Why did Humphries and Cullen withdraw?
Dartsnews reported Humphries’ exit as a late decision, taken to give himself a clear week before the European Championship in Dortmund on 22 October. It is a notable change of mind: he had said he would be in the Netherlands chasing a tenth European Tour title, and he arrives in Germany having won the World Grand Prix and then lost the Swiss Darts Trophy final to Jonny Clayton a fortnight later.
No reason has been reported for Cullen’s withdrawal, and its cost is much steeper. He sits 34th on the European Tour Order of Merit on £29,500, £3,500 behind the 32nd and final European Championship place. Maastricht was the only event left in which he could close that gap. By not playing it he has settled the matter himself, and will miss the European Championship for a second year running.
The two places went to Mike De Decker and Gurney, the highest-ranked pair to lose in the deciding round of the Tour Card Holder Qualifier in Den Bosch in September. We wrote on Wednesday that Gurney’s one-year total was final before the circuit had finished, beaten 6-2 by Max Hopp with no route left into the Netherlands. Two phone calls later he is on the Friday evening card.
How the seeding changed
Only the top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit are seeded here, and they are held back until Saturday. Humphries headed that list, so his withdrawal pushed the whole thing up a place and pulled in the next man down. Cross is the beneficiary, and it is more than a cosmetic promotion: instead of a Friday match he now has a Saturday afternoon tie and a round’s head start on the field.
| Player | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Humphries | 1 | Withdrawn |
| Gian van Veen | 2 | 1 |
| Gerwyn Price | 3 | 2 |
| Jonny Clayton | 4 | 3 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 5 | 4 |
| Danny Noppert | 6 | 5 |
| Stephen Bunting | 7 | 6 |
| Wessel Nijman | 8 | 7 |
| Ryan Searle | 9 | 8 |
| Ross Smith | 10 | 9 |
| Chris Dobey | 11 | 10 |
| Nathan Aspinall | 12 | 11 |
| Jermaine Wattimena | 13 | 12 |
| Luke Woodhouse | 14 | 13 |
| Martin Schindler | 15 | 14 |
| Krzysztof Ratajski | 16 | 15 |
| Rob Cross | Unseeded | 16 |
Clayton is third seed and defends the title he won at the Autotron in Rosmalen in 2025, beating Niko Springer 8-6 from 5-2 down. The event has since moved to the MECC in Maastricht. Springer is back, in Friday’s evening session against Scott Williams, with second seed Gerwyn Price waiting on Saturday for whoever wins it.
Round one: Friday 16 October
Thirty-two unseeded players, sixteen matches, two sessions, best of 11 legs throughout. The afternoon session starts at 12:00 UK time and the evening at 18:00, an hour later in Maastricht.
| Session | Match |
|---|---|
| Afternoon, 12:00 | Karel Sedlacek v Callan Rydz |
| Cameron Menzies v Nick Kenny | |
| Jeffrey de Graaf v Mickey Mansell | |
| Dave Chisnall v Jonas Masalin | |
| Andrew Gilding v Max Hopp | |
| Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates | |
| Ricardo Pietreczko v Heine Uuldriks | |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode v James Hurrell | |
| Evening, 18:00 | Sebastian Bialecki v Daryl Gurney |
| William O'Connor v Richard Veenstra | |
| Niko Springer v Scott Williams | |
| Niels Zonneveld v Mike De Decker | |
| Kim Huybrechts v Jimmy van Schie | |
| Cristo Reyes v Krzysztof Kciuk | |
| Damon Heta v Maikel Verberk | |
| Michael Smith v Stephen Burton |
The pick of Friday is in the evening. Niels Zonneveld against De Decker puts a home player in against the Belgian replacement, and Michael Smith against Stephen Burton is a former world champion playing for a major place. Damon Heta faces Maikel Verberk for the right to play Clayton.
Round two: the seeds come in on Saturday
| Session | Seed | Plays |
|---|---|---|
| Afternoon, 12:00 | (14) Martin Schindler | Sedlacek / Rydz |
| (7) Wessel Nijman | De Graaf / Mansell | |
| (13) Luke Woodhouse | Gilding / Hopp | |
| (9) Ross Smith | Joyce / Bates | |
| (5) Danny Noppert | Chisnall / Masalin | |
| (8) Ryan Searle | Van Duijvenbode / Hurrell | |
| (16) Rob Cross | Pietreczko / Uuldriks | |
| (15) Krzysztof Ratajski | Zonneveld / De Decker | |
| Evening, 18:00 | (2) Gerwyn Price | Springer / Williams |
| (12) Jermaine Wattimena | Huybrechts / Van Schie | |
| (6) Stephen Bunting | Menzies / Kenny | |
| (1) Gian van Veen | Bialecki / Gurney | |
| (4) Michael van Gerwen | O'Connor / Veenstra | |
| (3) Jonny Clayton | Heta / Verberk | |
| (11) Nathan Aspinall | M Smith / Burton | |
| (10) Chris Dobey | Reyes / Kciuk |
The draw has put the bubble men in each other’s way
The 32 European Championship places are decided by this weekend, and the draw has been unkind to the men who need it most. Karel Sedlacek, 33rd and first out, opens against Callan Rydz. Win and he goes through to Martin Schindler, who is 31st. The two men either side of the cut have been drawn together in the second round.
The arithmetic of that is worth following. A second-round appearance is worth £3,500, which would lift Sedlacek from £31,000 to exactly £34,500 — Schindler’s current total, to the pound. Whoever wins that tie goes to £36,000 and into the places; whoever loses stays where they are. Schindler, as a seed, falls under the PDC ranking rule we covered on Wednesday: a pre-qualified player beaten in their first match is paid the money but not credited with it.
One round earlier there is a straight shoot-out between the last two men with a live mathematical chance. Sebastian Bialeckiis 36th on £26,000; Gurney is 37th on £22,000; they play each other on Friday evening, and the winner gets top seed Van Veen on Saturday.
| # | Player | Earned | Enters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Martin Schindler | £34,500 | 14th seed, Saturday afternoon |
| 32 | Stephen Bunting | £33,000 | 6th seed, Saturday evening |
| 33 | Karel Sedlacek | £31,000 | v Rydz, Friday afternoon |
| 34 | Joe Cullen | £29,500 | Withdrawn |
| 35 | Michael Smith | £27,000 | v Burton, Friday evening |
| 36 | Sebastian Bialecki | £26,000 | v Gurney, Friday evening |
| 37 | Daryl Gurney | £22,000 | v Bialecki, Friday evening |
The red line marks the top-32 cut. Cullen’s £29,500 can no longer change.
What each of them has to do
Prize money is added to this one-year table and never removed, so £33,000 is a floor rather than a target. Taking it as it stands, this is the minimum each chaser must earn to clear Bunting, read off the published prize ladder.
Derived from the European Tour Order of Merit after ET14 and the Dutch Darts Championship prize breakdown (second round £3,500, quarter-final £8,000, final £15,000). Source: PDPA event listing and Flashscore.
Sedlacek has by far the shortest route, and one win does it. Smith and Bialecki both need the quarter-finals, four wins from where they start. Gurney needs to reach the final, which would be a remarkable fortnight for a man whose season was over on Wednesday. None of those sums account for Bunting himself winning a match and raising the bar.
Sunday, and then Dortmund
Sunday afternoon is the third round at 12:00, and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all run in the evening session from 18:00. Every round to the quarter-finals is best of 11, the semi-finals are best of 13 and the final is best of 15. The winner takes £35,000 from a £230,000 fund.
By the time the final finishes, the European Championship field will be closed. That tournament starts at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund on 22 October with £750,000 on offer and Van Veen defending; our guide to the format explains how it is seeded and played. The rest of the season is on the 2026 calendar, and the qualifying table updates after every session on our European Championship race page.