The Euro Tour circuit resumes from Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8 with the Flanders Darts Trophy. This event will take place at the Antwerp XPO in Antwerp. It is the very first time that the Belgian port city hosts a PDC tournament. Read our preview here.
The Flanders Darts Trophy is the tenth round of the PDC European Tour. This circuit consists of a series of thirteen tournaments. The 32 best performing players eventually get to compete in the European Championship in Dortmund.
Follow the Flanders Darts Trophy 2024 via ourLIVE SCORE!
History Flanders Darts Trophy
The Flanders Darts Trophy is part of the PDC European Tour for the first time this year. However, it is not the first time the PDC has visited Belgium. The PDC first organized a Euro Tour tournament in Belgium in 2020. Hasselt then got the honor of hosting the Belgian Darts Championship. Gerwyn Price then took the title by defeating Michael Smith in the final.
In 2022, the PDC Tour returned to Belgium. The Belgian Darts Championship continued under the name Belgian Darts Open and moved to Wieze. Dave Chisnall captured the title there in 2022, and a year later the overall victory went to Michael van Gerwen. In 2024, teenage sensation Luke Littler ran away with the title. As of this season, however, there is a new second Euro Tour tournament in Belgium. A field of 48 players will compete for a spot at the top of the Flanders Darts Trophy honor roll.
Participants
Belgian fans in Antwerp will be presented with an absolutely top-notch field of participants. Only three players (Nathan Aspinall, Gary Anderson and Jose de Sousa) from the worlds top-32 are missing from the Flanders Darts Trophy.
Luke Humphries also makes his return to the European Tour after missing the German Darts Championship last week due to a family vacation. Other big names include Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Raymond van Barneveld and Dimitri van den Bergh.
Top-16 seeded players: Luke Humphries, Dave Chisnall, Gerwyn Price, Damon Heta, Danny Noppert, Josh Rock, Stephen Bunting, Ryan Searle, Ross Smith, Martin Schindler, Chris Dobey, Ricardo Pietreczko, Luke Littler, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Ryan Joyce
Order of Merit Qualifiers: Daryl Gurney, Joe Cullen, Brendan Dolan, Luke Woodhouse, Jonny Clayton, Raymond van Barneveld, Krzysztof Ratajski, James Wade, Ritchie Edhouse, Andrew Gilding, Peter Wright, Dimitri van den Bergh, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Callan Rydz
Qualifiers: Martin Lukeman, Jitse van der Wal, Kevin Doets, Richard Veenstra, Jermaine Wattimena, Robert Owen, Maik Kuivenhoven, Alan Soutar, Cameron Menzies, Gabriel Clemens, Jody Tobback, Brian Raman, Luc Bogaert, Francois Schweyen, Marko Kantele, Sebastian Bialecki, Mike de Decker, Scott Williams
Favourites
Everywhere Luke Humphries goes this year he is considered the top favourite for the overall victory, so it is no different in Belgium. 'Cool Hand Luke' played six of the previous nine Euro Tours in 2024 and made the final twice. Only in Munich did Humphries actually manage to win the title.
The previous Euro Tour tournament in Belgium was won by Luke Littler, who immediately won the Belgian Darts Open on his Euro Tour debut in March. Later, 'The Nuke' also won the Austrian Darts Open. Last week in Hildesheim, Littler seemed well on his way to his third Euro Tour title of the season, but in the final of the German Darts Championship, he lost 8-6 to an unleashed Peter Wright after a 5-2 lead. Michael van Gerwen continues his hunt for a first ranking title of the season in Antwerp. 'Mighty Mike' showed good form at times last week in Hildesheim, but was stopped in the quarter-finals by a superior Wright.
The Scot won his first title of the season out of nowhere last week. Wright was not even among the outsiders for the title at the German Darts Championship, but after his impressive winning streak last week, we put 'Snakebite' on the list this time anyway.
And what can Gerwyn Price do at the Flanders Darts Trophy? The puzzle pieces will have to fall into place for the man who has the fourth highest annual average of all Tour Card holders. However, Price has not come further than two World Series titles in 2024. If we have to name another outsider then, we choose Ross Smith. Smudger' can be a scourge for all the top players with his enormous scoring power, only on the doubles Smith sometimes lets it slip.
*** Luke Humphries
** Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen
* Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Ross Smith
TV and live stream
The Flanders Darts Trophy will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the event consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start daily at 12 p.m., while the evening sessions start at 6 p.m.
The first round will take place on Friday. The 16 Order of Merit qualifiers and the winners from the various qualifying tournaments then make their appearance. The top-16 seeded players enter the tournament on Saturday in the second round. Sunday will see the denouement of the tournament, starting with the third round in the afternoon session. Sunday evening will be followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Distribution of prize money
At this Euro Tour tournament, a total of £175,000 in prize money will be divided among the 48 participants. They will receive at least 1250 pounds in starting money. The top-16 seeded players who enter the Flanders Darts Trophy from the second round will receive 2,500 pounds guaranteed.
They must, however - like the Order of Merit qualifiers who start in the first round - win their first match in order for the prize money to count toward the world rankings and the other rankings. The winner of the Flanders Darts Trophy 2024 will ultimately go home with the top prize of £30,000.
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