German duo Gabriel Clemens and Nico Kurz will meet on the opening day of the 2022 Interwetten International Darts Open, with the draw and schedule of play confirmed for the year’s first European Tour event.
Three days of double session action will take place from February 25-27 at the Sachsenarena, Riesa, as 48 players will compete for the title and £140,000 in ranking money.
Friday’s first round will see German number one Clemens and hot prospect Kurz meet in a repeat of their 2020/21 World Championship contest, with the winner advancing to face Dirk van Duijvenbode in Saturday’s last 32.
Round one will also see world number nine Dimitri Van den Bergh and European Champion Rob Cross in action against Martin Lukeman and Krzysztof Kciuk respectively.
Rising star Florian Hempel is one of seven German stars in the field, and he will take on former European Tour event winner Kim Huybrechts in one of the pick of the first round ties.
The experienced Dragutin Horvat and 16-year-old Fabian Schmutzler will also compete on home soil against Simon Whitlock and Daryl Gurney respectively.
The 16 seeded players will enter at the second round stage on Saturday, including the world’s top three, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen.
Joe Cullen, who was the International Darts Open winner in 2020 when the tournament was most recently held in Riesa, is the top seed going into this year’s edition.
Alongside the £25,000 top prize and ranking positions on the European Tour Order of Merit in the race to qualify for the Cazoo European Championship, this weekend’s event also sees Price battling to hold onto the world number one spot ahead of Wright, who could fulfil his ambition of reaching the summit of the PDC Order of Merit.
The Interwetten International Darts Open will be broadcast on PDCTV, exclusively on DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through bookmakers’ websites worldwide.
PDCTV subscription options include £3.99 Event Pass and £1.99 Day Pass packages, as well as Annual and Monthly Subscriptions.
Interwetten International Darts Open
Schedule of Play
Friday February 25
First Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
David Schlichting v Brian Raman
Jermaine Wattimena v Niko Springer
Madars Razma v Wayne Jones
Fabian Schmutzler v Daryl Gurney
Adam Gawlas v Vincent van der Voort
Luke Woodhouse v Andy Boulton
Keane Barry v Ron Meulenkamp
Ryan Searle v Ritchie Edhouse
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Lewy Williams v Dennis Nilsson
Mervyn King v Janos Vegso
Florian Hempel v Kim Huybrechts
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Martin Lukeman
Rob Cross v Krzysztof Kciuk
Gabriel Clemens v Nico Kurz
Simon Whitlock v Dragutin Horvat
Danny van Trijp v Jeff Smith
Saturday
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Jose de Sousa v David Schlichting/Brian Raman
Damon Heta v Fabian Schmutzler/Daryl Gurney
Krzysztof Ratajski v Lewy Williams/Dennis Nilsson
Danny Noppert v Mervyn King/Janos Vegso
Brendan Dolan v Jermaine Wattimena/Niko Springer
Devon Petersen v Florian Hempel/Kim Huybrechts
James Wade v Adam Gawlas/Vincent van der Voort
Nathan Aspinall v Danny van Trijp/Jeff Smith
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Mensur Suljovic v Dimitri Van den Bergh/Martin Lukeman
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gabriel Clemens/Nico Kurz
Joe Cullen v Madars Razma/Wayne Jones
Michael van Gerwen v Keane Barry/Ron Meulenkamp
Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle/Ritchie Edhouse
Jonny Clayton v Rob Cross/Krzysztof Kciuk
Peter Wright v Luke Woodhouse/Andy Boulton
Michael Smith v Simon Whitlock/Dragutin Horvat
Sunday February 27
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 GMT)
Third Round
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
(Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order)
Tournament Draw Bracket – Second Round Onwards
Joe Cullen (1) v Madars Razma/Wayne Jones
Nathan Aspinall (16) v Danny van Trijp/Jeff Smith
James Wade (8) v Adam Gawlas/Vincent van der Voort
Devon Petersen (9) v Florian Hempel/Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen (4) v Keane Barry/Ron Meulenkamp
Danny Noppert (13) v Mervyn King/Janos Vegso
Gerwyn Price (5) v Ryan Searle/Ritchie Edhouse
Damon Heta (12) v Fabian Schmutzler/Daryl Gurney
Jose de Sousa (2) v David Schlichting/Brian Raman
Mensur Suljovic (15) v Dimitri Van den Bergh/Martin Lukeman
Jonny Clayton (7) v Rob Cross/Krzysztof Kciuk
Krzysztof Ratajski (10) v Lewy Williams/Dennis Nilsson
Peter Wright (3) v Luke Woodhouse/Andy Boulton
Brendan Dolan (14) v Jermaine Wattimena/Niko Springer
Michael Smith (6) v Simon Whitlock/Dragutin Horvat
Dirk van Duijvenbode (11) v Gabriel Clemens/Nico Kurz
Format
All games up to and including the quarter-finals are the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals the best of 13 legs and the final the best of 15 legs.
Prize Fund
- Winner: £25,000
- Runner-up: £10,000
- Semi-Finalists: £6,500
- Quarter-Finalists: £5,000
- Last 16 losers: £3,000
- Last 32 losers: £2,000
- Last 48 losers: £1,000
- Total: £140,000
——ENDS—–
Lead Image: PDC
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