Max Hopp will make his European Tour return on Friday at the NEO.bet German Darts Championship in Hildesheim, where Ricardo Pietreczko will be defending his title at Halle 39 this weekend.
The PDC European Tour returns following a two-month hiatus with the year’s ninth £175,000 tournament, with 48 players competing in Hildesheim.
Germany’s Pietreczko claimed his maiden professional title by defeating Peter Wright in sensational fashion at Halle 39 last year, and begins his title defence on Saturday against either Callan Rydz or Simon Whitlock.
Wright will also return to the Hildesheim stage, and is part of Friday’s first round as he takes on emerging German ace Niko Springer.
Popular German Max Hopp – his nation’s first European Tour winner back in 2018 – will make his comeback on the big stage against Jose de Sousa on Friday night for a first appearance since April 2022, when he was a quarter-finalist at the German Darts Grand Prix.
Friday’s first round – which will be held across two sessions from 1300 & 1900 local time (1200 & 1900 BST) – also features reigning UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh taking on Mensur Suljovic.
Raymond van Barneveld meets Dom Taylor, Jonny Clayton faces Martin Lukeman, James Wade is up against Maik Kuivenhoven and former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding plays Johan Engstrom.
The 16 seeded players enter the action on Saturday at the second round stage, with Michael van Gerwen aiming to claim a 37th European Tour success as he plays either Kuivenhoven or Wade.
Premier League champion Luke Littler opens his challenge for a third European Tour title of 2024 against Dylan Slevin or Steve Beaton.
Top seed Dave Chisnall’s bid to win back-to-back European Tour events sees him meet Van Barneveld or Taylor, while International Darts Open winner Martin Schindler plays Suljovic or Van den Bergh.
Live coverage of all 2024 European Tour events will be streamed through Viaplay, and through DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Coverage will also be shown on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and through bookmakers’ worldwide.
NB: From the original entries, Gary Anderson, Josh Rock, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall have withdrawn and are replaced from the Reserve List by Stephen Burton, Dylan Slevin, Mensur Suljovic and Robert Owen.
Dave Chisnall v Van Barneveld/Taylor
Joe Cullen v De Sousa/Hopp
Gerwyn Price v Horvat/Ratajski
Michael van Gerwen v Kuivenhoven/Wade
Martin Schindler v Suljovic/Van den Bergh
Ricardo Pietreczko v Rydz/Whitlock
Stephen Bunting v Wright/Springer
Luke Littler v Slevin/Beaton
Sunday September 1
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
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.
—–ENDS—–
Image: Jonas Hunold/ PDC Europe
