The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsForty-eight players are set to do battle in Riesa for the fifth European Tour event of the year, and will all be looking to stop Michael van Gerwen from making if five wins from five in the European Tour this year.
The seeds will not take part on Friday as the unseeded players and qualifiers battle it out for a place in the second round. All games are the best of eleven legs.
Afternoon Session:
John Henderson defined inconsistency in the last ET event as he was whitewashed in the second round by Jamie Caven. He will come up against Matt Clark to kick off the tournament on Friday afternoon. Mark Walsh will come up against the second European Qualifier in the second match of the afternoon.
Darren Webster was one of the Friday casualties as he was knocked out of the Dutch Darts Masters in Venray, and he will be playing against Matthew Edgar in his first round clash. The fourth match of the afternoon will be between the first and seventh European Qualifiers.
Micky Mansell played superbly last week for Northern Ireland in the World Cup as they made the quarter-finals, and he will be aiming to repeat the sort of form he showed in Frankfurt when he takes to the stage to face the eight and last European Qualifier.
After a pretty poor run of form, is an appearance in the European Tour just what Ken MacNeil needs? He made a brief appearance at the World Cup last week, but Canada crashed out in the first round. MacNeil will face Daryl Gurney in the first round.
The third Host Nation Qualifier will come up against Mark Barilli in the first round of the competition, and in the final game of the afternoon session, William O’Connor will face the forth European Qualifier.
Evening Session:
Adam Hunt will kick off the evening session when he takes to the stage in Riesa to face the fifth European Qualifier. Kevin McDine, well known for his form from five to ten years ago, and the on-stage antics against Michael van Gerwen a couple of years ago, will kick off his weekend against the first Host Nation Qualifier.
Eddie Dootson, who made the last sixteen of the UK Open this year will be one of the ones to watch out for this weekend already knows his opponent for the first round, and that will be James Wilson, who has recently made the switch from the BDO to the PDC.
Dean Winstanley will be looking to kick off the weekend on Friday night with a win, and get rid of the bad form that he has stuck in in the last couple of months, and he will be playing the third European Qualifier.
Johhny Clayton is still very much finding his feet in the PDC, and a good run this weekend would be just what he will needs, and he will face the second Host Nation Qualifier. The fourth and final Host Nation Qualifier will do battle against the sixth European Qualifier in the fifth match of the evening.
Steven Bunting is unseeded for this event, which means he will begin his campaign on Friday evening with a match against Jamie Robinson for a place in the next round. Jamie Lewis and Mark Webster, who played with each other last weekend in the World Cup will face each other this week in the last match of the night.
