German Darts Championship 2022 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The top 16 seeds commence their German Darts Championship campaigns in Hildesheim on Saturday as the Second Round action takes centre stage.
The second of 13 European Tour events this season features 45 players battling it out for £140,000 in prize money at Halle 39.
Friday’s opening round saw 30 qualifiers battle it out, with a host of notable names safely progressing past the first hurdle.
The withdrawals of Gerwyn Price, Ted Evetts and Brendan Dolan meant that Mensur Suljovic, Jamie Hughes and Devon Petersen each received a bye into the Second Round.
Petersen is the defending champion, having won the most recent staging of this event in 2020, and the South African starts out against recent UK Open and Premier League Night Five runner-up Michael Smith.
Smith is a four-time European Tour event winner, though his most recent triumph came back in 2015, and he will be determined to continue his recovery from last weekend’s agonising defeat to Danny Noppert in the UK Open final.
The evening session also sees reigning World Champion and newly-crowned world number one Peter Wright taking on German ace Martin Schindler – one of four host nation hopefuls in the field.
Michael van Gerwen, fresh from making it back-to-back weekly Premier League titles in Brighton on Thursday, resumes his quest for a first ranking title of the season with a clash against Spain’s Jose Justicia.
Van Gerwen has amassed a staggering 32 European Tour titles, though his most recent came back in 2019 and he has dropped to fifth in the PDC Order of Merit – his lowest ranking position for a decade.
Reigning Premier League and World Grand Prix champion Jonny Clayton faces a tricky opener against two-time BDO World Champion Scott Waites, while top seed Jose de Sousa starts out against in-form Kim Huybrechts – who saw off Joe Murnan in Round One.
Dave Chisnall aims to kick on from his 99 average in a 6-1 rout of Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont on Friday when he faces German number one Gabriel Clemens.
World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz faces three-time European Tour event winner Mensur Suljovic, as world number 32 Chris Dobey meets Czech star Karel Sedlacek – who thrashed Adrian Lewis 6-2 on opening night.
The afternoon session sees reigning Masters Champion Joe Cullen look to bounce back from a below-par run of form when he takes on 2019 German Championship finalist Ricky Evans.
Players Championship Finals runner-up Ryan Searle takes on Dutch star Vincent van der Voort, while two-time European Champion Rob Cross opens up against Martijn Kleermaker – who knocked out Mario Vandenbogaerde in Round One.
Krzysztof Ratajski, the 2019 Gibraltar Trophy winner, faces former Czech Open champion Jamie Hughes, as ninth seed Dirk van Duijvenbode plays Lithuanian ace Darius Labanauskas.
Damon Heta, conqueror of MVG and Clayton en route to the Quarter-Finals of last week’s UK Open, faces in-form Martin Lukeman – appearing at this stage of a Euro Tour event for the first time.
Former UK Open finalist and recent ProTour event winner Luke Humphries kicks off his campaign against 2019 champion Daryl Gurney – who averaged just 82 in defeating Lukas Wenig on Friday.
Former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, the number ten seed, is braced for a tough opening test against Scotland’s Alan Soutar – who enjoyed a landmark run to the Last 16 of the recent World Championship.
The action gets under way from 12pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
WATCH DAY TWO OF THE GERMAN DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
German Darts Championship 2022 Day Two Schedule of Play
All times GMT (Local time one hour ahead)
Saturday March 12
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes
Rob Cross v Martijn Kleermaker
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Darius Labanauskas
Damon Heta v Martin Lukeman
Ryan Searle v Vincent van der Voort
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Alan Soutar
Luke Humphries v Daryl Gurney
Joe Cullen v Ricky Evans
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Jose de Sousa v Kim Huybrechts
Michael Smith v Devon Petersen
Gabriel Clemens v Dave Chisnall
Michael van Gerwen v Jose Justicia
Peter Wright v Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton v Scott Waites
Callan Rydz v Mensur Suljovic
Chris Dobey v Karel Sedlacek
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