European Championship Draw Confirmed

Ross Smith will begin the defence of his Machineseeker European Championship title against new German star Ricardo Pietreczko, with the field and draw for this month’s Dortmund event now confirmed.

Smith, who won the title in sensational style 12 months ago, faces a tasty opening tie at the Westfalenhalle against Pietreczko, who claimed his first PDC ranking title win at the German Darts Championship on Sunday night.

Following the conclusion of the year’s 13th and final European Tour event, the top 32 players on the 2023 European Tour Order of Merit secured qualification for the European Championship, which will take place from October 26-29.

World Champion and world number one Michael Smith will face Raymond van Barneveld in one of the pick of the first round ties, while four-time European Champion Michael van Gerwen plays Madars Razma.

Number one seed Dave Chisnall meets Chris Dobey, two-time European Champion Rob Cross takes on Dimitri Van den Bergh and new World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries plays Brendan Dolan in other high-profile contests.

Former winners Peter Wright and James Wade begin their campaigns against Gabriel Clemens and Dirk van Duijvenbode respectively, fourth seed Gerwyn Price plays German number one Gabriel Clemens and Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney will meet in an all-Northern Irish clash.

The schedule of play will be confirmed in due course.

The Machineseeker European Championship will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding subscribers based in the UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland).

Click here to book tickets for the 2023 Machineseeker European Championship.