Michael van Gerwen leads field for European Championship
Monday 16 October 2017 21:08, UK
Michael van Gerwen headlines the list of 32 qualified players for this month's European Championship but former winner Adrian Lewis misses out.
Jackpot is joined in missing the event by fellow major winners James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld and Robert Thornton, all of whom missed qualification while Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson have not competed on the European Tour this year.
After his victory in Gottingen on Sunday, MVG will top the seedings for the event which will be held in Hasselt, Belgium and is the culmination of the European Tour season and its 12 events across the season.
The top 32 players from the final European Tour Order of Merit qualify and after his six titles, it is MVG who will lead the way as he chases a fourth successive European Championship title.
Peter Wright, who won five of the other six titles available, finished second in the standings and Michael Smith, winner of May's Gibraltar Darts Trophy, takes third spot.
2016 European Championship runner-up Mensur Suljovic is joined among the eight seeds by Jelle Klaasen, Rob Cross, Joe Cullen and 2012 European Champion Simon Whitlock.
Home fans with have brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts to cheer on while the pair are joined by youngster Dimitri Van den Bergh who has also made the finals.
Germany's only debutant is Martin Schindler while Polish ace Krzysztof Ratajski makes his first European Championship appearance following a strong year on the European Tour.
Nathan Aspinall, Jan Dekker and James Richardson secured their qualification with their performances in Gottingen over the weekend, while Darren Webster and Jonny Clayton held on to qualify ahead of James Wilson, who misses out on count back.
2017 European Championship - Field
Seeds - (1) Michael van Gerwen; (2) Peter Wright; (3) Michael Smith; (4) Mensur Suljovic; (5) Jelle Klaasen; (6) Rob Cross; (7) Joe Cullen; (8) Simon Whitlock
Qualifiers - Dave Chisnall, Benito van de Pas, Kim Huybrechts, Daryl Gurney, Mervyn King, Gerwyn Price, Cristo Reyes, Ian White, Stephen Bunting, Krzysztof Ratajski, Alan Norris, Vincent van der Voort, Martin Schindler, Christian Kist, John Henderson, Kyle Anderson, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Steve Beaton, Nathan Aspinall, Ronny Huybrechts, Jan Dekker, James Richardson, Darren Webster, Jonny Clayton.
The Grand Slam of Darts gets underway on Sky Sports next month as the best of the PDC compete against the best of the BDO - the action from the Wolverhampton Civic Hall begins on Saturday, November 11 with a double session.
Keep up to date with the news as the tungsten enters it's busiest time of year with the PDC World Championships just around the corner get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts.
