Michael van Gerwen will be out to win the German Darts Championship
Saturday 25 March 2017 22:02, UK
Michael van Gerwen will open his challenge on the 2017 PDC European Tour this weekend as Alan Norris defends his German Darts Championship.
The Dutch ace will open his challenge against either Bernd Roith or Jermaine Wattimena at Halle 39 in Hildesheim.
World Champion Van Gerwen is amongst 48 players who will take to the stage in the £135,000 tournament from Friday to Sunday, as the year's 12-event European Tour begins.
Van Gerwen, along with the other 15 seeded players, will enter at the second-round stage on Saturday night, and plays the winner of Friday's first-round tie between German qualifier Roith and Dutchman Wattimena.
Reigning German Darts Championship winner Norris, meanwhile, will face either Richie Corner or Kirk Shepherd in his opener on Saturday.
Number two seed Peter Wright, the recent UK Open champion, comes up against one of two Dutchmen, former Lakeside champion Christian Kist or European Tour debutant Michael Plooy.
James Wade, a European Tour winner in Hamburg last year, will play either Darren Johnson or German qualifier Robert Allenstein in his opening tie on Saturday.
Mensur Suljovic, who won his maiden PDC title on the 2016 European Tour, will play either fellow Austrian Michael Rasztovits or another former European Tour winner, Mervyn King.
Two of last weekend's PDC Unicorn Development Tour winners, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Adam Hunt, will clash in Friday's first round, which sees the 32 qualifiers from across Europe face off.
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