European Darts Grand Prix 2020 preview and schedule: Friday afternoon session, including King, Waites and Petersen

The European Darts Grand Prix keeps the momentum going as the PDC season gets busy.

As we awaken into a world where Michael van Gerwen isn't the Premier League Darts holder, it's good to get some classic European Tour hi-jinks to bring back some normality. The European season's normally all done by now, but the European Darts Grand Prix is just the third event of the season. Who will join Gerwyn Price and Devon Petersen in the 2020 winners' circle?

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Far less glamorous but equally important is the race to regain Tour Cards. Maik Kuivenhoven and Jonathan Worsley both look set to lose theirs, and could do with doubling their money in Sindelfingen by winning their first round clash. Kuivenhoven is better placed to save himself and also qualified for the International Darts Open.

The second tie features a real juxtaposition; Mervyn King, a veteran and winner of the inaugural European Darts Grand Prix, meets European Tour debutant Mindaugas Barauskas. Lithuanian ace Barauskas will be joining Darius Labanauskas both at this event (more on here later) and at the World Cup of Darts.

Thanks to four dropouts, we'll be seeing more German talent in Sindelfingen. One of the nine home talents on show is Ricardo Pietreczko, who makes his third European Tour outing. He's hoping to make Luke Woodhouse his first victim on the PDC stage, while the Englishman will be aiming for a second round tie with newly-seeded Jose de Sousa.

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David Evans has had a cracking October; successful over the summer in the online events, Evans has now claimed a World Championship spot and a PDC Tour Card for 2021-2022 through the Challenge Tour. Next up is a European Tour debut, against fellow first-timer Kai Gotthardt.

After that is a tasty all-English tie between Scott Waites and Jason Lowe, before Swiss star Stefan Bellmont takes on Nico Kurz, who continues to showcase his talent as one of Germany's biggest hopes.

You might remember Michael Unterbuchner from his back-to-back Lakeside runs, and a star turn at the 2018 Grand Slam. The T-Rex opens his European Tour account against Lithuania's number one, Darius Labanauskas.

Devon Petersen's star continues to rise. While his World Grand Prix debut fizzled out, the African Warrior is now a PDC event winner, and the most recent person to lift a European Tour trophy. Harry Ward is his opponent on Friday afternoon. Ward will bow out of the Pro Tour at the end of the year; we may see him come back in future, but for now his job is to burst the Petersen bubble.

European Darts Grand Prix Schedule

Friday October 16

First Round

Afternoon Session (12:00 GMT)

12:00 Maik Kuivenhoven v Jonathan Worsley

12:30 Mervyn King v Mindaugas Barauskas

13:00 Ricardo Pietreczko v Luke Woodhouse

13:30 Kai Gotthardt v David Evans

14:00 Scott Waites v Jason Lowe

14:30 Nico Kurz v Stefan Bellmont

15:00 Darius Labanauskas v Michael Unterbuchner

15:30 Harry Ward v Devon Petersen