PDC Tour Card holders in action at Dutch Open Darts: Van Duijvenbode, Plaisier & Van Schie among star names competing
WDFTuesday, 03 February 2026 at 10:00
This Thursday, Dutch Open Darts 2026 gets underway at De Bonte Wever in Assen. For years it has been the largest darts tournament in the world and counts towards the WDF world rankings. The singles champions will also receive a ticket for the upcoming WDF World Championship.
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The tournament has been sold out for some time and is set to be a record edition, with more than 8,500 players competing across four days. Last year, the men’s singles was won by Dutchman Jeffrey Sparidaans. He will not defend his title, as he has since secured a PDC Tour Card. In the women’s event, the title went to Welsh player Rhian O'Sullivan.
PDC Tour Card holders in the pairs event
At the Dutch Open Darts, only players without a current PDC Tour Card may compete in the singles. However, the PDC has granted permission for Tour Card holders to take part in the pairs tournament.
The entry list is now confirmed and features several interesting teams. Dirk van Duijvenbode, currently number 30 on the PDC Order of Merit, will partner Maik Kuivenhoven. The pairs Wesley Plaisier–Dennie Olde Kalter and Richard Veenstra–Chris Landman also consist entirely of Tour Card holders.
Jimmy van Schie was crowned WDF world champion last year
Reigning WDF world champion in action
Jeffrey de Zwaan regained his Tour Card early last month after a year away and will team up with Moreno Blom at the Dutch Open Darts. Jurjen van der Velde pairs with Jarno Bottenberg, and Jimmy van Schie, the reigning WDF world champion and now a PDC Tour Card holder, lines up alongside Danny van Trijp.
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Finally, we will also see a Dutch brothers pairing in Marvin and his younger brother Keanu van Velzen. Keanu van Velzen recently won a matchweek in the MODUS Super Series.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- I'd happily pay for a site free of Van der Voort's every squeak and utterance.StraightArrowNoBull19-08-2026
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- It's great to see Mark Webster looking well,he's a top ladrick6715-08-2026
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