German Darts Championship 2023 | Day Three Preview and Order of Play
The 2023 German Darts Championship draws to a close in Hildesheim on Sunday as the 16 remaining players compete for the title.
A £30,000 top prize is on offer at Halle 39 as eight seeds and eight qualifiers collide over two sessions, bringing the curtain down on this year’s European Tour.
The afternoon session plays host to the Third Round ties, before the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and final follow in the evening.
Following Sunday’s action, the 32-player field will be confirmed for the European Championship later this month, with two places still up for grabs in Dortmund.
Brendan Dolan and Chris Dobey currently occupy the final two provisional qualification places, with Martin Lukeman leading the chasing pack but requiring a run to the final in order to gate-crash the European Championship.
Lukeman, a Euro Tour finalist in 2022, takes on second seed Damon Heta in the Third Round, having already seen off Madars Razma and Ryan Searle this weekend.
Heta opened up with a 6-4 win over Associate Member qualifier Darryl Pilgrim on Saturday and has four Euro Tour Semi-Final appearances to his name this term.
One of the stand-out ties of the Third Round features a repeat of the 2022 Premier League final between Michael van Gerwen and Joe Cullen.
The box office pair have contested a number of classic contests in recent years and face off again in Hildesheim as MVG steps up the defence of his title.
Van Gerwen began with a 6-3 win over Steve Lennon despite an average of 90.4, while Cullen defeated Arron Monk 6-4 with a 95.7 average.
A repeat of the 2021 UK Open final sees man of the moment Luke Humphries face ten-time major winner James Wade.
Humphries created a slice of history last Sunday by securing his first major title at the World Grand Prix and is looking to return to the winner’s circle at the first time of asking.
A five-time European Tour event winner, Humphries seemingly picked up from where he left off in Leicester by averaging 106.2 in a 6-3 success over Boris Krcmar on Saturday.
He now faces his nemesis from his first major final two years ago, with Wade having knocked out Jelle Klaasen and World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall with two impressive displays so far.
Reigning World Champion Michael Smith takes on 2018 World Champion Rob Cross in the final tie of the afternoon.
Both players have picked up a European Tour title this season as well as on the World Series, and both battled through tense last-leg deciders in their opening matches on Saturday.
Sixth seed Cross came from 4-2 down to edge out Gian van Veen, while 11th seed Smith held his nerve to see off Alan Soutar.
Gabriel Clemens is the first of three home hopefuls in action on the final day and looks to dispose of reigning European Champion Ross Smith.
The German number one began with a 6-3 win over Danny Jansen on Friday before pulling off a dominant 6-2 victory over top seed Dave Chisnall with a 101 average.
Smith seized his unexpected opportunity in this event following Gerwyn Price’s withdrawal as he dispatched Daryl Gurney 6-3 with a superb 102.2 average.
Nico Kurz aims to raise the roof at Halle 39 once more by causing another upset at the expense of Peter Wright.
Kurz, who came through Thursday’s Host Nation qualifier, defeated Dylan Slevin 6-2 in Round One before dumping out seventh seed Jonny Clayton in a deciding leg courtesy of a brilliant bullseye finish.
Wright, who picked up the Czech Open title earlier this season, began with an impressive 6-2 win over Masters champion Chris Dobey to continue his return to form.
Stephen Bunting, runner-up in the recent German Darts Open, takes on resurgent American Jules van Dongen.
Bunting edged out Jeffrey de Graaf in a deciding leg on Friday before averaging 101.7 in a 6-3 win over Josh Rock, while Van Dongen finds himself at this stage of a Euro Tour event for the first time following wins over Patrik Kovacs and Danny Noppert – averaging 101.3 in the latter with the aid of five 180s.
George Killington looks to extend his ground-breaking run in a Euro Tour event when he faces home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko.
Killington had never won a match on the Euro Tour prior to this weekend, but defied a nine-darter from Scott Waites in an incredible contest on Friday, before sensationally whitewashing Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 with a 103.6 average.
Pietreczko, who reached the Quarter-Finals of the European Darts Open earlier this year, has seen off Mickey Mansell and Martin Schindler, and will have the backing of another sell-out crowd at Halle 39.
The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with Third Round and Quarter-Final ties to be contested over the best of 11 legs, Semi-Finals best of 13 and the final best of 15.
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German Darts Championship 2023 Day Three Schedule
Sunday October 15
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Third Round
Gabriel Clemens v Ross Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Joe Cullen
George Killington v Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting v Jules van Dongen
Damon Heta v Martin Lukeman
Nico Kurz v Peter Wright
Luke Humphries v James Wade
Rob Cross v Michael Smith
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Quarter-Finals
Clemens/R Smith v Van Gerwen/Cullen
Killington/Pietreczko v Bunting/Van Dongen
Heta/Lukeman v Kurz/Wright
Humphries/Wade v Cross/M Smith
Semi-Finals
Final
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