The Saturday evening session of the 2026 German Darts Grand Prix in Munich delivered immediate chaos on the European Tour, with Raymond van Barneveld suffering a shock defeat, Peter Wright exiting, and home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko scraping through a nervy decider. The night was defined by fine margins, missed doubles and decisive moments, with three matches going all the way.
The headline moment belonged to German qualifier Marcel Hausotter, who claimed a first-ever win on the European Tour by defeating five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 6-4. Hausotter broke van Barneveld multiple times, sealed an 84 finish on the bull in the closing stages, and took out 76 on tops to seal the memorable victory. Van Barneveld missed six darts at double in a single leg during the contest.
Ricardo Pietreczko edged past Ian White 6-5 in a tense match defined by missed opportunities. Pietreczko forced a decider with a 49 checkout on D8 and dropped to his knees in relief after scraping through. Peter Wright fell 6-3 to Kim Huybrechts, with Wright producing a 96 finish to close the gap but missing opportunities proving costly. Kevin Doets delivered a convincing 6-0 whitewash of Anton Ostlund, including a standout 170 checkout.
Elsewhere, Michael Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode both progressed with 6-2 victories, while Brendan Dolan edged a scrappy deciding leg against Cor Dekker after both players missed multiple darts for the match. The evening's final tie saw Niko Springer edge past fellow German Jan Schmidt 6-5 in another tense deciding leg. Schmidt, making his European Tour debut, broke throw to force the decider but had a nervy start to the final leg. Springer capitalised with a crucial 180 before taking out 69 in two darts to seal victory.
