European Darts Matchplay 2023 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The top seeds begin their 2023 European Darts Matchplay campaigns on Saturday as the Second Round action takes centre stage in Trier.
The tenth of 13 Euro Tour events this season features 48 players battling it out for £175,000 in prize money at the Trier Arena in Germany from June 30 to July 2.
Following this weekend’s event, the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit will join the next 16 highest ranked players from the ProTour Order of Merit in the draw for the World Matchplay.
Day One saw the hopes of a number of Winter Gardens challengers ended, including the likes of William O’Connor, Simon Whitlock and Luke Woodhouse.
Raymond van Barneveld confirmed his return to Blackpool for the first time in five years with victory over George Killington, and the five-time World Champion now faces his Dutch nemesis Michael van Gerwen in Round Two.
Barney has failed to make it beyond the Second Round stage in seven of his eight European Tour appearances this season, while Van Gerwen returns to action after missing the recent World Cup and is targeting a second Euro Tour title of the campaign.
Van Barneveld’s qualification for the World Matchplay means that three ProTour Order of Merit places remain up for grabs, with Kim Huybrechts currently occupying the final spot.
Huybrechts, however, was beaten by Keane Barry on Friday and now has German star Ricardo Pietreczko breathing down his neck.
Pietreczko must reach the Quarter-Finals on Sunday if he is to leapfrog Huybrechts, and his next hurdle comes in the shape of former World Matchplay champion Dimitri van den Bergh.
Irish ace Barry still harbours hope of gate-crashing the Winter Gardens, but must reach the final here if he is to do so, and he could have hardly wished for a tougher Second Round ask than world number one and World Champion Michael Smith.
Smith announced on Saturday morning that he has signed a deal with New Zealand manufacturers Shot and could debut his new darts in Trier.
The afternoon session sees Dirk van Duijvenbode, a three-time Players Championship event winner this season, take on reigning UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.
Dave Chisnall, the number three seed with two Euro Tour titles to his name this term, opens up against Ryan Joyce, while Premier League star Nathan Aspinall faces former Euro Tour finalist Martin Lukeman.
Rob Cross starts his bid for back-to-back Euro Tour titles with a tie against Mickey Mansell, as reigning European Champion Ross Smith takes on former Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting.
Austrian Open runner-up Josh Rock, the number ten seed, faces fellow Northern Irish star Brendan Dolan – who is looking to rubber-stamp his place in the World Matchplay.
Vitezslav Sedlak produced an impressive display to defeat Daniel Klose 6-3 with a 102.4 average on Friday, and the Czech qualifier now comes up against former Masters champion Joe Cullen.
Gian van Veen also averaged in excess of 100 in his 6-3 defeat of Christian Kist, and the emerging Dutch talent will be out to continue in that vein when he plays fourth seed Damon Heta – winner of a Players Championship event last month.
The evening session includes a show-down between Austrian Open champion Jonny Clayton and ten-time major winner James Wade – who averaged 101.5 in a 6-1 rout of Willie O’Connor on Friday.
Top seed and reigning champion Luke Humphries launches the defence of his title against Finland’s Marko Kantele – who is appearing at this stage of a European Tour event for the first time in five years.
German number one Gabriel Clemens aims to delight a bumper home crowd by overcoming world number 15 Ryan Searle, while former UK Open champion Danny Noppert meets a resurgent James Wilson – who saw off Whitlock in Round One.
World number 25 Martin Schindler will also look to make home advantage count in his favour when he meets Callan Rydz – who returned to winning ways against Stephen Burton after receiving a late call-up via the reserve list.
The action gets under way from 12pm BST, with Second Round ties to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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European Darts Matchplay 2023 Day Two Schedule
All times BST (Local time +1 hour)
Saturday July 1
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Dave Chisnall v Ryan Joyce
Josh Rock v Brendan Dolan
Rob Cross v Mickey Mansell
Damon Heta v Gian van Veen
Nathan Aspinall v Martin Lukeman
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andrew Gilding
Joe Cullen v Vitezslav Sedlak
Ross Smith v Stephen Bunting
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Jonny Clayton v James Wade
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ricardo Pietreczko
Ryan Searle v Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith v Keane Barry
Luke Humphries v Marko Kantele
Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz
Danny Noppert v James Wilson
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