Schedule Friday afternoon European Darts Trophy 2025 including Ross Smith, Cameron Menzies and Luke Woodhouse in action
PDC
After seven years, the PDC is returning to Göttingen for a Euro Tour tournament. The most recent edition of the European Darts Trophy was played in 2018, after which the event disappeared from the Euro Tour calendar for several years.
ADVERTISEMENT
But after adding another Euro Tour tournament to the schedule this year, the European Darts Trophy is also making its return. It is the seventh time this tournament has taken place. Wes Newton was the very first winner of this tournament in 2013. After that, Michael Smith won the tournament twice, before Michael van Gerwen took the title in 2016, 2017 and 2018. So after seven years of waiting, 'Mighty Mike' gets the chance to prolong his title.
Follow the 2025 European Darts Trophy also via our live scores!
Follow the 2025 European Darts Trophy also via our live scores!
During the first session in Göttingen, players will aim to reach Saturday. To start, Jermaine Wattimena will face Marko Kantele, the winner of the qualifying tournament for players from the Nordic & Baltic region. 'The Machine Gun' has never lost to his Finnish opponent and is 2-0 ahead in the head-to-head.
In the second match Cameron Menzies will.be involved. The Scot also participated in the Belgian Darts Open earlier this month, but lost to Matt Campbell in the first round after many missed matchdarts. This loss leaves Menzies without a single pound on the Euro Tour rankings. Alan Soutar sealed his spot through the qualifying tournament for Tour Card holders. The three previous encounters between these two players were all won by Menzies.
Actually, Andrew Gilding was supposed to play a qualifying tournament to attend this event, but 'Goldfinger' was moved up after Luke Littler failed to register. Gilding faces Callan Rydz, who recently managed to reach a semifinal on the Players Championship circuit. Earlier this year, the Englishmen already met at Players Championship, where Rydz then prevailed 6-5. In the overall head-to-head, Gilding leads 3-2 against his compatriot.
Kevin Doets has started the new darts year strongly. After his surprising place in the last sixteen at the World Darts Championship, he already managed to reach the quarterfinals of a Players Championship tournament four times this season. He also qualified for two of the first four Euro Tours. In the first round of the European Darts Trophy he will face Ritchie Edhouse, the winner of the 2024 European Championship. The Englishman showed himself well early this month by reaching the last 16 at the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze. It will be the eighth meeting between Doets and Edhouse, with 'The Madhouse' winning four of the previous seven duels.
Doets has been in some form but Edhouse will aim to regain his 2024 best.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dirk van Duijvenbode has been showing more and more signs in recent weeks that he is on the way back. In Wieze, Van Duijvenbode reached the third round, while he reached the semifinals at Players Championship 7 earlier this week. Especially the scoring seems to have received a boost, because we see more and more 180'ers from the Dutchman. Van Duijvenbode will meet Boris Krcmar, who caused a surprise at the previous Euro Tour tournament by eliminating Michael van Gerwen;
Next it is the turn of Wessel Nijman, who may try to continue his spell on the Euro Tour against Paul Krohne. On his six last Euro Tours, Nijman won through his first match each time. With Krohne, the Dutchman will meet one of the Host Nation Qualifiers. For Krohne it will be his debut on the Euro Tour. To reach the last 32, the German will have to do something he has never done before, because in his two previous matches with Nijman, Krohne did not win a match.
Ross Smith is the next big name to play his opening match in Göttingen. 'Smudger' had a good start to the Euro Tour season by reaching the semifinals at the Belgian Darts Open. He starts this tournament against Michael Unterbuchner, who will play his fifth Euro Tour tournament.
The afternoon session will conclude with a meeting between Dominik Gruellich and Luke Woodhouse. Gruellich forced his way in through the Tour Card qualifying tournament and is making his debut on the European circuit. Woodhouse has a lot more experience in this respect and is already competing for the 35th time, culminating in three quarter-finals.
ADVERTISEMENT
Format
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
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 7 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
ADVERTISEMENT
All participants 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.
Schedule European Darts Trophy 2025
Friday, March 21
First round
Afternoon session (from 12 p.m.)
Jermaine Wattimena v Marko Kantele
Cameron Menzies v Alan Soutar
Andrew Gilding v Callan Rydz
Ritchie Edhouse v Kevin Doets
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Boris Krcmar
Wessel Nijman v Paul Krohne
Ross Smith v Michael Unterbuchner
Luke Woodhouse v Dominik Gruellich
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- 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
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026
- I agree,I can't believe the lack of coverage of this sad loss. Always enjoyed watching him,but I guess now it's all about littler,well it seems that way. Darts has sadly lost a good manrick6717-10-2026
- In the absence of a report regarding the death of Stefan Lord, I'll assist. An excellent player in the late 70s and early 80s, he actually won the now defunct 3rd place match at two World Championships and a couple of the News of the World Championships. A fabulous player and easily the best Swedish player ever. Rest peacefully Stefan.richieburnettrocks16-10-2026