European Darts Open 2022 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

The 2022 European Darts Open gets under way in Leverkusen on Friday as the 32 qualifiers battle it out in Round One.

The fifth of 13 European Tour events this season features 47 players battling it out for £140,000 in prize money at the Ostermann Arena from May 6-8.

The top 16 players from the ProTour Order of Merit (as of March 16) are seeded and enter at the Second Round stage on Saturday, while 32 qualifiers battle it out for the right to join them.

With Danny Baggish having withdrawn for personal reasons and Karel Sedlacek subsequently receiving a bye, the afternoon session features seven matches, kicking off with former ProTour event winner Mickey Mansell versus Luke Woodhouse.

Martin Lukeman, runner-up in the German Darts Grand Prix last month, aims to kick-start another memorable Euro Tour campaign by overcoming Swedish qualifier Dennis Nilsson.

Former World Youth finalist Adam Gawlas faces a tough opener against Associate Member qualifier Scott Williams – a three-time Challenge Tour event winner in 2022.

Emerging Northern Irish star Josh Rock, who was beaten by Rob Cross on his Euro Tour debut last weekend, returns to face fellow young gun Connor Scutt – who also came through Qualifying School to claim a Tour Card in January.

UK Open semi-finalist Keane Barry opens up against Polish number two Krzysztof Kciuk, while Players Championship Nine finalist Andrew Gilding takes on German qualifier Lukas Wenig.

Associate Member qualifier Darren Penhall faces Dutch youngster Luc Peters, while the evening session commences with a tie between former Euro Tour event winner Devon Petersen and Dutch talent Kevin Doets.

Arguably the stand-out tie of the evening sees two-time Euro Tour event winner Dave Chisnall take on German number one Gabriel Clemens.

Ian White aims to bounce back from last week’s shock First Round defeat to Patrik Gosnak when he faces WDF World Championship semi-finalist Cameron Menzies.

World number 20 Stephen Bunting faces a tricky opener against Dutch giant-killer Maik Kuivenhoven, while home hero Martin Schindler looks to continue his blistering spell of form when he meets Ritchie Edhouse.

Two-time major winner Daryl Gurney returns to Euro Tour action to face fellow Northern Irishman Kevin Burness as they face off for the right to take on Michael van Gerwen in the Second Round.

Austrian ace Rowby-John Rodriguez starts out against Host Nation qualifier Nico Kurz, as Berry van Peer and Jermaine Wattimena go head-to-head in an all-Dutch show-down.

The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with First Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.

WATCH THE EUROPEAN DARTS OPEN STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)

European Darts Open 2022 – Day One Schedule of Play

All times BST (Local time one hour ahead)

Friday May 6

First Round

Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Mickey Mansell v Luke Woodhouse
Darren Penhall v Luc Peters
Dennis Nilsson v Martin Lukeman
Josh Rock v Connor Scutt
Adam Gawlas v Scott Williams
Krzysztof Kciuk v Keane Barry
Andrew Gilding v Lukas Wenig

Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Devon Petersen v Kevin Doets
Stephen Bunting v Maik Kuivenhoven
Daryl Gurney v Kevin Burness
Berry van Peer v Jermaine Wattimena
Cameron Menzies v Ian White
Martin Schindler v Ritchie Edhouse
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Nico Kurz
Dave Chisnall v Gabriel Clemens