Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall withdraw from Swiss Darts Trophy as Bunting defends title
Four players pulled out of the Swiss Darts Trophy in Basel before Friday's first round, as Stephen Bunting starts his title defence on Saturday.
The 2026 Swiss Darts Trophy has lost three of its big names before a dart has been thrown. Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall, along with Ryan Joyce, have withdrawn from the PDC European Tour event in Basel, which starts on Friday, 9 October. No reasons have been given. Their places go to Karel Sedlacek, Alan Soutar, Rob Owen and Nick Kenny from the reserve list, while defending champion Stephen Bunting opens his title defence on Saturday. This follows on from earlier previews of the event, with the withdrawals confirmed on Thursday.
Who is out and who is in
Price, Anderson and Aspinall were all due to be seeded at St Jakobshalle, so their absence reshapes the draw. With the original seeds gone, the remaining players moved up the seedings list, and the four reserves were placed straight into Friday's first round. The PDC fills such gaps with the highest-ranked Tour Card holders who lost in the final round of qualifying.
The new first-round ties are Sebastian Bialecki against Sedlacek, Dave Chisnall against Soutar, Michael Smith against Owen, and Kevin Doets against Kenny. Luke Littler is also not in the field, and DartsNews reports he is skipping the remaining European Tour events this season.
Seeds and the key Saturday ties
Luke Humphries, who won the World Grand Prix in Leicester last Sunday, is the top seed. Gian van Veen is second, followed by Jonny Clayton, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock. Bunting is seeded seventh.
The 16 seeds enter in round two on Saturday. Bunting meets the winner of Jeffrey de Graaf against Sietse Lap, while Humphries plays the winner of Doets and Kenny. Van Veen faces the winner of Niko Springer against Roman Wellinger, and Clayton takes on either Raymond van Barneveld or Maik Kuivenhoven. Rock could face Chisnall or Soutar.
Bunting back where he won last year
Bunting won the 2025 Swiss Darts Trophy in Basel, beating Luke Woodhouse 8-3 in the final. This year's event is the 14th and penultimate stop on the European Tour, and it carries weight in the race to qualify for the European Championship later in the season.
The prize fund is £230,000, with £35,000 for the winner and £15,000 for the runner-up. First-round losers take home £2,000.
Schedule in Malaysia time
Basel is six hours behind Malaysia. Friday's first round starts at 1pm local time (7pm in Malaysia), with the evening session at 7pm local (1am Saturday in Malaysia). Round two follows the same pattern on Saturday. On Sunday, round three begins at 12pm local (6pm in Malaysia), and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final start at 6pm local, or midnight going into Monday in Malaysia. Schedules may change.
At the time of writing, first-round play had not yet started.
Key takeaways
- Gerwyn Price, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall and Ryan Joyce have withdrawn from the 2026 Swiss Darts Trophy.
- Karel Sedlacek, Alan Soutar, Rob Owen and Nick Kenny replace them in round one.
- Luke Humphries is top seed; defending champion Stephen Bunting is seeded seventh.
- The winner earns £35,000 from a £230,000 prize fund.
- The final session starts at midnight on Sunday night, Malaysia time.
FAQ
Why did Price, Anderson and Aspinall pull out of the Swiss Darts Trophy? No reasons were released when the withdrawals were confirmed on 8 October.
Who won the Swiss Darts Trophy last year? Stephen Bunting, who beat Luke Woodhouse 8-3 in the 2025 final in Basel.
What time does the final session start in Malaysia? The quarter-final, semi-final and final session begins at 6pm in Basel on Sunday, which is midnight in Malaysia.
Sources: DartsNews, Darts World, PDC, Wikipedia