The first round of the 2025 European DartsChampionship will take place on Thursday and Friday, and each winner will claim one of the 16 second-round spots.
With the Euro Tour having its own order of merit, we can expect to see some exciting matchups and potential upsets in a first round that will be played as only best-of-11 legs.
2025 European Darts Championship first round predictions
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Here are my predictions for the first round.
Ryan Joyce (15) vs. Luke Woodhouse (18)
Winner: Ryan Joyce, 6-4
This feels like a fairly even matchup, but Joyce's ceiling and performance in shorter games are why I'll stick with him.
On the Euro Tour in 2025, he's only failed to make it out of the first round in 2/12 events.
Ross Smith (11) vs. Peter Wright (22)
Winner: Ross Smith, 6-3
Both players have won this event before, but had first-round exits in last year's event.
Wright has started to lose his form and consistency, so Smith feels like the obvious pick in this game.
Gian van Veen (10) vs. Damon Heta (23)
Winner: Gian van Veen, 6-5
This is arguably the most interesting first-round matchup in this year's event.
Both players are two of the best in the world when at their best, but van Veen has had more consistent performances/success this year.
This one could go all the way to an 11th leg, but van Veen should have enough to take down 'The Heat.'
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Gerwyn Price (6) vs. Daryl Gurney (27)
Winner: Gerywn Price, 6-3
Although this contest isn't guaranteed to be neck-and-neck, true darts fans will make sure to tune in for this match.
Price and Gurney have a history of butting heads on stage, and this should be another entertaining one.
Price will be looking for a redemption run in this tournament, just a couple of weeks after a disappointing blown game to Luke Littler in their quarter-final match in the World Grand Prix.
Jonny Clayton (7) vs. Ryan Searle (26)
Winner: Jonny Clayton, 6-3
As I've mentioned in past prediction pieces, it's hard to go against Clayton after such a strong year at majors.
Searle has certainly played well at times, but between Clayton's scoring and double-hitting, he gives himself a great shot at winning most games against any opponent
Martin Schindler (2) vs. Dave Chisnall (31)
Winner: Martin Schindler, 6-4
It took a strong weekend for Chisnall to qualify for the event in the last ET event of the year last weekend.
Schindler has been one of the best and most consistent players on the Euro Tour in 2024 and 2025, and he'll be playing in front of his home crowd this tournament, giving him an extra boost.
Chisnall's absence at the World Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago was the first time he didn't play in the event since 2010.
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Wessel Nijman (14) vs. Michael van Gerwen (19)
Winner: Wessel Nijman, 6-5
The Euro Tour has been the main circuit where Nijman has displayed his brilliance, as he flies up the Main OoM.
He faces a tough first-round opponent in Michael van Gerwen, but will be looking for revenge after losing to him in a 6-5 thriller at the World Series of Darts Finals last month.
Stephen Bunting (3) vs. Chris Dobey (30)
Winner: Stephen Bunting, 6-4
Bunting has been immaculate in the best-of-11 format this year, in both Euro Tour events and on the World Series circuit.
Outside of his semifinal run at the World Championship, a second-round appearance at the World Matchplay was as far as Dobey's gotten in a major (also made the fifth round of the UK Open).
Dobey should still put up a good fight, but players performing consistently is always a common theme in how I make my picks, so I'll take Bunting over 'Hollywood.'
Niko Springer (9) vs. Jermaine Wattimena (24)
Winner: Jermaine Wattimena, 6-4
As cool as it would be to see Springer go on a run, he faces a player who has had recent achievements, with PC event titles and big averages at Pro Tour events.
Springer could easily win this game, but Wattimena has shown recently that he should be viewed as the favorite entering the contest.
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Gary Anderson (12) vs. Cameron Menzies (21)
Winner: Gary Anderson, 6-2
Menzies is coming off a positive stretch of tournaments after what's been a year full of highs and lows.
Anderson has played in far fewer events this year, but has been solid in many of his appearances, whether it's been in TV events or on the Pro Tour.
With that in mind, I don't see Menzies overcoming a veteran like Anderson, even though he's played well recently.
James Wade (13) vs. Mike De Decker (20)
Winner: 6-3
De Decker's 2024 highlight was winning the World Grand Prix, and he started 2025 with an appearance in the final of the first ET event.
Since then, he's been fairly quiet, while Wade, on the other hand, has done the opposite.
Wade has been one of a handful of players consistently making runs at events, especially at majors.
Josh Rock (8) vs. Ricardo Pietreczko (25)
Winner: 6-2
Rock has had a breakout year in 2025, with a semifinal run at the UK Open, and then seemingly reaching a whole new gear, starting at the World Cup.
Pietreczko has shown glimpses of what his 'A' game can be, but he's another player who doesn't play that way as often as you'd like to see.
This should be a pretty simple match for Rock, as he'll look to take care of business and set up a second-round match with either Niko Springer or Jermaine Wattimena.
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Luke Humphries (5) vs. Krzysztof Ratajski (28)
Winner: Luke Humphries, 6-2
After a slow stretch of performances since his Premier League title, Humphries made a quality run to the World Grand Prix Final a couple of weeks ago.
He's altered his form slightly, brushing away some of the struggles he's had at times in the second half of the year.
Humphries and Ratajski faced off at the WGP a couple of weeks ago, with Humphries winning 3-1 in sets.
Luke Littler (4) vs. Raymond van Barneveld (29)
Winner: Luke Littler, 6-1
Littler has dominated almost every event he's participated in this year, and nothing indicates that pace will slow down.
Van Barneveld has improved slightly in recent events, with a couple of strong runs at tournaments, something we haven't seen from him in quite a while.
Even if RVB has a decent performance, Littler should be able to come away with a comfortable win.
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Nathan Aspinall (1) vs. Rob Cross (32)
Winner: Nathan Aspinall, 6-3
Aspinall enters the tournament as the #1 seed but will have to play Rob Cross, who, despite being the #32 seed, is currently the world number 7.
Aspinall should still come away with a win, as he'll hope to win much more than just a first-round match this weekend.
He's defending very little money at this event from his second-round exit two years ago, meaning he has the chance to crack the top 16 if he were to make it to the final.
Dirk van Duijvenbode (16) vs. Danny Noppert (17)
Winner: Dirk van Duijvenbode, 6-5
Both players were recent runner-ups at ET events and have been playing quality darts.
Noppert made the semifinal of the World Grand Prix while van Duijvenbode made the quarterfinal round.
This one feels like another that can go either way, but I'm going to take van Duijvenbode in this contest in a last-leg decider.
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