European Championship darts 2026 draw: Littler faces O’Connor as Noppert meets Bunting

Luke Littler is set to face William O’Connor in the European Championship darts 2026 draw, while Danny Noppert and Stephen Bunting meet in another standout first-round tie.

The pairings were settled by the conclusion of the European Tour season in Maastricht, where Niels Zonneveld’s first senior PDC ranking title changed the seedings for Dortmund.

The 32-player tournament runs from Thursday 22 October to Sunday 25 October, with defending champion Gian van Veen opening against Andrew Gilding.

European Championship darts 2026 draw in full

The field and seedings are determined by prize money earned across the season’s 15 European Tour events.

Ross Smith heads the rankings and faces Karel Sedlacek, while second seed Wessel Nijman takes on Martin Schindler. Michael van Gerwen meets fellow Dutchman Kevin Doets, and last year’s runner-up Luke Humphries faces Ryan Searle.

The first-round pairings listed by DartsKing are:

Player	Opponent
Ross Smith	Karel Sedlacek
Wessel Nijman	Martin Schindler
Krzysztof Ratajski	Dave Chisnall
Niels Zonneveld	Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert	Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall	Cristo Reyes
Jonny Clayton	Niko Springer
Gian van Veen	Andrew Gilding
Luke Woodhouse	Dirk van Duijvenbode
Josh Rock	Chris Dobey
Luke Littler	William O’Connor
Luke Humphries	Ryan Searle
Gerwyn Price	Rob Cross
Kevin Doets	Michael van Gerwen
Ryan Joyce	Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade	Damon Heta

These pairings are listed by seed order, rather than order of play. Individual match times have yet to be confirmed.

How Zonneveld’s title changed Littler’s opponent

Zonneveld’s 8-5 victory over Noppert in the Dutch Darts Championship final lifted him to fourth in the European Tour standings and secured a meeting with Cameron Menzies.

It also helped settle Littler’s opening assignment. The world champion finished 11th and will face O’Connor, who beat Van Gerwen in Maastricht on Saturday.

Had Noppert won the final, Littler would instead have faced Chris Dobey. Zonneveld’s victory left Dobey paired with Josh Rock.

Noppert must now respond to his final defeat against Bunting, another player whose Maastricht run ended against Zonneveld. Bunting reached the semi-finals after securing his place in the European Championship qualification battle.

When is the European Championship and how can I watch?

The tournament takes place at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, with UK coverage on ITV4 and streaming through ITVX.

The official PDC Europe session schedule splits the first round across Thursday and Friday. The second round follows on Saturday, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday.

Date	Round	Session start — UK
Thursday 22 October	First round: eight matches	6pm
Friday 23 October	First round: eight matches	6pm
Saturday 24 October	Second round: four matches	12pm
Saturday 24 October	Second round: four matches	6pm
Sunday 25 October	Quarter-finals	12pm
Sunday 25 October	Semi-finals and final	6pm

The winner receives £150,000 from a £750,000 prize fund. Every qualifier earns at least £7,500, with the full breakdown in our European Championship prize-money guide.

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