European 2 Tour- European Darts Trophy Day 3 Picks 2026 (Sunday 15th March)

The absence of the two big names on the Tour have hurt the European Darts Trophy, but not enough to suggest the Third Round does not look like a strong lineup regardless.

With the Rankings used for the European Tour, it is a shame that the likes of Danny Noppert and Gerwyn Price are playing in the Third Round, rather than further down the line towards the business end of the tournament.

The winner of that match is going to be very difficult to beat later in the day, while there are plenty of other players still involved in the draw that will recognise the opportunity in front of them to pick up a big title with both Lukes and Michael van Gerwen out of the tournament. That does mean having to deal with a different kind of pressure with the expectations greater than they perhaps would be if the top two players in the world were also taking part, but it should also mean another good day of darts.

As is the case with the majority of the European Tour events, the Third Round is completed in the Day Session before the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final are played in a busy Evening Session.

Any selections from the Quarter Final matches will be added to this thread on Sunday afternoon.

Jermaine Wattimena v Niels Zonneveld: Backing up a big win over Michael van Gerwen would be tough in most cases, but it is that much more difficult for Niels Zonneveld when facing an opponent who has gotten the better of him in recent matches.

Three matches in 2025 all ended in Jermaine Wattimena wins and this could be another that ends up trending towards the higher Ranked player.

Jermaine Wattimena has not been operating at the same level he ended 2025, but the close win in the Second Round will give him confidence.

A final Leg decider would not be a big surprise, but it is Wattimena who can do enough to reach a Quarter Final on Sunday.

Chris Dobey v Josh Rock: A solid win in the Second Round will have been a boost for Josh Rock, but this has been a tough match up for him.

The power scoring of Chris Dobey makes him very dangerous and there may be a point to be made about losing his Premier League place and having Rock join that elite competition instead.

Chris Dobey did not need that big time scoring to win in the Second Round, which likely means more is to come from him, and he can keep Josh Rock under pressure and test the doubling.

Again, this is likely to be a close match, but Chris Dobey can find a way to move past Josh Rock yet again.

Gian van Veen v Wessel Nijman: He has just hit a poor run of form, but the win in the Second Round and the manner in which Gian van Veen produced that will have done him the world of good.

Losses can feel like they are being strung together when playing in the Premier League, and so it will be important for van Veen to have produced a victory here in Germany.

He does have a tough Third Round match against Wessel Nijman, but there is a pecking order in Dutch darts and Gian van Veen has won the last five between these players.

That includes a win at European Tour 1 in Krakow last month, while Gian van Veen beat Wessel Nijman at the Grand Slam at the end of 2025.

Wessel Nijman is playing well and putting plenty of wins on the board, but he may have to overcome a mental obstacle in this one and that may see him come up short against the World Number 3.

Ross Smith & Dirk van Duijvenbode double: Neither of these players are going to have things all of their own way, but the scoring power of Ross Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode could be the difference.

They do have challenges- Smith is playing a home player who will be receiving huge support, while van Duijvenbode has to be prepared for the pace, or lack of pace, that Mensur Suljovic will employ to disrupt opponents.

However, the Dutchman has a good recent record against Suljovic and can power past him.

Ross Smith will have plenty of respect for Nico Springer, but Smudger is playing well and can edge through to a Quarter Final here at the expense of the last German left in the tournament.

MY PICKS: Jermaine Wattimena @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Chris Dobey @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Gian van Veen @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Ross Smith & Dirk van Duijvenbode Double @ 2.16 Bet365 (1 Unit)

European Darts Trophy: 2-4, - 2.37 Units (6 Units Staked, - 39.50% Yield)

European Tour 2- European Darts Trophy Day 2 Picks 2026 (Saturday 14th March)

The big names enter the European Darts Trophy in the Second Round, although Luke Humphries was at Cheltenham on Friday and it was soon announced that he would not be travelling to Germany for this event this weekend.

Despite the absence of the top two players in the Rankings, a strong field has still come together for the tournament and there are some very good looking matches to be played in the two Sessions on Saturday.

Poor doubling from Cameron Menzies and a failure to see out a 5-4 lead by Kai Gotthardt made it a difficult start to the weekend, but both could have easily swung the other way.

Hopefully better fortune is to come this weekend.

Danny Noppert & Ross Smith double: These two players should have the high scoring power to beat the opponents in the Second Round, although Ross Smith is goign to have clean up on some of the doubling issues he had in his UK Open defeat last weekend.

Prior to that, Smith had been playing well on the floor and he can bounce back against Dave Chisnall, who put in a huge effort to recover from 0-5 down to win his First Round match 6-5.

Danny Noppert is becoming one of the most consistent players in darts and he can match the scoring power of Ricky Evans, while also showing off the superior doubling at key times.

Wessel Nijman win & Chris Dobey over 2.5 180s double: It was harder than Wessel Nijman needed it to be, but winning the First Round match should have given him a lot of confidence.

You can never dismiss Mike De Decker, but he is not producing the same consistency as the Dutchman and it was Wessel Nijman who won both matches between the pair in 2025.

Chris Dobey vs Luke Woodhouse has the makings of a match that could go down right to the wire and that should give the big maximum hitting Dobey ample time to hit at least three in that contest.

Josh Rock & Michael van Gerwen double: Two Premier League participants look capable of coming through awkward, but winnable Second Round matches in the Evening Session.

Neither Josh Rock nor Michael van Gerwen have been in strong recent Premier League form, but they are playing opponents that are a step down from the elite in the Premier League.

Josh Rock will have to deal with the crowd being behind his opponent, but going out first in the Evening Session may not be the worst time and he should be able to squeeze through.

The same can be said for Michael van Gerwen who is not playing as consistently as earlier this season, but who can put together a few minutes of very high level darts to pull away from his compatriot.

MY PICKS: Danny Noppert & Ross Smith @ 1.81 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Wessel Nijman to Win & Chris Dobey Over 2.5 180s @ 2.10 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Josh Rock & Michael van Gerwen @ 1.96 Bet365 (1 Unit)

European Darts Trophy: 1-2, - 1.18 Units (3 Units Staked, - 39.33% Yield)

European Tour 2- European Darts Trophy Day 1 Picks 2026 (Friday 13th March)

Another Premier League Night has ended with Jonny Clayton picking up maximum points and he is well on his way to reaching the Play Offs in the competition he enjoys playing the most.

His participation in the European Darts Trophy is perhaps a little uncertain having played through the pain with his gout making it difficult to walk, especially with this tournament taking place in Germany and perhaps not being an ideal time to travel.

Of course the form through the first two and a half months of the 2026 season has been at such a level that Clayton would love to keep things going and he is not due out until Saturday when the Second Round is played.

Luke Humphries had a productive night in Nottingham, although one that did not end with the Nightly win even after beating Luke Littler and Gian van Veen earlier in the evening.

The Polish Open was won by Littler, but he is not involved this weekend and Luke Humphries has to be amongst the favourites, even at a time when his doubling has been letting him down.

The European Darts Trophy looks like it is wide open this week with Humphries down as a 4-1 favourite, but plenty of the big names are expected to be involved in Germany and it should be three strong days for the fans to enjoy.

The First Round will be played across two sessions on Friday before the same situation for the Second Round on Saturday.

Third Round matches will be completed in the Day Session on Sunday before the traditional ending to the European Tour events with all of the Quarter Final, Semi Final and Final matches played in the Evening Session to produce the second winner on this circuit.

Later this month the Belgian Darts Open will also be played as the European Tour 3 event is scheduled to be played and so it is a very busy time for the biggest names in the PDC with Premier League Nights also to be played on Thursday over the next couple of months.

Ricky Evans & Cameron Menzies double: The Afternoon Session features a number of decent players, but there are some close matches to call and picking these two looks the best approach to take to the eight games scheduled.

Ricky Evans played pretty well at the World Championships, but he has not been able to build on that in 2026 and suffered a relatively early defeat in the UK Open.

However, he should still have enough to beat Florian Preis in the First Round, even if the latter is going to be given plenty of crowd support.

Doubling up Ricky Evans with Cameron Menzies is slightly risky when you think of some of the recent performances offered up by the latter.

A hand injury inflicted on himself has proved to be a big problem for Menzies, but he did come through a couple of Rounds at the Polish Darts Open last month and Paul Krohne may not have enough to use the crowd and land a spot in the Second Round.

Dirk van Duijvenbode & Wessel Nijman double: A double from the Evening Session puts together a couple of Dutchman who should have enough to progress into the Second Round.

Dirk van Duijvenbode has slipped to the World Number 29 position and has been very inconsistent this season, but he faces someone who is struggling much more than himself.

After a decent enough start to the season, Mario Vandenbogaerde has lost his last six matches in a row and some of those have been in close defeats.

This all adds to the mental challenges when it comes to late Legs, and DvD may have too much scoring for him at critical times in this First Round match.

A fellow Dutchman has been in fine form on the floor and Wessel Nijman had a strong run at the Polish Darts Open- there is still more to come from him and he can edge past Cristo Reyes who is a player that can make strides up the World Ranking in the weeks and months ahead.

However, Nijman looks capable of squeezing past him here in Germany in what should be a quality match to end the session.

Kai Gotthardt v Nico Springer: The best of eleven Leg format is always open for an upset or two to occur and Kai Gotthardt can back up some solid form at the UK Open by getting the better of his compatriot in Germany.

These two actually met last week in Minehead and it was Gotthardt who edged past Nico Springer, while the familiarity with this opponent should allow the underdog to settle into this First Round match.

It should be noted that Gotthardt had shown little form going into the UK Open, but those wins will have done him the world of good.

Nico Springer is very talented, but he has just hit a slump in form with three straight defeats under his belt- he has been a little inconsistent on the Tour this year and suffered an early loss at European Tour 1 last month.

This is likely going to be a close match in front of the home fans, but Kai Gotthardt looks a big price to edge through to the Saturday Second Round.

MY PICKS: Ricky Evans & Cameron Menzies Double @ 2.64 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Dirk van Duijvenbode & Wessel Nijman @ 1.82 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Kai Gotthardt @ 2.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)

Darts 2026: 29-37, - 2.87 Units (65 Units Staked, - 4.42% Yield)