Why Gary Anderson is not playing at the European Championship

Gary Anderson will miss the 2026 European Championship after finishing outside the top 32 on the European Tour Order of Merit.

The two-time world champion ended the qualifying campaign 45th with £15,000. Michael Smith, Joe Cullen and Peter Wright are also absent from the Dortmund field.

Why did Gary Anderson miss out?

Under the PDC’s qualification rules, European Championship places are decided by prize money earned at that calendar year’s European Tour events.

A player’s main world ranking does not secure entry. That distinction also explains why Luke Littler is seeded 11th.

Anderson’s absence was settled before the final event. The pre-tournament qualification update confirmed he had withdrawn from the Swiss Darts Trophy and had not entered the Dutch Darts Championship.

He therefore had no remaining opportunity to improve his qualifying total.

Which other players failed to qualify?

The final European Tour standings include several familiar names below the qualification line.

Player	Final position	European Tour ranking money
Kim Huybrechts	33rd	£34,500
Joe Cullen	35th	£29,500
Michael Smith	36th	£28,500
Daryl Gurney	37th	£24,000
Gary Anderson	45th	£15,000
Raymond van Barneveld	78th	£6,000
Peter Wright	105th	£3,500

Smith’s hopes ended with a 6-1 defeat by Nathan Aspinall in Maastricht.

Huybrechts suffered the narrowest miss, finishing level on money with 32nd-placed Karel Sedlacek but losing out on countback. Stephen Bunting secured his place and eventually finished 28th.

When is the European Championship?

The tournament runs from 22–25 October at Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle, with UK coverage on ITV4.

Our European Championship draw and schedule has the first-round pairings and tournament details.

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