-2 against Hungarian Nandor Major, but impressing, no, he did not. And the latter typifies a bit the year of the 58-year-old Dutchman so far. It all looks very laborious and he is not having much fun.