The 2018 European Darts Matchplay was the ninth of thirteen
PDC European Tour
The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, 10 ...
events on the
2018 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the
Edel-optics.de Arena,
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
from 29 June–1 July 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...
was the defending champion after defeating
Mensur Suljović 6–3 in
the previous year's final, and he retained his title by defeating
William O'Connor 8–2 in the final.
Van Gerwen also threw the first European Tour
nine-dart finish in
over 5 years against
Ryan Joyce in the second round.
Prize money
This is how the prize money is divided:
Prize money will count towards the
PDC Order of Merit, the
ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit, with one exception: should a seeded player lose in the second round (last 32), their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit, although they still receive the full prize money payment.
Qualification and format
The top 16 entrants from the
PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 8 June will automatically qualify for the event and will be seeded in the second round.
The remaining 32 places will go to players from five qualifying events – 16 from the UK Qualifier (held in
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
on 15 June), 8 from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 28 June), 6 from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 28 June), 1 from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 25 May) and 1 from the East European Qualifier (held on 25 February).
Peter Wright, who would have been the number 2 seed, withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw.
James Wilson, the highest-ranked qualifier, was promoted to 16th seed.
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...
also withdrew prior to the draw. Two extra places were made available in the Host Nation Qualifier.
The following players will take part in the tournament:
:Top 16
:#
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...
(champion)
:#
Michael Smith ''(second round)''
:#
Rob Cross ''(second round)''
:#
Daryl Gurney
Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-five; he reached a peak ranking of world number thre ...
''(third round)''
:#
Joe Cullen ''(third round)''
:#
Mensur Suljović ''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Jonny Clayton ''(second round)''
:#
Ian White ''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Darren Webster ''(third round)''
:#
Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. He competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world ...
''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Mervyn King ''(second round)''
:#
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events.
Nicknamed "The Wizard", he won th ...
''(second round)''
:#
Stephen Bunting ''(semi-finals)''
:#
Kim Huybrechts ''(third round)''
:#
Steve Beaton ''(second round)''
:#
James Wilson ''(second round)''
:UK Qualifier
:*
Robert Owen
Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist, political philosopher and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, co-operative movement. He strove to ...
''(first round)''
:* Michael Barnard ''(first round)''
:* Jamie Bain ''(first round)''
:*
Martin Atkins ''(first round)''
:*
Keegan Brown
Keegan Brown (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He has won two ranking PDC Players Championship titles. Brown reached the quarter-finals at the 2014 Gran ...
''(first round)''
:* Darren Johnson ''(first round)''
:* Paul Rowley ''(third round)''
:*
Justin Pipe
Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won six PDC titles.
Playing career
Pipe was a Boxing, boxer in his youth, and, as a staunch anti- ...
''(quarter-finals)''
:*
Luke Humphries ''(second round)''
:*
Andy Boulton
Andrew Boulton (born 25 February 1973) is a Scottish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "X-Factor", he has won four titles on the PDC Challenge Tour.
Career BDO, UK Open appearances
...
''(semi-finals)''
:*
Ryan Joyce ''(second round)''
:*
Chris Dobey ''(second round)''
:*
William O'Connor ''(runner-up)''
:*
Robert Thornton ''(third round)''
:* Mark Wilson ''(first round)''
:*
Jason Lowe ''(third round)''
:West/South European Qualifier
:*
Cristo Reyes ''(first round)''
:*
Vincent van der Voort ''(first round)''
:*
Ronny Huybrechts ''(first round)''
:*
Mike De Decker ''(first round)''
:*
Dirk van Duijvenbode ''(first round)''
:*
Jermaine Wattimena ''(first round)''
:*
Mario Robbe ''(first round)''
:*
Jelle Klaasen ''(third round)''
:Host Nation Qualifier
:*
Max Hopp ''(second round)''
:*
René Eidams ''(first round)''
:*
Robert Marijanović ''(second round)''
:*
Martin Schindler ''(second round)''
:*
Dragutin Horvat ''(first round)''
:*
Maik Langendorf ''(second round)''
:Nordic & Baltic Qualifier
:*
Darius Labanauskas ''(second round)''
:East European Qualifier
:*
Boris Koltsov ''(second round)''
Draw
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:European Darts Matchplay
2018 PDC European Tour
2018 in German sport
Sports competitions in Hamburg
June 2018 sports events in Germany
July 2018 sports events in Germany
2010s in Hamburg