Former European Tour winners James Wade and Steve Beaton clash on the opening day of the European Darts Open.
The year’s first £135,000 PDC European Tour event will see 48 players competing at the Ostermann Arena in Leverkusen from March 23-25.
Today’s first round features the 32 qualifiers, with the field having been finalised on Thursday evening with the South & Central Europe Qualifier and Host Nation Qualifier, which found the final 12 players.
UK Qualifiers Wade and Beaton, who have each tasted victory on the European Tour circuit previously, will clash on Friday night in a plum first round tie – with the winner set to take on Jelle Klaasen in round two.
Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis, another former European Tour winner, will play Ritchie Edhouse in their opening tie, before the winner takes on current World Champion Rob Cross in the last 32.
Experienced Wayne Jones meets youngster Chris Dobey, who reached his second PDC ProTour final last weekend, while Wigan’s Martin Atkins – a PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour event winner in January – plays Richard North.
Youngsters Luke Woodhouse and Ryan Meikle clash in the tournament’s opening tie, while two European Tour debutants, Lincolnshire’s Mark Wilson and Scottish ace Cameron Menzies, will also clash on Friday afternoon.
Luke Humphries plays Darren Johnson in another tie involving two UK Qualifiers, while Host Nation Qualifiers Gabriel Clemens and Thomas Junghans will clash.
Dutch duo Danny Noppert – on his European Tour debut – and Jeffrey de Zwaan will clash in a mouth-watering tie, while World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh takes on Ron Meulenkamp.
Former Austrian Darts Open champions Justin Pipe and Vincent van der Voort take on Michael Rasztovits and Marko Kantele respectively, while Jamie Hughes’ European Tour debut sees him up against top German Max Hopp.
Saturday’s second round sees the 16 seeded players enter the action, headlined by world number one Michael van Gerwen and number two seed Peter Wright – who won six and five European Tour events respectively last year.
2017 Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner Michael Smith and Premier League stars Daryl Gurney, Mensur Suljovic, Simon Whitlock and Gerwyn Price also come into the event in Saturday’s play.
The European Darts Open will then conclude on Sunday, with the third round in the afternoon session and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in the evening session.
The European Darts Open will be broadcast for all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide via www.pdc.tv, as well as via a series of bookmakers’ websites.
Host Nation Qualifiers
HNQ1 Gabriel Clemens
HNQ2 Max Hopp
HNQ3 Maik Langendorf
HNQ4 Thomas Junghans
European Qualifiers
EQ1 Vincent van der Voort
EQ2 Michael Rasztovits
EQ3 Ron Meulenkamp
EQ4 Jermaine Wattimena
EQ5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
EQ6 Jan Dekker
EQ7 Dimitri Van den Bergh
EQ8 Danny Noppert
2018 European Darts Open (ET1)
Draw Bracket
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Mark Wilson/Cameron Menzies
Alan Norris (16) v Jonny Clayton/Jermaine Wattiemena
Simon Whitlock (8) v Jan Dekker/Tytus Kanik
Dave Chisnall (9) v Marko Kantele/Vincent van der Voort
Daryl Gurney (5) v Ron Meulenkamp/Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ian White (12) v Michael Rasztovits/Justin Pipe
Rob Cross (4) v Adrian Lewis/Ritchie Edhouse
Gerwyn Price (13) v Martin Atkins/Richard North
Peter Wright (2) v Luke Woodhouse/Ryan Meikle
Kyle Anderson (15) v Maik Langendorf/John Henderson
Joe Cullen (7) v Danny Noppert/Jeffrey de Zwaan
Kim Huybrechts (10) v Wayne Jones/Chris Dobey
Mensur Suljovic (6) v Jamie Hughes/Max Hopp
Mervyn King (11) v Thomas Junghans/Gabriel Clemens
Michael Smith (3) v Luke Humphries/Darren Johnson
Jelle Klaasen (14) v James Wade/Steve Beaton
Schedule of Play
Friday March 23
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm GMT)
Luke Woodhouse v Ryan Meikle
Martin Atkins v Richard North
Mark Wilson v Cameron Menzies
Jan Dekker v Tytus Kanik
Jamie Hughes v Max Hopp
Luke Humphries v Darren Johnson
Michael Rasztovits v Justin Pipe
Maik Langendorf v John Henderson
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm GMT)
Marko Kantele v Vincent van der Voort
Ron Meulenkamp v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Wayne Jones v Chris Dobey
Danny Noppert v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena
Thomas Junghans v Gabriel Clemens
Adrian Lewis v Ritchie Edhouse
James Wade v Steve Beaton
Saturday March 24
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm GMT)
Ian White v Rasztovits/Pipe
Gerwyn Price v Atkins/North
Kyle Anderson v LangendorfHenderson
Dave Chisnall v Kantele/Van der Voort
Alan Norris v Clayton/Wattimena
Kim Huybrechts v Jones/Dobey
Joe Cullen v Noppert/De Zwaan
Mervyn King v Junghans/Clemens
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm GMT)
Simon Whitlock v Dekker/Kanik
Daryl Gurney v Meulenkamp/Van den Bergh
Michael van Gerwen v Wilson/Menzies
Peter Wright v Woodhouse/Meikle
Rob Cross v Lewis/Edhouse
Jelle Klaasen v Wade/Beaton
Mensur Suljovic v Hughes/Hopp
Michael Smith v Humphries/Johnson
Sunday March 25
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm GMT)
Third Round
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
All games up to and including the quarter-finals are the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals being the best of 13 legs and the final being the best of 15 legs. Sunday’s games will be played in draw bracket order.