Belgian Darts Open 2024 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The top 16 seeds commence their 2024 European Tour campaigns at the Belgian Darts Open in Wieze on Saturday.
The first of 13 Euro Tour events this year sees 48 players competing for a £175,000 prize fund at the Oktoberhallen from March 8-10.
A significant and controversial change to the qualifying criteria this year means the top 16 players in the Order of Merit now qualify automatically alongside the 16 highest ranked players on the ProTour Order of Merit – who are seeded in the draw and enter at the Second Round stage.
Day One saw a host of big names fall at the first hurdle, including newly-crowned UK Open champion Dimitri van den Bergh and reigning World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
The afternoon session on Saturday includes a clash between two-time World Champion Gary Anderson and in-form Swede Andreas Harrysson.
Anderson, the number 14 seed, is making only his third Euro Tour appearance since 2016, having reached the quarter-finals of this event last year.
Winner of a Players Championship event last month, Anderson is targeting a first Euro Tour title in a decade but faces a tricky opener against the Nordic & Baltic qualifier – who sensationally thrashed Gian van Veen 6-1 on Friday with a 107.3 average.
Meanwhile, former Masters champion Chris Dobey takes on former UK Open champion Danny Noppert, while last week’s UK Open semi-finalist Damon Heta hosts World Championship quarter-finalist Brendan Dolan.
Ryan Searle has already picked up a ProTour title and reached a further two finals this season, and ‘Heavy Metal’ will look to transfer that blistering form onto the Euro Tour stage when he faces two-time Lakeside semi-finalist Richard Veenstra – who dumped out Aspinall in Round One.
Ricardo Pietreczko returns to the Euro Tour stage for the first time since his incredible German Championship triumph last October as he takes on Luke Woodhouse – who reached the Last 16 of the UK Open a week ago.
Former European Champion Ross Smith opens up with a tie against Jermaine Wattimena – who sensationally whitewashed Daryl Gurney 6-0 in Round One with a 98 average.
Two-time Euro Tour event winner Jonny Clayton starts out against former Dutch Open winner Berry van Peer, while fifth seed Dirk van Duijvenbode – twice a Euro Tour runner-up last year – meets three-time Euro Tour event winner Joe Cullen.
The evening session sees Michael van Gerwen launch the defence of his title with a showdown against Premier League rival Peter Wright.
Van Gerwen has lost his last three matches in all competitions, including back-to-back Premier League quarter-finals and a Fourth Round exit to Mensur Suljovic at the UK Open, and will be determined to stop the rot in Belgium.
Van Gerwen boasts a staggering 36 Euro Tour titles, 28 more than his nearest challenger Wright – who won last year’s Czech Darts Open and overcame Host Nation qualifier Geert De Vos in Friday’s opening round.
Top seed Dave Chisnall, winner of three Euro Tour titles in a superb 2023 season, starts out against multiple ProTour event winner Ryan Joyce – who saw off Andrew Gilding in Round One.
Third seed Gerwyn Price aims to put a patchy run of form behind him this weekend but faces a tough opener against German number one Gabriel Clemens – who famously beat him in the Quarter-Finals of the 2022/23 World Championship.
World number one and World Champion Luke Humphries aims to pick up from where he left off on Thursday night when he takes on James Wade in a repeat of the 2021 UK Open final.
Humphries secured his first Premier League weekly title in Brighton, four days on from his agonising last-leg defeat in the UK Open final, and he now heads to Belgium in search of a sixth Euro Tour crown.
Wade dug deep to deny five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding leg and notably defeated Humphries in last October’s European Championship.
World Championship finalist Luke Littler looks to reach the final day of action in his debut Euro Tour campaign at the expense of Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski.
Littler survived a scare in Friday’s opener as he watched Jose De Sousa squander two match darts before stepping in to seal a 6-5 victory with the aid of eight maximums.
Reigning Masters champion Stephen Bunting faces a crunch clash with sixth seed Josh Rock – runner-up in last year’s Austrian Open.
Former World Champion Michael Smith, who finished runner-up in Brighton on Thursday, faces home favourite Mike De Decker, while two-time European Champion Rob Cross meets new Tour Card holder Lukas Wenig of Germany in the final match of the night.
The action gets under way from 12pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Belgian Darts Open 2024 Day Two Schedule
All times GMT (local time +1 hour)
Saturday March 9
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Ricardo Pietreczko v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Jermaine Wattimena
Jonny Clayton v Berry van Peer
Damon Heta v Brendan Dolan
Ryan Searle v Richard Veenstra
Danny Noppert v Chris Dobey
Gary Anderson v Andreas Harrysson
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Joe Cullen
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Dave Chisnall v Ryan Joyce
Michael Smith v Mike De Decker
Gerwyn Price v Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright
Krzysztof Ratajski v Luke Littler
Luke Humphries v James Wade
Josh Rock v Stephen Bunting
Rob Cross v Lukas Wenig
