We have already arrived at the penultimate Euro Tour tournament of 2024. And not just any one, as the Swiss Darts Trophy 2024 is the first PDC ranking tournament ever to be held in Switzerland. Read our preview here.
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The St. Jakobshalle in Basel has been given the honor of hosting this event. The Swiss Darts Trophy is the twelfth Euro Tour tournament of the year. Earlier this season, Euro Tour tournaments were played in Belgium, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Hungary. Later this year, another event will be completed in the Czech Republic.
Darts in Switzerland
Switzerland has produced a number of sports icons with Roger Federer (tennis), Fabian Cancellara (cycling), Vreni Schneider (alpine skier) and Simon Ammann (ski jumper), but on the darts front it is still quiet in the Alpine country.
In 2017, Switzerland participated in the World Cup of Darts for the first time, but after two participations, they disappeared from the lineup again. In the last three editions, the Swiss led by Stefan Bellmont were there again. 'Belli' is currently considered the best dart player from Switzerland.
Bellmont does not currently hold a Tour Card, but has had the opportunity to make several appearances on the Pro Tour as a substitute. Bellmont did manage to win a tournament on the PDC Challenge Tour in both 2022 and 2024. However, Bellmont is missing from the first Swiss Darts Trophy because he failed to make it through the Host Nation Qualifier.
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Perhaps the creation of a PDC tournament could provide a new darts boost, bringing in another influx of talent.
Participants
Swiss fans will get to see most of the dartstoppers at the Swiss Darts Trohpy. The biggest absentee is Michael van Gerwen, who cannot attend due to illness. Furthermore, Gary Anderson will also not be there in Basel.
Big names like Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael Smith, Rob Cross, Dave Chisnall, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright did travel to Switzerland. Seven Dutchmen and two Belgians are also competing. Gian van Veen, Danny Noppert, Raymond van Barneveld, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Wessel Nijman, Jermaine Wattimena and Richard Veenstra are the Dutch participants, while Dimitri van den Bergh and Mike de Decker from Belgium are also taking part.
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Top-16 seeded players: Dave Chisnall, Ross Smith, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Danny Noppert, Josh Rock, Stephen Bunting, Damon Heta, Ryan Searle, Martin Schindler, Rob Cross, Gian van Veen, Chris Dobey, Luke Littler, Ricardo Pietreczko, Daryl Gurney
Order of Merit Qualifiers: Jonny Clayton, Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Peter Wright, Krzysztof Ratajski, Ritchie Edhouse, Brendan Dolan, Luke Woodhouse, James Wade, Andrew Gilding, Joe Cullen, Callan Rydz, Dimitri van den Bergh, Nathan Aspinall
Tour Card qualifiers: Mike de Decker, Cameron Menzies, Wessel Nijman, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Karel Sedlacek, Jermaine Wattimena, Madars Razma, Richard Veenstra, Ryan Meikle, Graham Hall, Anton Östlund, Nandor Pres, Jim Williams, Ian White, 4x Host Nation Qualifiers
Favorites
In recent weeks we have stayed true to Luke Humphries as the top favorite each time, but this time we are going with Luke Littler. 'The Nuke', unlike Humphries, took a week off and missed the Euro Tour tournament in Hungary and the two Players Championship tournaments in Leicester.
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Humphries and Littler could face each other very early in the tournament. Should they both win their opening match, they will meet in the last sixteen on Sunday afternoon. Also in the same piece of the draw is Peter Wright, who must first win against Richard Veenstra to force a tie with Humphries.
So for another favorite, we have to start looking at other parts of the draw. That's when Dave Chisnall comes to the fore, leading the placing list in Basel. 'Chizzy' already has a successful month under his belt with a Euro Tour and Players Championship title.
Our three outsiders are also from England. Will Ross Smith and Chris Dobey finally add a Euro Tour title to their record? Or will Michael Smith manage to make his mark towards the busy autumn season?
*** Luke Littler
** Luke Humphries, Dave Chisnall
* Michael Smith, Ross Smith, Chris Dobey
TV and live stream
The Swiss Darts Trophy will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the Swiss Darts Trophy consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start on Friday and Saturday at 12:00, while the evening sessions then start at 18:00. On Sunday, the sessions start at 11:00 and 17:00.
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The first round will take place on Friday. The 16 Order of Merit qualifiers and the winners from the various qualifying tournaments then make their appearance. The top-16 seeded players enter the tournament on Saturday in the second round. Sunday will see the end of the tournament, starting with the third round in the afternoon session. Sunday evening will be followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Distribution of prize money
At this Euro Tour tournament, a total of £175,000 in prize money will be divided among the 48 participants. They will receive at least 1250 pounds in starting money. The top-16 seeded players who enter the Swiss Darts Trophy from the second round will receive 2,500 pounds anyway.
They do - like the 16 Order of Merit qualifiers starting in the first round - have to win their first match in order for the prize money to count toward the world rankings and the other rankings. The winner of the Swiss Darts Trophy ultimately goes home with the top prize of 30,000 pounds.
Format
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First round: Best of 11 legs
Second round: Best of 11 legs
Third round: Best of 11 legs
Quarterfinals: Best of 11 legs
Semifinals: Best of 13 legs
Final: Best of 15 legs
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
