Live Darts on Saturday | European Darts Championship 2026 Day Three Preview and Order of Play
The second round action takes centre stage at the 2026 European Darts Championship in Dortmund on Saturday as the big names bid to book their place in the business end of the tournament.
The opening round saw three of the top five seeds crash out at the Westfalenhallen, as well as three former European Champions.
The Last 16 ties are split across two unmissable sessions on Day Three, with the afternoon’s line-up featuring a clash between defending champion Gian van Veen and nine-dart hero Luke Woodhouse.
Van Veen broke the ‘curse’ of the reigning European Champion by defeating Andrew Gilding 6-4 in Round One, and the Dutch number one is vying to become only the third player to successfully retain this title since 2008.
Woodhouse ensured a spectacular start to the tournament by landing a perfect leg in the opening game en route to a 6-3 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode with a 99 average.
The Baltic Sea Darts Open champion, now looks to reach his first major ranking quarter-final since this very event two years ago when he made the Last Four.
Gerwyn Price, the 2029 European Championship runner-up, comes up against enigmatic Scotsman Cameron Menzies.
Price powered past two-time champion Rob Cross 6-2 in the opening round with a 99.3 average and is aiming to remain on course for a fourth consecutive major final appearance.
Menzies, meanwhile, saw off newly-crowned Dutch Darts Championship winner Niels Zonneveld 6-3 on Thursday and will be out to emulate his 6-2 win over Price at the Slovak Darts Open back in June.
Ross Smith, the 2022 European Champion, faces a showdown with Aussie number one Damon Heta.
Smith has enjoyed his most successful year as a professional in 2026, doubling his major title tally at the World Series Finals and picking up a brace of European Tour silverware.
The number one seed, who safely saw off Karel Sedlacek in his opener, now meets ten-time ranking event winner Heta – who edged out James Wade in a deciding leg after surviving four match darts to end his five-year winless run in this event.
Kim Huybrechts took full advantage of his unexpected late call-up to the event following Luke Humphries’ withdrawal, and the Belgian now takes on Premier League star Stephen Bunting.
Huybrechts reeled off six legs on the spin to thrash Ryan Searle 6-1 with a 103.8 average on opening night, having initially missed match darts to qualify for the tournament at the Swiss Darts Trophy.
Bunting also battled through a last-leg shootout to deny in-form Danny Noppert in his opener and is targeting a first major ranking quarter-final appearance since last year’s World Matchplay.
The evening session sees Luke Littler resume his pursuit of the career clean sweep when he faces two-time major winner Nathan Aspinall.
The world number one has captured all ten other major silverware over a remarkable three-year period, leaving only this trophy missing from his collection.
His hopes of a seasonal clean sweep were crushed by Jonny Clayton at the World Series Finals, before a shock first round exit followed at the World Grand Prix and a semi-final defeat in the World Youth Championship.
Littler, who has failed to make it beyond the second round in two previous appearances in Dortmund, averaged 105 in a 6-3 win over William O’Connor on Friday to set his stall out in style.
Aspinall picked up his fourth European Tour title at the German Darts Grand Prix in April and was a semi-finalist at the recent World Grand Prix, though he has not made it past the second round of this event since 2021.
The Stockport star has also lost 18 of his 21 previous meetings with Littler, including at this year’s World Matchplay and World Series Finals.
Four-time major winner Jonny Clayton faces a crunch clash with former World Cup of Darts winner Josh Rock.
Clayton has come unstuck in this event in recent years, suffering two second round exits and two first round losses in his last four appearances, though he returns in fine fettle having picked up the Swiss Darts Trophy title just a fortnight ago.
The Welshman silenced the partisan German crowd by overcoming home favourite Niko Springer 6-3 on Friday evening, while Austrian Open champion Rock punished another torrid display of finishing from Chris Dobey to romp to a 6-1 rout with a 100.7 average.
Kevin Doets, the last debutant left standing in the competition, takes on European Open champion Krzysztof Ratajski.
Doets continued his dream year by dumping out legendary compatriot Michael van Gerwen 6-3 on Friday, and ‘Hawk Eye’ now has his sights set on a place in a first major ranking quarter-final.
Polish talisman Ratajski, meanwhile, thrashed Dave Chisnall 6-2 to reach the second round of this event for just the second time in eight attempts.
Home hero Martin Schindler looks to replicate Friday night’s exploits when he meets 2024 runner-up Jermaine Wattimena.
Schindler raised the roof with a nerveless 80 checkout to sink second seed Wessel Nijman in a last-leg decider, while Wattimena swept aside Ryan Joyce 6-3 to reach the Last 16 for the fourth attempt in a row.
The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with second round ties to be contested over the best of 19 legs.
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European Darts Championship 2026 Day Three Schedule
All times BST (local time +1 hour)
Saturday October 24
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Cameron Menzies v Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting v Kim Huybrechts
Ross Smith v Damon Heta
Gian van Veen v Luke Woodhouse
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Kevin Doets
Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall v Luke Littler
Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock
