The European Championship kick off this Thursday at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, closing the 2026 European Tour. Carrying a £750,000 prize fund, the 32 best-performing European Tour players will compete for the top prize of £150,000. Of these 32 qualifiers, 13 are English, making England the most represented country in this tournament.

From Ross Smith as the first seed to Dave Chisnall as the 30th, Englishmen are littered throughout, and many have a strong case to leave Dortmund on the 25th with the title. As Gian Van Veen defends the title, the first round will be played in the first-to-six format, the same length as every European Tour game except the semi-final and final.

The European Championship is no different from other events, except it will be played in front of 15,000 fans. With the first round setting up the momentum for later rounds, how will these seven English players perform in Dortmund, and do they have a chance to pick up the coveted European Championship title?

Two Tournaments in One: England’s Seven by Format 

Player	Seed	European Tour W–L	European Tour Legs	First to 8+ W–L	12-Month Average
Ross Smith	1	31–13	247–184	10–4	95.83
James Wade	16	12–9	101–87	11–3	95.06
Luke Woodhouse	9	18–13	157–122	2–4	94.83
Luke Humphries	12	16–4	119–78	8–7	100.01
Ryan Searle	21	12–14	118–129	4–5	94.36
Andrew Gilding	25	16–14	143–139	1–4	92.68
Dave Chisnall	30	12–12	110–116	1–2	90.48

Ross Smith 

Number one seed for the first time in his career, the 2022 champion will be confident of winning this title. Winning £158,000 over 15 events, he clears second-place Wessel Nijman by £34,000, just £1,000 of the winning prize fund of a standard European Tour event. Smudger’s confidence won’t just be built from this seed but from his outstanding form on the continent; playing in all 15 European Tour events, he has a record of 31 wins and 13 losses, a 70.5% win rate.

Playing 44 matches in front of large crowds under limited crowd support and winning 247 legs is as impressive as it gets, winning two titles on the way in Riesa and Budapest, beating Searle 8-3 and Gary Anderson 8-2, respectively.

These wins got the monkey off Smith’s back, marking his maiden European Tour title, and the other results simply followed. In a final at European Tour 13, losing 4-8 against Wade, he won his first game at 14 out of the 15 events.

Only losing to Springer 2-6, this steady consistency that he has maintained is the reason he is seeded first, as at nearly every event he has guaranteed money and then picked up silverware at four, building a reputation that other players don’t have. With a solid floor, Smith has won all 10 games where he has averaged over 100 on the European Tour.

As the European Championship goes round to round, the format extends to a first-to-10 format, which has been a strong point for Smith. Coming into the event losing just one first-round match, his leg win ratio in games that are first to eight or more in 2026 is as impressive as his regular European Tour leg ratio, winning 124 legs and winning 10 matches out of 14.

Averaging 98.10 in long-format games, he produced the best of this at the World Series of Darts finals, beating Gurney 10-5, Rock 10-7, Van Veen 11-8 and Price 11-5, averaging 103.89 in the final. Facing Sedlacek, this is a deceptively tough fixture. Seeded 32nd and earning 21% of Smith’s earnings, Evil Charlie will match Smith’s consistency. Averaging a solid 93.46 and with a 37.90% checkout percentage, he can’t underestimate his opponent. But with his top form and strong 180 scoring, Smith should have too much for the Czech, beating him for the second time this year after a 7-4 win at Players Championship 5.

James Wade

Facing the winner of the Smith fixture, Wade will prove a difficult opponent. Seeded 16th, Wade broke his 10-year title drought on the European Tour in Flanders, beating Ross Smith in the final 8-4, averaging 95.50 in a classic Wade performance. Yet, the European Tour has never been a happy hunting ground for Wade, and this somewhat continued in 2026. Winning 12 matches from 21, across 10 events, he has faced huge losses, including his 6-0 loss against Menzies, with this being part of the four losses in the first round. Earning £66,000 on the European Tour, Wade's form has been pretty mediocre for the World Number 6 and doesn’t quite reflect how great he’s been in other tournaments, most recognisably winning the World Series of Darts 6 down under and reaching the World Grand Prix Semi-Final last month.

Ordinary over a best-of-11, Wade’s strong point comes in long-form matches by utilising the world’s best in-game management to defeat opponents. This was best demonstrated with his win against Bunting at the World Grand Prix, averaging 65 in the set he lost and holding his throw the rest of the three sets, averaging 99.42, nullifying any chance of a comeback through intense game management.

Averaging 95.06 in the last 12 months, he faces Heta, who is averaging 94.23, making this, on paper, a tight affair. 2026 has told another story, however, as Wade has beaten the Aussie twice, and it is hard to see how this isn’t replicated again in Dortmund. Wade may be weaker in a first-to-six format, but Heta hasn’t found his 2025 form in 2026, and this game could reveal it, with the only advantage The Heat has being Wade’s inconsistent European form.

The Finisher’s Edge: Wade vs Heta 

Metric	Wade	Heta
Average	95.06	94.23
First Nine	102.31	101.80
Checkout %	42.91%	40.97%
Functional Doubles %	52.17%	49.43%
Three-Dart Checkout %	12.10%	10.71%
180s per leg	0.23	0.23
Deciding Legs Won	66.67%	32.14%

Luke Woodhouse

Winning his first stage title in the European Tour this year at Kiel, Woodhouse has enjoyed his best year to date on the PDC, hitting a career high of 18th in the PDC order of merit. With the European Championship an opportunity to break into the top 16, the 9th seed would have wished his May form could be now. Winning in Kiel convincingly, with no match closer than three legs, he smashed Joyce in the final 8-4, averaging 98.61, and after playing 14 events in the European Tour this season, the number 9 seed does him justice. Winning 18 matches in Europe, Woodhouse has averaged 94.83 in the last 12 months and, even when losing, has produced this elite level.

Losing three times on the European Tour whilst averaging over 100, his level has rarely dropped, and with May including two PDC titles, it would be fair to say he has tailed off in the last 4 months. Although still producing great darts compared to last year, many games have been decided in the last leg recently; losing 5 matches in the last leg proves that not only is his level high, but the results could have been better.

On the floor, he has won half the games that have been first to eight or more, with his European Tour 8 title and Players Championship title the only games on the floor to be first to eight or more. Yet on stage, Woodhouse has lost all 4 games in this format. Losing to Rock 4-10 in the Matchplay and 3-10 to Humphries at the UK Open, Woody is yet to find some good form on TV. Winning against Luke Littler at the World Grand Prix, neither player was exceptional that day, and it was a case of who was worse rather than who was better.

Facing Dirk Van Duijvenbode, the Dutchman’s year can be described in one word: inconsistent. Following his shoulder injury in 2023, he hasn’t yet found the results and profits of before but has found his averages. Averaging 95.47 in the last 12 months with a first nine of 104.82, Van Duijvenbode has the ceiling to beat any player he faces, as seen in his World Matchplay semi-final. Outscoring opponents for years, Woodhouse must be careful to pick up early legs and weather the Dutch storm, which hasn’t been rampant in Europe so far. Having won just 17 of 32 matches this year and been knocked out in the first round 7 times, what version of the Dutchman shows up is unpredictable; Woodhouse will just hope it’s the down, not the up.

The Close-Call Problem: Woodhouse vs Van Duijvenbode 

Metric	Woodhouse	Van Duijvenbode
Average	94.83	95.47
First Nine	104.26	104.82
Checkout %	38.77%	37.20%
Functional Doubles %	47.05%	44.41%
Legs Won by Throwing First	70.82%	64.43%
180s per leg	0.30	0.34
Deciding Legs Won	57.69%	48.00%
2026 European Tour Record	18–13	17–15

Luke Humphries

Former World Champion and recently crowned World Grand Prix Champion Cool Hand has never won this major before, with this and the UK Open the only majors he hasn’t won. Losing agonisingly last year in the final to Van Veen, Humphries has made sure he has shown up to European events this year when he’s at his best. With an 80% win rate in Europe this year, he has reached three European Tour finals, winning the Belgian Darts Open in March and losing the other two finals to Littler and Clayton.

With this being his ninth European Tour title, the moment when he picks up the title seems inevitable. In the 20 games he’s played in Europe, Humphries has averaged over 100, including an 114.15 average against Ratajski and a 111.17 average against Suijovic in the same event, European Tour 14. Selective excellence has fuelled a great year for Humphries, winning his first major in over a year at the World Grand Prix, beating a rampant Price in the final, coming back from three sets down to beat the loud Welshman.

Averaging 100.01, the Newbury man is playing the best darts in this article, and with a 41.21% checkout percentage and 109.43 first-nine, Humphries is scoring as well as he’s finishing, making him a handful in every leg, averaging a 12.10% 12-darter rate in legs. What the World Grand Prix solved was his finishing, with Humphries cursed in 2026 over missed doubles and wasted opportunities by a millimetre, meaning that as he picked up the title in Leicester, these worries should be behind him.

For a player of so much class this year, the 31-year-old has struggled in games that are first to eight legs or more, winning 8 from 15. This 53% win rate will limit him in the later rounds, and losing by one leg in three of these 7 losses, the surface-level stat doesn’t reveal all. Winning a final after going three sets down is the best indicator that, in long-format matches, Humphries will cope, but he won’t need to worry about this against Searle in the first round.

Friends of the Oche, Heavy Metal will need to treat Humphries as his enemy if he has any chance of winning. Averaging 94.36, the 5.65-point difference would, in all cases, suggest Searle doesn’t stand a chance, especially with the pace of both players suiting each other, only enhancing this gap further. With the winner meeting either Noppert or Bunting in round two, the Englishman will fancy their draw whether they win this game, but the stats suggest Searle is a big underdog.

Ryan Searle 

21st seed Searle hasn’t performed to the 2026 World Championship standard he set, reaching the semi-final over 10 months ago. Earning £53,000 on the European Tour this year, he has lost more games and legs than he’s won so far. After countless heartbreaks in the past, this didn’t end in 2026, losing to Ross Smith 3-8 at European Tour 7, proving he has the levels but isn’t consistently finding them. Despite winning his annual Players Championship at Players Championship 7, Searle’s European Tour season is the worst in this list, and fans would expect better considering he is seeded in every event.

This guaranteed prize money almost exposes how dependent he is on this World Championship prize money, and this will only keep hanging over his head until he pulls a performance to disprove it. Last week at Maastricht, Searle enjoyed his most successful weekend since May, reaching the quarter-final, meaning although his annual form hasn’t been great in Europe, he’s coming into Dortmund on good form.

First to six legs leaves any player exposed and is the opportunity Searle must grab. As mentioned, Humphries is statistically outclassing Searle, meaning he must find alternative ways to win, and holding his throw could help. Winning 68% of his legs when throwing first, Searle if he wins the bullseye, could have enough in the tank to manage this game and win legs on his throw, focusing on not getting broken, rather than trying to break Humphries’s throw. Searle’s level in long formats has dropped to 92.88, meaning this is his best opportunity at a win. Despite the form, this will be a great watch with both players' respect for one another and pace, building to be a very enjoyable watch.

The All-English Opener: Humphries vs Searle 

Metric	Humphries	Searle
Average	100.01	94.36
First Nine	109.43	102.31
Checkout %	41.21%	40.40%
12-Darter When Possible	12.10%	6.09%
Legs Won Throwing Second	43.28%	39.74%
180s per Leg	0.34	0.25
Deciding Legs Won	48.65%	59.09%

Andrew Gilding

Gilding’s European Tour record looks healthy on the surface, with 16 wins from 30 matches, but nine of those wins came in the round of 48 before the seeds had thrown a dart. Against seeded opposition, Gilding has won seven and lost nine, reaching three quarter-finals across 14 events and going no further. The ceiling is still there, proven by his 103.51 average to knock Van Gerwen out in Bratislava and his 8-3 win over Clayton to lift Players Championship 16. Once games stretch to eight legs or more, however, Gilding has won one of five, a worry when every round after the first is played over at least 19 legs.

The bigger concern is timing. Averaging 83.63 across his last five matches, including 80.34 in a 6-1 defeat to Woodhouse in Maastricht, Gilding arrives in Dortmund in his worst run of form all year. Van Veen, the defending champion, is better in every area, averaging over three points more and checking out at 42.70% to Gilding’s 38.59%. Positives can be found in Kraków, where Gilding averaged 96.54 and took the Dutchman to a last leg before losing 6-5. If that version of Goldfinger turns up, this game is closer than the seedings suggest, but on recent form it is hard to see where it comes from. With Woodhouse or Van Duijvenbode waiting, can he find it in four days?

Dave Chisnall

Chizzy’s European Tour season has been a story of getting through the door and struggling once inside. Eight of his 12 wins came in the round of 48, and once the seeds are in, Chisnall has won four and lost 10, going out in the last 32 at eight of his 12 events. Averaging 90.48 over 12 months, he is the lowest-averaging player in this article, and a 35.69% checkout leaves little room when the scoring drops, as it did with 75.38 in a 2-0 defeat to Humphries at the World Grand Prix. Flashes remain, though. Beating Van Veen 6-5 and Nijman 6-2 with a 100.47 average shows the ceiling, and his 95.50 against Noppert in Maastricht was his second-best European Tour average of the year, arriving at the right time.

Ratajski is a different test entirely. The Polish Eagle won in Leverkusen through consistency rather than power, starting legs with a 103.37 first nine, over four points better than Chisnall, and finishing more reliably. Where Chisnall can hurt him is at the end of games, winning 59.46% of his deciding legs to Ratajski’s 47.37%. With more 180s per leg than the Pole, Chizzy has the scoring bursts to keep it tight. Over 11 legs, consistency usually wins, and it is hard to look past the third seed. Drag it to a deciding leg, though, and the numbers finally swing Chisnall’s way. Can he get there?