Michael Smith will be looking to set up a second-round clash with world number one Michael van Gerwen when he takes on Steve Lennon on the opening day of the European Darts Matchplay, in Mannheim today.
The world number five is in a battle to qualify for next month’s European Championship, as he currently sits joint-37th on the European Tour Order of Merit with three events to go.
The top 32, following the Gibraltar Darts Trophy at the end of this month, will qualify, and World Matchplay runner-up Smith, who has not qualified for next week’s International Darts Open, in Riesa, is £2,500 adrift of Max Hopp, in 32nd spot.
Smith takes on World Cup finalist Lennon in the first round of the European Darts Matchplay, the 11th event on this year’s European Tour, this evening, with the winner to face top seed van Gerwen in the last 32 on Saturday.
Mensur Suljovic, who beat van Gerwen 8-7 in the final of last weekend’s Austrian Darts Championship, is the 16th seed in Mannheim, and will play a former European Tour winner in either Robert Thornton or Kim Huybrechts tomorrow.
Second seed Ian White, a two-time winner on the European Tour in 2019, opens up against whoever prevails in the all-German clash between Gabriel Clemens and Steffen Siepmann.
The three other winners on this year’s European Tour, Dave Chisnall, Daryl Gurney and Jamie Hughes are also in action in Germany this weekend.
Chisnall, the fourth seed, plays either Ryan Meikle or Brett Claydon, fifth seed Gurney takes on John Henderson or Ryan Joyce, while Czech Darts Open champion Hughes starts in the first round against Dutchman Wesley Plaisier today. The winner faces 11th seed Joe Cullen on Saturday.
World Matchplay champion Rob Cross will play Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson or Germany’s Marvin Wehder in the second round, Peter Wright meets home favourite Max Hopp or Ireland’s Willie O’Connor, and James Wade goes up against Bradley Brooks or Mark McGeeney in his first game.
UK Open and US Darts Masters winner Nathan Aspinall starts against Jeffrey de Zwaan or Wayne Jones, Grand Slam holder Gerwyn Price plays Florian Hempel or Simon Stevenson, and two-time world champion Adrian Lewis opens his campaign against Dirk van Duijvenbode or Krzysztof Kcuik.
Recent World Matchplay semi-finalist Glen Durrant is the 14th seed and will play Cody Harris or Ross Smith, 15th seed Jonny Clayton faces either Scott Taylor or Matthew Edgar, Ricky Evans meets Maik Kuivenhoven or Karsten Koch, and ninth seed Krzysztof Ratajski opens against Keegan Brown or Simon Whitlock.
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Race to the 2019 European Championship (after 10 of 13 events – top 32 qualify)
| Position | Name | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen | £125,000 |
| 2 | Ian White | £86,000 |
| 3 | Daryl Gurney | £53,500 |
| 4 | Mensur Suljovic | £52,500 |
| 5 | Dave Chisnall | £45,500 |
| = | Peter Wright | £45,500 |
| 7 | Gerwyn Price | £42,000 |
| 8 | Jamie Hughes | £40,500 |
| 9 | Rob Cross | £29,000 |
| 10 | Stephen Bunting | £27,000 |
| 11 | Keegan Brown | £25,000 |
| 12 | Simon Whitlock | £24,500 |
| 13 | Adrian Lewis | £22,500 |
| 14 | Joe Cullen | £22,000 |
| 15 | Chris Dobey | £21,000 |
| = | Ricky Evans | £21,000 |
| 17 | Steve Beaton | £20,500 |
| = | James Wade | £20,500 |
| 19 | Mervyn King | £20,000 |
| 20 | Darren Webster | £19,000 |
| 21 | Jermaine Wattimena | £18,000 |
| = | Nathan Aspinall | £18,000 |
| 23 | Vincent van der Voort | £16,500 |
| 24 | Jonny Clayton | £15,500 |
| 25 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | £14,000 |
| 26 | Glen Durrant | £13,000 |
| = | Ted Evetts | £13,000 |
| 28 | Krzysztof Ratajski | £12,000 |
| 29 | Ross Smith | £11,000 |
| = | Dimitri Van den Bergh | £11,000 |
| 31 | Brendan Dolan | £10,000 |
| 32 | Max Hopp | £9,500 |
| 33 | Rowby-John Rodriguez | £9,000 |
| = | Raymond van Barneveld | £9,000 |
| 35 | Kyle Anderson | £8,000 |
| = | Justin Pipe | £8,000 |
| 37 | William O’Connor | £7,000 |
| = | Mike De Decker | £7,000 |
| = | Danny Noppert | £7,000 |
| = | Michael Smith | £7,000 |
| = | James Wilson | £7,000 |
| = | John Henderson | £7,000 |
| = | Karel Sedlacek | £7,000 |
| 44 | Dennis Nilsson | £6,000 |
| = | Kirk Shepherd | £6,000 |
| = | Andrew Gilding | £6,000 |
| = | Luke Humphries | £6,000 |
| = | Ritchie Edhouse | £6,000 |
| = | Josh Payne | £6,000 |
| = | Kim Huybrechts | £6,000 |
| 51 | Jose De Sousa | £5,000 |
| = | Cameron Menzies | £5,000 |
| = | Ron Meulenkamp | £5,000 |
| = | Mickey Mansell | £5,000 |
| = | Gabriel Clemens | £5,000 |
| = | Steve Lennon | £5,000 |
| = | Ryan Searle | £5,000 |
| = | James Richardson | £5,000 |
| 59 | Madars Razma | £4,000 |
| = | Mark Webster | £4,000 |
| = | Scott Taylor | £4,000 |
| = | Michael Rasztovits | £4,000 |
| = | Tytus Kanik | £4,000 |
| = | Boris Koltsov | £4,000 |
| 65 | Corey Cadby | £3,000 |
| = | Ryan Harrington | £3,000 |
| = | Ryan Joyce | £3,000 |
| = | Dietmar Burger | £3,000 |
| = | Steve West | £3,000 |
| = | Martin Schindler | £3,000 |
| = | Danny van Trijp | £3,000 |
| = | Gavin Carlin | £3,000 |
| = | Kim Viljanen | £3,000 |
| = | Kevin Munch | £3,000 |
| = | Andy Boulton | £3,000 |
| = | Wesley Plaisier | £3,000 |
| = | Mark McGeeney | £3,000 |
| = | Darius Labanauskas | £3,000 |
| = | Diogo Portela | £3,000 |
| = | Pavel Jirkal | £3,000 |
| = | Jyhan Artut | £3,000 |
| 82 | Christian Bunse | £2,000 |
| = | Kevin Burness | £2,000 |
| = | Adam Gawlas | £2,000 |
| = | Cody Harris | £2,000 |
| = | Florian Hempel | £2,000 |
| = | Per Laursen | £2,000 |
| = | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | £2,000 |
| = | Luke Woodhouse | £2,000 |
| = | Stefan Bellmont | £2,000 |
| = | Devon Petersen | £2,000 |
| = | Alan Norris | £2,000 |
| = | Robert Thornton | £2,000 |
| = | William Borland | £2,000 |
| = | Niels Zonneveld | £2,000 |
| = | Dragutin Horvat | £2,000 |
| = | Michael Hurtz | £2,000 |
| = | Dave Prins | £2,000 |
| = | Matthew Edgar | £2,000 |
| = | Michael Rosenauer | £2,000 |
| = | Mark Barilli | £2,000 |
| = | Mark Wilson | £2,000 |
| = | Jerry Hendriks | £2,000 |
| = | David Pallett | £2,000 |
| = | Vincent Van der Meer | £2,000 |
| = | Wayne Jones | £2,000 |
| = | Nathan Derry | £2,000 |
| = | Arron Monk | £2,000 |
| = | Cristo Reyes | £2,000 |
| = | Mark Dudbridge | £2,000 |
| = | Kevin Knopf | £2,000 |
| = | Mario Robbe | £2,000 |
| = | Steffen Siepmann | £2,000 |
| = | Simon Stevenson | £2,000 |
| = | Martin Atkins (Leeds) | £2,000 |
| = | Matthew Dennant | £2,000 |
| = | Adam Hunt | £2,000 |
| 118 | Cor Dekker | £1,000 |
| = | Kevin Garcia | £1,000 |
| = | Christian Goedl | £1,000 |
| = | Niels-Joergen Hansen | £1,000 |
| = | Teuvo Haverinen | £1,000 |
| = | Jimmy Hendriks | £1,000 |
| = | Jan Hlavacek | £1,000 |
| = | Erik Hol | £1,000 |
| = | Jose Justicia | £1,000 |
| = | Krzysztof Kciuk | £1,000 |
| = | Daniel Larsson | £1,000 |
| = | Alexander Merkx | £1,000 |
| = | Wessel Nijman | £1,000 |
| = | Ondrej Plsek | £1,000 |
| = | Reece Robinson | £1,000 |
| = | Vaclav Schieferdecker | £1,000 |
| = | Hannes Schnier | £1,000 |
| = | Alex Steinbauer | £1,000 |
| = | Sebastian Steyer | £1,000 |
| = | Pal Szekely | £1,000 |
| = | Mick Todd | £1,000 |
| = | Harry Ward | £1,000 |
| = | Daniel Klose | £1,000 |
| = | Pero Ljubic | £1,000 |
| = | Robert Owen | £1,000 |
| = | Ricardo Pietreczko | £1,000 |
| = | Jamie Bain | £1,000 |
| = | Johan Engstrom | £1,000 |
| = | Benjamin Fasching | £1,000 |
| = | Patrick Tringler | £1,000 |
| = | Conan Whitehead | £1,000 |
| = | Dirk van Duijvenbode | £1,000 |
| = | Patrick van den Boogaard | £1,000 |
| = | Vincent Kamphuis | £1,000 |
| = | Karsten Koch | £1,000 |
| = | Thomas Kohnlein | £1,000 |
| = | Lukas Wenig | £1,000 |
| = | Magnus Caris | £1,000 |
| = | Marko Puls | £1,000 |
| = | Mike Holz | £1,000 |
| = | Maik Langendorf | £1,000 |
| = | Fabian Herz | £1,000 |
| = | Nico Kurz | £1,000 |
| = | Ryan Meikle | £1,000 |
| = | Ricky Williams | £1,000 |
| = | Jason Wilson | £1,000 |
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