16 top players compete in the Friday evening session in Saarbrucken - all for the right to join the seeds in round two. Last time out at the German Darts Grand Prix, Ted Evetts did just that. He went even further still, only being stopped by eventual champion Michael van Gerwen at the quarter-final stage. Can he do the same at the German Darts Open? Vincent Kamphuis will be out to prove the negative. Dennis Nilsson represents the Nordic & Baltic tour in this year's event. The Swedish strongman will not want to be outmuscled in round one by UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall. In the third tie of the day, Chris Dobey looks to see off home qualifier Lukas Wenig, with Rob Cross waiting in the second round. In one of the day's more intriguing meetings, Kyle Anderson goes head-to-head with Jeffrey de Zwaan. The Dutch youngster - controversially, for some - was on a massive hot streak at last weekend's Development Tour. The point of that tour is to prepare players for the bigger stage. Perhaps it will do just that in Saarbrucken. It's Anderson's aim to halt that momentum and stay until the weekend. Dimitri van den Bergh plays German hopeful and
European Tour debutant Thomas Kohnlein. After that is Raymond van Barneveld's second tilt at a European tournament this year. His last outing wasn't memorable. If he can dodge a massive banana skin in the form of Gabriel Clemens, Barney would meet Jermaine Wattimena, and then possibly Michael van Gerwen in round three. Yet Clemens may be plotting out that path for himself. Form-wise, the German is certainly the favourite. Two popular players do battle in the penultimate tie of the evening. Stephen Bunting plays John Henderson, with the winner of this heavyweight meeting set to meet defending German Darts Open champion Max Hopp next. And in the last of our 16 first round games, the fourth and final home nation qualifier, Kevin Munch, meets Irish talent Steve Lennon.
18:15 Ted Evetts v Vincent Kamphuis 18:45 Nathan Aspinall v Dennis Nilsson 19:15 Lukas Wenig v Chris Dobey 19:45 Kyle Anderson v Jeffrey de Zwaan 20:15 Dimitri van den Bergh v Thomas Kohnlein 20:45 Gabriel Clemens v Raymond van Barneveld 21:15 Stephen Bunting v John Henderson 21:45 Kevin Munch v Steve Lennon