Photo: PDC Europe / (Tom Sauels)
By Ryan Segal
Darius Rucker once sang the line:
“When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
For a handful of tungsten titans from Team Unicorn, they’ll be able to say they did something new by Monday, as the first ever European Tour in Slovakia takes place this weekend.
For the 9th iteration of the Euro Tour in the 2026 season, we find our eyes drifting towards the magnificent city of Bratislava - birthplace of Vladimir Weiss, a name many Rangers fans will smile when thinking about.
But, as you would expect from a piece from Unicorn, darts is what we’re here for - and here’s what you need to know about our boys on the stage this weekend.
First to take the Bratislava Bull by the horns is Throwin’ Owen himself, Owen Bates.
The Devon Dartist makes his first trip to the continent this season, having started the year with a clean slate, following his superb performances on the Development Tour in 2025.
He’s had a steady season so far, with a major highlight being a 9 dart leg in an ET7 Qualifier against Adam Gawlas, and a 105 average in beating Stephen Burton at PC5.
He’s also put in some cracking performances on the Development Tour, and continues to mature as one the brightest talents in the sport.
He’s our only representative in the afternoon session, facing Kevin Doets in Game Four - with the winner facing Damon Heta in Game Two tomorrow afternoon.
Not only does this weekend mark a first time for the PDC in Slovakia - it also marks a first European Tour appearance for Tom Sykes.
The Castleford Tiger has made the blistering start to life on the tour that we knew he was capable of, sitting 90th in Order of Merit after just half a year at the top table.
His highlights include a best run thus far to the L8 at PC9, and a run to the fourth round at the UK Open.
Basically - The Tiger King is staking his claim for the crown…but is using his darts to do it.
He faces Niko Springer in Game Five of Friday’s evening session - with a tie against Martin Schindler the reward for the winner.
Directly following Tom onto the stage is the ethereal Cameron Menzies.
Cammy did both himself and his nation proud last weekend, donning the Scottish colours for the first time in the PDC, as he and Gary Anderson reached the Semi-Final of the World Cup.
He revealed to us that his form on the European Tour played a big role in feeling more confident on that stage - and it’s not hard to see why.
He’s shone in the last few events, reaching a maiden Semi-Final on the ET stage, and throwing some monster averages in the process.
He’s back playing like the Cammy we know he is - a power scorer with a penchant for pinning D16.
He comes into the event 22nd in the race for Dortmund - £7,000 clear of the cut off point that 33rd spot.
We don’t actually know who he’s playing at the time of writing, as he’s been drawn to face Host Nation Qualifier 1.
Whoever that turns out to be, Cameron will be focused on the task in front of him and getting through to Saturday - Where a tie against Gerwyn Price is his prospective reward.
He’d once again be following Tom onto the stage in the schedule, facing the Welshman in Game 4 of the evening.
Our guaranteed Saturday Night viewing comes in the form of Ross Smith - who some would argue is playing the darts of his life.
In the space of just over a week in late May-early June, Smudger romped home to his first European Tour title, and followed it up with a second Players Championship title of the year.
He comes into ET9 top of the pile in the European Championship race - but all that’s on his mind is winning and winning more after that.
Ross Smith is a champion. Simple as.
His quest to add another piece of European Tour Silverware (and to move within one of his beloved Man Utd) gets underway in the final game of Saturday evening, as he faces either Joe Cullen or Peter Kelemen.
Every game this weekend is live on PDCTV for UK viewers, and via PDC Partners around the world - if you can’t tune in, you can follow each match dart by dart on the PDC website.