Cross vs Wade in Opening Night Clash

Rob Cross will begin the defence of his Cazoo European Championship title against 2018 winner James Wade on the opening night of this year’s showpiece, with the schedule of play confirmed for the four-day event in Dortmund from October 27-30.

The 32-player field was finalised following last weekend’s Gibraltar Darts Trophy, with the top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit following the year’s 13 European Tour events securing qualification.

Fourth seed Cross will kick off his bid for a third European Championship crown with a blockbuster first-round tie against Wade at the Westfalenhalle on Thursday, October 27, in a battle of the former champions.

The opening night will also see a further seven first-round clashes take place, as top seed Luke Humphries – a winner of four European Tour titles in 2022 – opens his campaign against Poland’s number one Krzysztof Ratajski.

Fifth seed Damon Heta – who celebrated his maiden European Tour title in Gibraltar last weekend – faces Vincent van der Voort in Thursday’s finale, with Michael Smith up against Czech ace Karel Sedlacek.

World Grand Prix runner-up Nathan Aspinall takes on emerging star Josh Rock in another tasty tie, while UK Open champion Danny Noppert plays Andrew Gilding – one of six debutants in this year’s field.

Ryan Searle takes on another newcomer in Martin Lukeman, while Dirk van Duijvenbode opens this year’s tournament against Latvia’s Madars Razma.

The first round draws to a close on Friday October 28, as four-time champion Michael van Gerwen faces Chris Dobey, and World Champion Peter Wright takes on debutant Ryan Meikle.

Third seed Wright will play Gerwyn Price in round two if the Welshman overcomes Rowby-John Rodriguez in his opener, with Price’s compatriot Jonny Clayton pitted against Germany’s number one Gabriel Clemens.

Clemens’ World Cup partner Martin Schindler plays Jose De Sousa, while two-time semi-finalist Joe Cullen meets Ross Smith for a place in the last 16.

Elsewhere, TV title winners Dimitri Van den Bergh and Daryl Gurney collide, as St Helens stars Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting do battle in Friday’s opening tie.

Following the conclusion of the first round, the last 16 will take place across two sessions on Saturday October 29, before the tournament concludes with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a bumper double-session on Sunday October 30.

The tournament will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).

Click here for ticket information.

2022 Cazoo European Championship

Schedule of Play

Thursday October 27 (1845 local time, 1745 BST)

8x First Round

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma

Ryan Searle v Martin Lukeman

Danny Noppert v Andrew Gilding

Rob Cross v James Wade

Luke Humphries v Krzysztof Ratajski

Nathan Aspinall v Josh Rock

Michael Smith v Karel Sedlacek