"Ricardo is a great player but he's going to have to play well to beat me" - Ross Smith heads to Pietreczko tie with no fear at Hungarian Darts Trophy 2024

Ross Smith has qualified for the last sixteen at the 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy. 'Smudger' defeated Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 in the second round and will now face Ricardo Pietreczko.

Smith put in a very strong performance against 'Barney', ending up just under the 100 average mark. "Ray let me in early on and to be honest, I was lucky. That doesn't happen often in this game either so I count my blessings," Smith said in his post-match interview afterwards. "I did the job I needed to do, but I didn't feel like it was a great game."

As mentioned, Smith will now take on Ricardo Pietreczko in the next round. "Ricardo is a great player, but if I'm honest, I didn't even know who I was playing. I wasn't looking any further than Raymond," Smith says. "But yeah, Ricardo is a great player. But so am I when I turn up. So he's going to have to play well to beat me."

The Hungarian Darts Trophy will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the Hungarian Darts Trophy consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start daily at 12:00, while the evening sessions start at 18:00.

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.