PREVIEW Saturday night Flanders Darts Trophy: Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen lead line-up

From Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31, the Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp is on the program. This is the tenth Euro Tour tournament of the season. Saturday evening the last eight matches from the second round are on the program.

The Flanders Darts Trophy kicks off a series of Euro Tour tournaments before the final finale later in October: the European Darts Championship. The 32 best players on the Euro Tour qualify for this final tournament, so the coming weeks will decide who we will see back at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund at the end of next month.

Dave Chisnall managed to win the 2024 edition and thus starts the tournament as the defending champion. Last year he defeated German Ricardo Pietreczko 8-6 in the final.
Follow the Flanders Darts Trophy 2025 via our live scores!

The evening session at the Antwerp Expo will be kicked off by James Wade and Kim Huybrechts. Wade reached the final at the World Matchplay just last month and has since climbed back up to fifth in the world rankings. Wade's last title on the European Tour did date to 2016. For a place in the last sixteen, Wade must pass Huybrechts. The latter will - as in his 6-5 win in the first round against Lukas Wenig - feel supported by the home crowd. Huybrechts has won two European Tour tournaments in the past, but his last title dates back to 2015. It would obviously be a dream come true for "The Hurricane" to add another title in front of his own crowd.

Next it is the turn of Ryan Searle and Raymond van Barneveld to enter the arena. Searle already won a Players Championship this year, but otherwise it has been pretty quiet around 'Heavy Metal'. Especially at the majors, he has not performed great yet this year. The latter is certainly also the case for Van Barneveld. 'Barney' was 6-3 too strong for Xanti Van den Bergh in the opening round here. On his impressive list of honors, it stands out that the 58-year-old Dutchman has won only one European Tour tournament in his career, specifically in 2012 when he was the best at the European Darts Open. Can Van Barneveld revive old times so many years later?

Ross Smith starts this match as the favorite, albeit one that he will certainly not underestimate Daryl Gurney. Smith is the 12th series leader this weekend and has already won a Players Championship this year. Gurney reached a moment of supreme glory in June when he managed to win the World Cup of Darts alongside Josh Rock. Gurney is a two-time major winner, but those titles date back years. In recent years, "Superchin" has performed particularly shakily, although on a good day he can still beat the best players in the world.

Stephen Bunting, along with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, is perhaps we the best player this year. 'The Bullet' has already won two Players Championships, two World Series of Darts tournaments and in early April also the International Darts Open, a tournament that is part of the European Tour 2025. Bunting therefore starts his duel against Joe Cullen as the favorite. The Rockstar' is not having the best year of his career, but has proven in the past that he can compete with the best players in the world. Bunting will not be underestimated.

Luke Littler hardly needs to be introduced. 'The Nuke,' still only eighteen years young, already won three majors this year with the World Darts Championship, UK Open and World Matchplay. Recently, he once again showed his enormous class by winning the Oceanic dual Australian Darts Masters and New Zealand Darts Masters. Littler therefore starts his match against Dylan Slevin as a towering favorite. The Irishman defeated Belgian François Schweyen 6-3 in the opening round.

Next we get an all-Dutch duel when Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen take on each other. Both men already met in the final of the German Darts Grand Prix this year. Van Gerwen won 8-5. Van Veen is getting better and better and won his first ranking title this year when he beat Luke Humphries in the sixth Players Championship of the year. Both men are known for their high scoring ability, so we could well get a match with lots of 180s and high finishes. It just remains to be seen which Van Gerwen we might get to see, the best version or the more volatile one of recent months?

In the penultimate match of the evening session, the second of three Belgians will be in action with Mike De Decker. 'The Real Deal,' who won his first major last year and reached the final at this year's Belgian Darts Open, defeated Martin Lukeman 6-3 in the opening round here. De Decker averaged 82.25 in the match and revealed afterwards that he needs to do much better in the next round. That next assignment is against Martin Schindler. The German won the Austrian Darts Open earlier this year and has climbed to seventeenth place in the world rankings. It is difficult to point out a clear favorite in this match, as both men are not that far apart.

The evening session will be closed by Jonny Clayton and Mario Vandenbogaerde. Clayton was in the final of Players Championship 25 earlier this week (8-6 defeat to Stephen Bunting) and is clearly in good shape. The Ferret' also won the Dutch Darts Championship earlier this year. He will have to contend with the home crowd that will rally behind Vandenbogaerde as one. Super Mario' defeated Michael Smith 6-5 in the opening round and is keen on a strong performance this weekend. Especially also with a view to retaining his PDC Tour Card.