James Wade will start the defence of his Unibet European Championship against Jonny Clayton in Göttingen next month.

The top 32 on the European Tour Order of Merit, following the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, the final European Tour event of the season this past weekend, have qualified for the tournament in Germany, which takes place from October 24-27.

Last year’s winner Wade, the 12th seed, will face Welshman Clayton, while top seed Michael van Gerwen, a four-time winner, opens his campaign against Ross Smith, one of five debutants in this year’s field.

Ian White, a two-time winner on the European Tour this year, is the second seed and takes on world number five Michael Smith. Rob Cross, the ninth seed, plays Darren Webster, while fourth seed Daryl Gurney faces Willie O’Connor.

Third seed Gerwyn Price goes up against debutant Ted Evetts, seventh seed Peter Wright meets Jeffrey de Zwaan, and Mensur Suljovic, the sixth seed, takes on Vincent van der Voort.

Krzysztof Ratajski, the 11th seed, and winner of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy yesterday, plays Chris Dobey, former European champions Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock face off, and seventh seed Dave Chisnall starts against Dimitri van den Bergh.

Glen Durrant makes his first appearance in the tournament against Ricky Evans, Joe Cullen, the eighth seed and a recent first-time winner on the European Tour plays Mervyn King, and Keegan Brown’s first-ever European Championship sees him take on Stephen Bunting in the first round.

Tenth seed Jamie Hughes, a winner in Prague in the summer, makes his debut against Jermaine Wattimena, and UK Open and US Darts Masters champion Nathan Aspinall, faces Steve Beaton.

2019 Unibet European Championship
Draw Bracket
(1) Michael van Gerwen v (32) Ross Smith
(16) Glen Durrant v (17) Ricky Evans
(8) Joe Cullen v (25) Mervyn King
(9) Rob Cross v (24) Darren Webster
(5) Dave Chisnall v (28) Dimitri Van den Bergh
(12) James Wade v (21) Jonny Clayton
(4) Daryl Gurney v (29) William O’Connor
(13) Adrian Lewis v (20) Simon Whitlock
(2) Ian White v (31) Michael Smith
(15) Keegan Brown v (18) Stephen Bunting
(7) Peter Wright v (26) Jeffrey de Zwaan
(10) Jamie Hughes v (23) Jermaine Wattimena
(6) Mensur Suljovic v (27) Vincent van der Voort
(11) Krzysztof Ratajski v (22) Chris Dobey
(3) Gerwyn Price v (30) Ted Evetts
(14) Nathan Aspinall v (19) Steve Beaton

Picture: Kelly Deckers/PDC