Can Raymond van Barneveld shock Michael Smith at European Championship? ''Certainly with this format there is a chance''
PDCTuesday, 24 October 2023 at 13:00
The 2023 European Championship gets underway on Thursday, Oct. 26. Once again, the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund is hosting this major tournament. There are 32 players competing in this event.
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The field consists of the 32 best players from the Euro Tour tournaments in 2023. The draw for the European Championship is also based on the Euro Tour tournament rankings, allowing big names to meet early in the tournament.
"It's a completely different situation," Robert Marijanovic analyzes in conversation with Elmar Paulke in their joint podcast. "Matches like Damon Heta against Gian van Veen right away in the first round I find interesting, Ratajski against Joe Cullen - that's a cracker. Also Chris Dobey, an outsider, is only seeded 32nd at this tournament. Therefore he will play Dave Chisnall. A lot of fireworks can be expected right away.''
In addition to the aforementioned matches, Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld are also paired up for the first round. In this, Marijanovic sees good chances for the Dutchman.
''It can go two ways; exciting or totally unspectacular. Which way it will be is entirely up to Barney. Michael Smith will just do what Michael Smith does: play darts. It could also just be a match where Raymond starts shaking his head, nodding off and giving up after only three or four legs.''
But Marijanovic certainly does not consider the five-time world champion hopeless, especially because of the short format (best of 11 legs) in the first round. ''That's a very short format. That's also why I think Raymond has a real chance. If there are chances to beat Michael Smith at a major, it's with this format.''
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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