What a fantastic start to this great darts weekend in Assen! De Bonte Wever was the stage on Thursday for the warm-up tournaments of the Dutch Open Darts 2026. No fewer than 1,254 players competed in the open category, while 122 players took part in the women’s warm-up event.

Newly crowned Lakeside champion Jimmy van Schie proved to be the best of the more than twelve hundred participants on Thursday and claimed the open warm-up title. The player from Breda defeated fellow Dutchman Wesley Plaisier — one of the surprises of the most recent PDC World Championship — in an exciting final. The match ended 5-3 in favor of the Lakeside champion.

Jimmy had already eliminated former Lakeside winner Andy Baetens in the last 16 (4-2). In the quarterfinals he beat Tom van den Hoogen 4-0, and in the semifinals he brushed aside Danny van Klompenburg without dropping a single leg once again (4-0). Wesley, meanwhile, defeated Micha Boekelaar (4-3) and Patrick Maat (4-1), then secured his place in the final by overcoming Wesley van Trijp in a deciding leg (4-3).

Emine Dursun
The women’s tournament was won by Emine Dursun from Turkey. The number seventeen on the international WDF ranking defeated Dutch player Anca Zijlstra in the warm-up final, winning convincingly 4-0. From the last 16 onward, Dursun dropped only one leg in total.

She first beat Adriana van Wijgerden-Vermaat (3-0), followed by a 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Annegret Willkomm. In the semifinals, Emine Dursun proved too strong for the Netherlands’ Sharona Veld (3-1). Anca reached the final by defeating Tineke Kalsbeek (3-1), Melissa Landkroon (3-1), and Sharon Straatsma in a deciding leg (3-2).

After this excellent opening day of the Dutch Open Darts in Assen, the tournament continues on Friday with the pairs events. Once again, congratulations to today’s winners: Jimmy van Schie and Emine Dursun!

Picture: Jos Groen