European Darts Matchplay set for take-off in Germany
Monday 9 September 2019 14:14, UK
The European Tour heads to Maimarkthalle, Germany this weekend, with 48 of the world's top players gunning for glory.
Former European Tour event champions Robert Thornton and Kim Huybrechts will meet in the opening round of the 2019 European Darts Matchplay on Friday.
The first round will see 32 qualifiers competing across two sessions, with the replay of the 2015 European Darts Open final between Thornton v Huybrechts the pick of the ties.
The opening day of action will also see World Matchplay runner-up Michael Smith play Steve Lennon, for the right to face three-time champion Michael van Gerwen, while Simon Whitlock takes on Keegan Brown.
Saturday will see the 16 seeded players enter the event in round two, including world number one Van Gerwen, crowd favourite Peter Wright and last weekend's Austrian Darts Championship winner Mensur Suljovic.
The field was completed on Thursday night, with Marvin Wehder, Florian Hempel, Steffen Siepmann and Karsten Koch winning through the Host Nation Qualifier and Cody Harris being joined by Wesley Plaisier in winning through the West & South Europe Associate Member Qualifier.
The top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit as of September 29 will qualify for October's Unibet European Championship.
2019 European Darts Matchplay
Tournament Draw Bracket
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith/Steve Lennon
(16) Mensur Suljovic v Robert Thornton/Kim Huybrechts
(8) Adrian Lewis v Dirk van Duijvenbode/Krzysztof Kciuk
(9) Krzysztof Ratajski v Keegan Brown/Simon Whitlock
(5) Daryl Gurney v John Henderson/Ryan Joyce
(12) Rob Cross v Dennis Nilsson/Marvin Wehder
(4) Dave Chisnall v Ryan Meikle/Brett Claydon
(13) Ricky Evans v Maik Kuivenhoven/Karsten Koch
(2) Ian White v Gabriel Clemens/Steffen Siepmann
(15) Jonny Clayton v Scott Taylor/Matthew Edgar
(7) James Wade v Bradley Brooks/Mark McGeeney
(10) Nathan Aspinall v Jeffrey de Zwaan/Wayne Jones
(6) Peter Wright v Max Hopp/William O'Connor
(11) Joe Cullen v Jamie Hughes/Wesley Plaisier
(3) Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel/Simon Stevenson
(14) Glen Durrant v Cody Harris/Ross Smith
Tune into the latest episode of the Darts Show podcast next week to hear interviews with Phil Taylor and more!
It's not long to wait until darts is back on Sky Sports, the World Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday, October 6 at Dublin's Citywest Arena and seven days of coverage continues until the final on Saturday, October 12.
