This year’s last Europe Tour event is taking place today and there are still seats open for the Unitbet European Championship.
It is time for the European Darts Trophy, which is the last tournament of the year on the European Tour. Thus we approach the big European Tour final, the Unibet European Championship. The first 25 participants to the event are settled, but the last seven seats are still open.
Today, as always, we start with the unseeded players and, as always, there are 16 matches on the program.
Today’s first match stands between Luke Humphries and Keegan Brown, both players can still qualify for the European Championship, although Luke Humphries clearly has the best options.
In addition, we will also see John Henderson, Brendan Dolan during the afternoon.
After Brendan Dolan, this weekend’s PDC Nordic and Baltic representative will be on stage. Marko Kantele thus opposes Robert Marijanovic. Marko Kantele can not reach the season finale. In fact, nobody’s from PDCNB, as can. The closest player is Darius Labanauskas. He is ranked number 32 on the European rankings before today’s matches, but as all players today are secured 1000 pounds, he is out of the top 32.
But Marko Kantele can still make a great result of the weekend. He was very much in-form last weekend, when we visited Iceland. If he can bring that level today, then he has a very good chance to promote to the second round.
The afternoon will be closed by Krzysztof Ratajski and Steve West.
The evening session starts with Richard North and Christian Bunse. Richard North is the clear favorite in this match, and he needs a win to start with, if he wants any chance of reaching the European Championship.
People like Martin Schindler, Vincent van der Voort and Jelle Klaasen are also forced to win today if they want a chance to secure a seat at the European Championship.
Kim Huybrecths and Steve Beaton is the most interesting game this evening. Kim Huybrecths has been in the season finale every year since 2011, but should he continue the streak, then he is forced to win tonight, not to mention he has to reach the quarterfinals to be absolutely sure.
Steve Beaton is also not sure, but with a defeat, he can still keep his place in top 32, depending on how the tournament transforms through the weekend.
The last match of the evening is between Danny Noppert and Toni Alcinas.
You can create an overview of today’s matches and the players’ possibilities for the European Championship below. Remember that you can see all matches on PDC.TV from one o’clock.
Schedule of Play
Friday October 12
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Luke Humphries v Keegan Brown
Matthew Edgar v Jeffrey de Graaf
Mickey Mansell v George Killington
Mark Wilson v John Henderson
Gabriel Clemens v Brendan Dolan
Marko Kantele v Robert Marijanovic
Ryan Joyce v Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski v Steve West
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Richard North v Christian Bunse
Ricky Evans v Andrew Gilding
Luke Woodhouse v Martin Schindler
Simon Stevenson v Vincent van der Voort
Maik Langendorf v Jelle Klaasen
Kim Huybrechts v Steve Beaton
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Steffen Siepmann
Danny Noppert v Toni Alcinas
Table: Burton DeWitt