The European Darts Open is one of the oldest events in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) European Tour calendar. This competition hosts some of the most talented professional darts players and is noted for its huge attendances and knock-out games.
The 2026 European Darts Open took place between July 10 and July 12, 2026, at the Ostermann-Arena in Leverkusen, Germany. It was the tenth event of the 2026 PDC European Tour. Krzysztof Ratajski emerged victorious after defeating Jermaine Wattimena 8-6 in the final game. It marked his third PDC European Tour title victory. There were over 14,000 spectators during the three-day event.
European Darts Open 2026 at a Glance
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Tournament | European Darts Open |
| Official 2026 Event Name | ELTEN Safety Shoes European Darts Open |
| Organiser | Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) |
| Tour | PDC European Tour |
| 2026 Event Number | 10th |
| Dates | July 10–12, 2026 |
| Venue | Ostermann-Arena |
| City | Leverkusen |
| Country | Germany |
| Players | 48 |
| Prize Fund | £230,000 |
| Winner | Krzysztof Ratajski |
| Runner-up | Jermaine Wattimena |
| Final Score | Ratajski 8-6 Wattimena |
| Winner’s Prize | £35,000 |
| European Tour Titles for Ratajski | 3 |
The official PDC Europe tournament page confirms the dates, venue, format, prize fund, field structure and complete 2026 results.
What Is the European Darts Open?
The European Darts Open is a professional darts championship on the PDC European Tour. This championship takes place in the format of a knockout tournament, which involves 48 participants.
This championship is one of the traditional European Tour events that has long been played in Leverkusen. The 2026 edition of the tournament continues its traditions at the Ostermann-Arena, where the world’s top players compete for prize money, ranking points and a ticket to the battle for the European Championship.
When Was the European Darts Open 2026?
The 2026 European Darts Open was held for three days, from July 10 to July 12.
| Day | Date | Main Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Friday | July 10, 2026 | First Round |
| Saturday | July 11, 2026 | Second Round |
| Sunday Afternoon | July 12, 2026 | Last 16 |
| Sunday Evening | July 12, 2026 | Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final |
Both Friday and Saturday events were held at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively. The Sunday afternoon event kicked off at 1:00 p.m., and the Sunday evening event started at 7:00 p.m.
Where Was the European Darts Open 2026 Held?
In 2026, the tournament took place in the Ostermann-Arena in Leverkusen, Germany.
This stadium is a well-known arena in the European Tour circuit and has already been used many times to host the European Darts Open. According to PDC Europe, Leverkusen is considered to be the home of the tournament.
| Venue Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Venue | Ostermann-Arena |
| City | Leverkusen |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Country | Germany |
| Event | European Darts Open 2026 |
| Dates | July 10–12, 2026 |
European Darts Open 2026 Format
European Darts Open follows the traditional knockout method. The first four rounds are conducted on the basis of best of 11 legs, while semi-finals are conducted through best of 13 legs and finals in best of 15 legs.
| Stage | Match Format | Legs Needed to Win |
|---|---|---|
| First Round | Best of 11 | 6 |
| Second Round | Best of 11 | 6 |
| Last 16 | Best of 11 | 6 |
| Quarter-finals | Best of 11 | 6 |
| Semi-finals | Best of 13 | 7 |
| Final | Best of 15 | 8 |
This means that the final is longer than the earlier rounds, requiring a player to win eight legs to lift the trophy.
How Does European Darts Open Qualification Work?
The European Darts Open features 48 competitors. Top competitors will qualify for the second round, while the others will be competing in the first round.
For the 2026 tournament, the qualification categories include Order of Merit Players (PDC Order of Merit), Order of Merit Players (ProTour Order of Merit), Tour Card Holder Qualifier, Host Nation Qualifier, Nordic & Baltic Qualifier, and East Europe Qualifier.
Qualifying Procedures
- Top 16 from the PDC Order of Merit – these players will get seedings and will compete in the second round.
- Top 16 from the ProTour Order of Merit – these players will join the 48-player field.
- Tour Card Holder Qualifier – there were 10 players who qualified for the tournament through this procedure.
- Nation Qualifier – there were four German players who qualified as host nation players.
- Nordic & Baltic Qualifier – there was one place available.
- East Europe Qualifier – there was one place available.
European Darts Open 2026 Prize Money
The prize money in the 2026 European Tour was boosted to £230,000 per tournament. The European Darts Open also used the same prize money structure.
| Finishing Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | £35,000 |
| Runner-up | £15,000 |
| Semi-finalists | £10,000 each |
| Quarter-finalists | £8,000 each |
| Last 16 | £5,000 |
| Second Round | £3,500 |
| First Round | £2,000 |
| Total | £230,000 |
The prize money counts toward the relevant PDC rankings, including the PDC Order of Merit, ProTour Order of Merit and European Tour Order of Merit.
European Darts Open 2026 Winner
Krzysztof Ratajski was the winner of the European Darts Open 2026.
The Polish darts player beat Jermaine Wattimena by 8-6 in the final match held at Ostermann-Arena and won his third ever PDC European Tour title.
Before winning the tournament, Krzysztof Ratajski had defeated Max Hopp, Gian van Veen, Nathan Aspinall and Sebastian Bialecki.
European Darts Open 2026 Final Result
| Player | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Krzysztof Ratajski | 8 | Winner |
| Jermaine Wattimena | 6 | Runner-up |
Wattimena reached his first European Tour final, while Ratajski completed his title-winning run with an 8-6 victory.
European Darts Open 2026 Semi-Final Results
The two semi-finals produced an unusual piece of European Tour history because both finalists from one semi-final were Polish.
| Semi-final | Result |
|---|---|
| Jermaine Wattimena vs Damon Heta | Wattimena won 7-3 |
| Sebastian Bialecki vs Krzysztof Ratajski | Ratajski won 7-5 |
Ratajski’s 7-5 win against Sebastian Bialecki made the first all-Polish semi-final in the history of the European Tour. This was also the first time when two Polish players qualified for the finals of an event in the European Tour.
European Darts Open 2026 Quarter-Final Results
| Quarter-final | Result |
|---|---|
| Jermaine Wattimena vs Luke Woodhouse | Wattimena won 6-5 |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Damon Heta | Heta won 6-2 |
| Sebastian Bialecki vs James Wade | Bialecki won 6-2 |
| Nathan Aspinall vs Krzysztof Ratajski | Ratajski won 6-4 |
Ratajski’s quarter-final win was achieved against Nathan Aspinall, the European Darts Open champion in 2025.
European Darts Open 2026 Last 16 Results
| Match | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ryan Joyce vs Jermaine Wattimena | Jermaine Wattimena, 6-1 |
| Jonny Clayton vs Luke Woodhouse | Luke Woodhouse, 6-5 |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Wessel Nijman | Dirk van Duijvenbode, 6-3 |
| Michael van Gerwen vs Damon Heta | Damon Heta, 6-4 |
| Sebastian Bialecki vs Kevin Doets | Sebastian Bialecki, 6-4 |
| James Wade vs Jan Schmidt | James Wade, 6-2 |
| Nathan Aspinall vs Ross Smith | Nathan Aspinall, 6-4 |
| Gian van Veen vs Krzysztof Ratajski | Krzysztof Ratajski, 6-3 |
These eight winners advanced to the quarter-finals.
European Darts Open 2026 Second-Round Results
The 16 seeded players joined the competition in the second round.
| Match | Winner |
|---|---|
| Damon Heta vs Rob Owen | Damon Heta, 6-4 |
| Mike De Decker vs Jan Schmidt | Jan Schmidt, 6-5 |
| Luke Woodhouse vs Dragutin Horvat | Luke Woodhouse, 6-0 |
| Danny Noppert vs Sebastian Bialecki | Sebastian Bialecki, 6-3 |
| Jermaine Wattimena vs Kim Huybrechts | Jermaine Wattimena, 6-0 |
| Chris Dobey vs Dirk van Duijvenbode | Dirk van Duijvenbode, 6-2 |
| Wessel Nijman vs Bradley Brooks | Wessel Nijman, 6-0 |
| Krzysztof Ratajski vs Max Hopp | Krzysztof Ratajski, 6-3 |
| Stephen Bunting vs Ryan Joyce | Ryan Joyce, 6-4 |
| James Wade vs Maik Kuivenhoven | James Wade, 6-4 |
| Jonny Clayton vs Karel Sedlacek | Jonny Clayton, 6-1 |
| Michael van Gerwen vs Joe Cullen | Michael van Gerwen, 6-2 |
| Gian van Veen vs Niko Springer | Gian van Veen, 6-3 |
| Martin Schindler vs Kevin Doets | Kevin Doets, 6-3 |
| Nathan Aspinall vs Mickey Mansell | Nathan Aspinall, 6-1 |
| Ross Smith vs Niels Zonneveld | Ross Smith, 6-1 |
The complete second-round results are listed by PDC Europe.
European Darts Open 2026 First-Round Results
The first round featured 16 matches, with the winners advancing to the second round.
| Match | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ryan Joyce vs Mio Varila | Ryan Joyce, 6-1 |
| Karel Sedlacek vs Rhys Griffin | Karel Sedlacek, 6-5 |
| Mario Vandenbogaerde vs Dragutin Horvat | Dragutin Horvat, 6-2 |
| Andrew Gilding vs Rob Owen | Rob Owen, 6-5 |
| Cameron Menzies vs Jan Schmidt | Jan Schmidt, 6-5 |
| Mickey Mansell vs Michal Smejda | Mickey Mansell, 6-1 |
| Lukas Wenig vs Bradley Brooks | Bradley Brooks, 6-2 |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Jaimy van de Weerd | Dirk van Duijvenbode, 6-3 |
| Kim Huybrechts vs Samuel Price | Kim Huybrechts, 6-1 |
| Daryl Gurney vs Maik Kuivenhoven | Maik Kuivenhoven, 6-3 |
| William O’Connor vs Sebastian Bialecki | Sebastian Bialecki, 6-5 |
| Rob Cross vs Max Hopp | Max Hopp, 6-3 |
| Joe Cullen vs Charlie Manby | Joe Cullen, 6-4 |
| Kevin Doets vs Dominik Gruellich | Kevin Doets, 6-4 |
| Niko Springer vs Darius Labanauskas | Niko Springer, 6-2 |
| Niels Zonneveld vs Daniel Klose | Niels Zonneveld, 6-2 |
These results are confirmed on the official PDC Europe tournament page.
European Darts Open 2026 Schedule
July 10th, 2026 (Friday)
The tournament commenced with the first-round games. A total of sixteen games were played.
July 11th, 2026 (Saturday)
All sixteen games of the second round were held on this day. The sixteen seeded players joined the tournament from this round.
July 12th, 2026 (Sunday)
This was the final day of the tournament. In the afternoon session, the Last 16 were held, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final in the evening.
The tournament ended with Ratajski beating Wattimena 8-6.
European Darts Open Previous Winners
The tournament has a long history stretching back to 2012. The official PDC Europe record shows the below list of previous winners.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Raymond van Barneveld | Dave Chisnall | 6-4 |
| 2013 | Michael van Gerwen | Simon Whitlock | 6-2 |
| 2014 | Peter Wright | Simon Whitlock | 6-2 |
| 2015 | Robert Thornton | Kim Huybrechts | 6-2 |
| 2016 | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 6-5 |
| 2017 | Peter Wright | Mervyn King | 6-2 |
| 2018 | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 8-7 |
| 2019 | Michael van Gerwen | Rob Cross | 8-6 |
| 2020 | Not held | — | — |
| 2021 | Not held | — | — |
| 2022 | Michael van Gerwen | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 8-5 |
| 2023 | Gerwyn Price | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 8-7 |
| 2024 | Dave Chisnall | Ross Smith | 8-6 |
| 2025 | Nathan Aspinall | Damon Heta | 8-6 |
| 2026 | Krzysztof Ratajski | Jermaine Wattimena | 8-6 |
The 2026 competition is therefore the 13th time this tournament has been staged, considering that there were no tournaments in 2020 and 2021. The PDC Europe page has all the winners from 2012 to 2026.
Who Has Won the European Darts Open Most Times?
Michael van Gerwen is the most successful player at European Darts Open, having won five titles.
These wins were in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Peter Wright has won the event twice, whereas Raymond van Barneveld, Robert Thornton, Gerwyn Price, Dave Chisnall, Nathan Aspinall, and Krzysztof Ratajski have won the event once each.
European Darts Open 2026 – Qualifications for Participants
There were different ways that the players qualified for the 2026 competition.
Tour Card Holder Qualifier
The ten players qualifying through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier were:
- Mario Vandenbogaerde
- Sebastian Bialecki
- Bradley Brooks
- Rhys Griffin
- Darius Labanauskas
- Samuel Price
- Lukas Wenig
- Maik Kuivenhoven
- Charlie Manby
- Mickey Mansell
Host Nation Qualifier
The four host-nation qualifiers were:
- Dragutin Horvat
- Jaimy van de Weerd
- Jan Schmidt
- Daniel Klose
Nordic & Baltic Qualifier
- Mio Varila
East Europe Qualifier
- Michal Smejda
The remaining positions were allocated through the relevant PDC Order of Merit and ProTour Order of Merit qualification routes.
How to Watch the European Darts Open
The 2026 tournament was available through several official broadcast and streaming options.
| Platform | Coverage |
|---|---|
| PDC TV | International live stream for subscribers |
| DAZN | All sessions live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with German commentary |
| PDC Europe Social Media | Current scores and highlights |
Broadcast availability can depend on the viewer’s country and local broadcasting rights.
How to Follow European Darts Open Results Online
If you need to track future matches and results of European Darts Open, visit the official PDC and PDC Europe sites.
Steps to View Results
- Visit the official PDC or PDC Europe site.
- Click on the European Tour tab.
- Pick the European Darts Open.
- View the tournament page.
- Survey the draw and match schedule.
- Pick the particular day of the match.
- Watch live scores and results of finished matches.
- Visit PDC Europe social media accounts to find other results.
Official PDC Europe tournament page gives event schedule, results, qualification data and broadcasting information.
Why Is the European Darts Open Important?
The European Darts Open carries great importance since the competitors are not only vying for the tournament trophy but also the prize money that will count toward their positions in multiple PDC world rankings and the Order of Merit of the European Tour that is connected directly to qualifying for the European Championship.
Having participated in the first ten events of the European Tour in 2026, the top 32 ranked players in the Order of Merit of the European Tour were eligible for qualifying for the European Championship in Dortmund, with Ratajski’s win giving him the third spot on the list.
European Darts Open 2026 Interesting Facts
- 2026 PDC European Tour 10 was the 10th European Tour event of the 2026 season.
- The event was played at the Ostermann-Arena in Leverkusen.
- The tournament was staged between July 10 and July 12, 2026.
- 48 darts players participated in the tournament.
- The total prize money of the tournament was £230,000.
- The winner was awarded £35,000.
- The winner was Krzysztof Ratajski.
- Jermaine Wattimena emerged the runner-up.
- Ratajski beat Wattimena 8-6 in the final match.
- Thus, this was Ratajski’s third European Tour victory.
- The 2026 event had a fan base of more than 14,000 spectators.
- Ratajski defeated Nathan Aspinall who was the defending champion of the event in the quarter-finals.
- The Ratajski-Bialecki semi-final was the first ever all-Polish semi-final in the history of European Tour.
- Michael van Gerwen remains the record European Darts Open champion with five titles.
European Darts Open 2026 Key Takeaways
| Category | Verified Information |
|---|---|
| Champion | Krzysztof Ratajski |
| Runner-up | Jermaine Wattimena |
| Final | Ratajski 8-6 Wattimena |
| Venue | Ostermann-Arena, Leverkusen |
| Dates | July 10-12, 2026 |
| European Tour Event | 10th event |
| Players | 48 |
| Total Prize Fund | £230,000 |
| Winner’s Prize | £35,000 |
| Ratajski’s European Tour Titles | 3 |
| Record European Darts Open Champion | Michael van Gerwen |
| Record Number of Titles | 5 |
| Attendance | More than 14,000 |
Conclusion
The European Darts Open 2026 also offered a great tournament in Leverkusen. The winner in the final match was Krzysztof Ratajski who managed to beat Jermaine Wattimena with the result of 8-6 and win the third European Tour title. In addition, it should be noted that this tournament featured the first-ever all-Polish semi-final in European Tour history.
Being an important PDC tournament with 48 participants, £230,000 prize money, international participation, and ranking points towards European Championship, the European Darts Open is an event that continues its tradition at the Ostermann Arena. In 2026, it attracted 14,000 spectators over three days.
FAQ’s
Who emerged victorious in the 2026 European Darts Open?
Krzysztof Ratajski clinched victory at the 2026 European Darts Open by defeating Jermaine Wattimena 8-6 in the final. This win made it his third European Tour win.
Where did the 2026 European Darts Open take place?
The event took place in Ostermann-Arena, Leverkusen, Germany, between July 10 and July 12, 2026.
What is the total prize money of the European Darts Open 2026?
The prize money is set at £230,000. The winner gets £35,000, while the runner-up earns £15,000.
Who is the most successful European Darts Open player?
Michael van Gerwen is the record holder in this regard. He has won five European Darts Open titles in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022.
How many players participate in the European Darts Open?
The European Darts Open consists of 48 players. The top players start participating in the second round, while others join from the first round.
Also read about: Darts Semi Final Time 2026: World Matchplay Schedule, Start Time & Results
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