European Grand Prix Darts 2025 Predictions: 25/1 Smith set for first title of the year

The darts calendar returns to Germany, as the PDC Euro Tour continues...

Our darts expert Sean Rafferty gives his European Grand Prix Darts 2025 predictions - three each-way selections in the outright market.

History, Location and Format

The 2025 European Grand Prix Darts is the eleventh running of this PDC event, having been first held in 2014. It forms the sixth of fourteen events on the PDC European Tour.

The tournament will be held at the Glaspalast, Sindelfingen, Germany, with this year's event running from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th May and will be shown on PDCTv.

The defending champion is Gary Anderson, who defeated compatriot Ross Smith 8-6 in the 2024 final.

Prize Money

There is a prize fund in of £175,000 on offer to the 48 participants.

Draw

European Grand Prix Darts Odds

1pt Ross Smith each-way @ 25/1

Here we are again - it’s a familiar selection in the form of Ross Smith.

We didn’t back him last week at the Austrian Darts Open, but he impressed with a run to the final, seeing off Chris Landman with ease before defeating Wright, Van Duijvenbode and Joyce. He ran out of steam in the final, beaten 8-4 by the brilliant Martin Schindle, but it was another step in the right direction for Smudger and that first title of 2025 still looks like it could be looming if he keeps up this consistency.

The draw for the first couple of rounds looks kind enough to Ross - he’ll face Paul Krohne on the Friday which should be no issue, followed by a second-round tie against an out-of-sorts Dave Chisnall, whom Ross beat 6-2 a couple weeks back on the European Tour.

Chris Dobey is the player he’d most likely face on Sunday afternoo and with Dobey’s underwhelming record on the European Tour, particularly on Sundays, you’d have to favour Smith in that one too.

Humphries is the obvious threat in this quarter of the draw, but Luke will face some potentially tricky ties before the Sunday evening and hasn’t exactly expressed his enjoyment for these overseas events recently.

My main concern is Smith’s efficiency at getting over the line. He’s now lost out in all three Euro Tour finals he’s played in. But at 25/1, Smudger looks great each-way value.

He’s made the QFs or further in four of his five European Tour events this year, so we can be confident of getting a good run for our money here.

0.5pts Ryan Joyce each-way @ 50/1

This is the third European Tour event on the trot that I’m getting behind Ryan Joyce, because he’s given me absolutely no reason to jump off.

We got yet another good run for our money out of 'Relentless' last weekend in Austria, with the big Geordie reaching the semi-finals in Graz. Once again, he saw off several big names with relative ease - 6-1 against Searle, 6-3 against Chisnall, 6-1 against Heta.

It’s really not a surprise anymore and these runs are becoming all the more regular. He seems to be transitioning from a very good floor player to a very good big-stage player, with impressive runs at the World Championship and World Grand Prix in late 2024 too.

The draw looks kind enough to Ryan. Clayton and Bunting are the biggest hitters in his quarter but they aren’t in formidable form and Joyce has already proven he can beat almost anyone on top form.

QFs or better in his last three European Tour events suggests he's, once again, a cracking each-way play at 50/1.

He has plenty to play for in terms of qualifying for the Betfred World Matchplay and the likes, so every event is an important one for him right now. One title on the European Tour could escalate him onto bigger things.

0.5pts Niels Zonneveld each-way @ 150/1

I’ve been quietly impressed with the form of Zonneveld for a couple of months now, and this weekend looks like a good time to pull the trigger on him at a huge price.

Niels made the semi-finals of the Czech Darts Open at the tail-end of the European Tour last year, so that experience should stand him in good stead. He’s only made one appearance on the European Tour this year before this week, but it was another good event, with impressive wins over Daryl Gurney and James Wade before narrowly losing out to Ryan Joyce in the last 16 in a high-quality match.

Form on the Pro Tour has also been encouraging - making three QFs or better over the last seven PC events. The next step will be to make his first PDC final, which has never looked more likely, with 'Triple Z' playing the best darts of his career to date in my opinion.

The reality is he won’t have an easy match this week. He’ll be the underdog against Ryan Searle in his opening match on Friday, but it’s one I feel he can win if he continues this recent form. He’d then face Nathan Aspinall on Saturday, but again Nathan has shown some indifferent form at times on the European Tour, like his 6-2 hammering at the hands of Kevin Doets last weekend.

It’s a big ask, but he's well worth a go at triple-figure odds to spring a surprise.

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