Schedule Saturday afternoon European Darts Trophy 2025 featuring Michael Smith, Josh Rock, Rob Cross and Chris Dobey
PDC
Day One is in the books at the European Darts Trophy Gottingen as we look ahead to Saturday's action which features the top names coming into the fray with some top ties to run through in our preview.
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Michael Smith, Chris Dobey, Rob Cross and Josh Rock are the leading lights starting their campaign on Saturday with only really Luke Littler and Stephen Bunting also missing from the evening session so it is a near complete field of top names starting this afternoon.
The European Darts Trophy is part of the Euro Tour calendar again for the first time since 2018. Previously this tournament was on the schedule from 2013 to 2018, but was then temporarily scrapped. Wes Newton won the first edition in 2013, before Michael Smith was the best in 2014 and 2015. Michael van Gerwen then took the title in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and will get the chance to defend his title this weekend after seven years.
Follow the 2025 European Darts Trophy also via our live scores!
Follow the 2025 European Darts Trophy also via our live scores!
The first match sees Danny Noppert open his account. He will take on Wessel Nijman. The latter held off debutant Paul Krohne's fightback from 5-2 down to win in a deciding leg to move through to this all-Dutch clash.
Then it is perhaps the game of the day which won't be seen as thus but could produce in James Wade who has found a new lease of life as of late. He reached the UK Open final recently and played well in Wieze last time out until he ran into Luke Littler again. He has put Lickgate behind him but can he send Ross Smith packing.
Smith will have different ideas and given his 106.44 average against Michael Unterbuchner, it is very much a tie to savour. 'Smudger' himself said he is bothered who he is going to play and so Wade or not, he will hope to recapture that.
"I'm happy with the win and the good performance, and bring on tomorrow," said Smith as per PDC. "I'm ready for James and I'm not bothered about who I play - I just concentrate on who I'm playing.
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Ross Smith was a revelation on Friday.
Then it is Rob Cross who faces off against Andrew Gilding. Fresh from Premier League duty, Cross will be pleased not to have to tussle for crowd support after vanquishing Gerwyn Price on Thursday in Cardiff. But like the other Premier League stars who didn't both going to Hildesheim, he should be fresh realistically. Truth betold, 'Goldfinger' didn't have to break too much of a sweat in his opener. He saw off Callan Rydz who was pretty poor.
Another tie of the session could yet be Damon Heta who as ever brings the entertainment facing off against another livewire in Cameron Menzies. The Scot defied a 170 checkout from Soutar to win the all-Scottish affair 6-2 taking out 66% on his doubles as both averaged over 99.
Heta on the otherhand has had an interesting week as he was at Cheltenham as he took on top jump jockeys in 'Dartenham' a special tournament filmed for the Jockeys' Cup on Racing TV. He will aim to hurdle the Scot in his opener on Saturday.
Back to life, back to reality sing Soul II Soul but for Chris Dobey it is certainly real as he returns after Newcastle glory.
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Chris Dobey has had the week of his life of sorts albeit not on the dartboard as his beloved Newcastle United saw off Liverpool last weekend. He promised to spend the Premier League winnings from Nottingham if he won the night on it but he didn't albeit he likely would've spent it celebrating anyway.
Likely on cloud nine, it is back to reality and it is the grind of the European Tour for 'Hollywood' to get his teeth back into. He faces Jermaine Wattimena who eased past Marko Kantele to start Friday afternoon.
Michael Smith faces another player who is in need of form in a tie which on paper in the past would've been one to savour. Now it is one where no-one is particularly sure what turns up. 'Bully Boy' had a sudden reprieve due to Stephen Bunting and didn't have to play on Friday. He now takes on Ricardo Pietreczko. He saw off Daniel Klose 6-3 to open her tally but it is still very much Martin Schindler out on his own in terms of home hopes right now.
Smith has plummeted on the otherhand and seems to be gaining some confidence again but will likely see the Premier League and the two Luke's with envy knowing what could be.
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The same can be said for Connor Scutt after he spurned five match darts for his first win on the European Tour and it handed Gian van Veen a free passage through coming from 5-3 down and he now faces Josh Rock in one of the leading ties of the afternoon session. Ryan Joyce finally was heralded as dangerous in our preview yesterday and he showed that.
He thrashed Joe Cullen 6-0 in a whitewash win and will hope to exact the same fate on Dimitri van den Bergh. All winners will move through to the latter stages on Sunday. Gary Anderson, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries all play in the evening.
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 6 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.
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Distribution of prize money
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
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Saturday, March 22
Second round
Afternoon session (from 12 p.m.)
Danny Noppert v Wessel Nijman
James Wade v Ross Smith
Rob Cross v Andrew Gilding
Damon Heta v Cameron Menzies
Chris Dobey v Jermaine Wattimena
Michael Smith v Ricardo Pietreczko
Josh Rock v Gian van Veen
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Joyce
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- 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