“The Machine” ends a ten-year title drought on the European Tour
The BLÅKLÄDER Flanders Darts Trophy 2026 marked a milestone for the PDC European Tour: James Wade emerged victorious at the 150th event in the prestigious tournament series. With an 8–4 final victory over Ross Smith, the Englishman celebrated his first title since 2016 in Hamburg and reached a European Tour final for the first time since 2018.
In the final, neither player managed to produce their best form on many occasions, but Wade maintained a more consistent level of play throughout. “The Machine” pulled ahead to 4–2 early on, before Smith narrowed the gap to 3–4 with a 150 checkout. However, ‘Smudger’ was unable to build on this moment of brilliance: Wade pulled away unperturbed to 7–3 and finally sealed the title with a hit on his beloved double 10.
“If things always went well for me, I’d tear them all to pieces”, the champion commented on his performance with his usual dry humour.
From the first to the 150th event
The winner could hardly have been more fitting for this anniversary tournament: James Wade had already reached the final at the very first European Tour event in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Now, at the 150th tournament in the series, the Englishman has come full circle and claimed the title.
Four deciders on the way to the final
For Ross Smith, it was a tournament weekend of close calls. Following a relatively comfortable 6-2 victory over Jeffrey de Graaf in Round Two, the Englishman went the full distance three times in a row. In a top-class match, he defeated Gerwyn Price 6–5; in the quarter-final against Ryan Joyce, the score was again 6–5; and he only secured victory in the semi-final against Gian van Veen in the final leg, winning 7–6. In his fourth European Tour final of the season, however, Smith ultimately missed out on his third title of the year and had high praise for his conqueror after the match:
“I was lucky today and my opponents let me off the hook. But Wade is Wade – he never lets you off the hook. James absolutely deserved the win; he’s simply brilliant. He works hard, he’s always there, he’s a fighter.”
James Wade’s path to the final was far more commanding. After a 6–2 win over Jim Long and a 6–5 victory against Rob Cross, the veteran dispatched Danny Noppert 6–0, before seeing off Damon Heta 7–4 in the semi-final.
Aspinall posts the tournament’s highest average
Nathan Aspinall recorded the highest average of the entire tournament. In his 6–1 victory over Niko Springer, ‘The Asp’ averaged 106 points and hit an outstanding 85.71 per cent of his doubles. Just how close the competition was this weekend was demonstrated by Sunday’s afternoon session: There, the first five matches all went the full distance.
Decisions in the race for the World Grand Prix
The Flanders Darts Trophy also saw the field for the World Grand Prix finalised. The biggest drama came from the head-to-head clash between 22-year-old Pole Sebastian Bialecki and local hero Kim Huybrechts: a match characterised by high double odds and several high finishes turned into a nail-biting decider, in which both players missed several match darts. One of the most spectacular moments was Bialecki’s ‘Big Fish’ – one of three 170 finishes checked off over the weekend. In the end, Bialecki came out on top 6–5. For Huybrechts, this first-round exit – in his home town of all places – also meant the end of all his Grand Prix hopes. The same fate befell Cristo Reyes and Karel Sedlacek, who had initially kept his hopes alive with a commanding 6–2 victory over European Tour debutant Michael Hansen, only to lose to Jermaine Wattimena in the second round. Martin Schindler’s Grand Prix dream also came to an end with his second-round exit against Rob Cross.
Belgian dream ends on Saturday
Of the five Belgian entrants, only Andy Baetens made it through the first round. “The Beast from the East” repeated his feat from Wieze, comfortably defeating Joe Cullen 6–3. On Saturday afternoon, however, it was all over for the last remaining local hero. Against Ryan Searle, Baetens performed well below his potential and lost 2–6.
Outlook
Things are now set to move at a rapid pace for the PDC stars. First up, from 17 to 20 September, are the World Series of Darts Finals, followed by the World Grand Prix. Two more tournaments on the Winamax PDC European Tour are then scheduled for October. In Basel and Maastricht the final titles of the season will be decided, before 22 to 25 October 2026 the big showdown for the European crown takes place at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund.
