Schedule Friday night at 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy including Peter Wright vs Joe Cullen and Michael Smith vs Jonny Clayton

A spectacle is guaranteed this Friday night when the last eight duels from the first round of the 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy are played out in Budapest. A lot of familiar names enter the oche during the evening session at the MVM Dome. Read our preview here.

The Hungarian Darts Trophy is scheduled to take place for the fourth time. In 2021, Gerwyn Price managed to win the very first edition by beating Michael Smith 8-2 in the final. A year later, the title went to Joe Cullen, who was too strong for William O'Connor in a surprising 8-2 final. In 2023, Dave Chisnall took the title by beating Luke Humphries in the final.

We begin the evening with two players who actually hadn't even qualified for this event. Due to cancellations of Luke Littler and Ryan Joyce, plus a provisional suspension for Leighton Bennett, Alan Soutar, Niels Zonneveld and Jim Williams were flown in. Alan Soutar and Williams were paired together in the draw. For Williams, it will be only his first Euro Tour of the season. Soutar played two, and managed to reach the second round at the Flanders Darts Trophy.

The second match also features two players who were recently there at the Flanders Darts Trophy. Scott Williams made it to the second round then, while Luke Woodhouse even made it to the quarter-finals. The latter currently occupies the last qualifying spot for the World Grand Prix, so will be determined to bring in important results in his bid for qualification.

Dirk van Duijvenbode is the first Dutchman in action Friday night. He will take on Gabriel Clemens in the first round. We just mentioned that Woodhouse occupies the last qualifying spot for the World Grand Prix. Van Duijvenbode and Clemens are the first pursuers of Woodhouse, so both players can use a good result in Budapest. Both Van Duijvenbode and Clemens are not yet sure of participating in that event.

This week Nathan Aspinall made his return to the PDC circuit after a month and a half of rehabilitation at the Players Championship tournament in Wigan. Now 'The Asp' will also make his return to the Euro Tour. He will square off with Krzysztof Ratajski, who is slowly slipping down the various rankings. Ratajski, a regular in the top-16 of the Pro Tour rankings for many years, is now ranked No. 39 on that list. On the world rankings, Ratajski has now also fallen back to 27th place.

A great scene for Hungarian fans in the fifth match of the evening. Former Hungarian Darts Trophy winner Joe Cullen will take on two-time world champion Peter Wright. Cullen is having a poor season for now. On the Year-To-Date Order of Merit, Cullen is in a disappointing 26th spot. Wright started the season poorly, but has been posting increasingly good results in recent weeks, culminating in the overall victory at the German Darts Championship.

Raymond van Barneveld will also make his appearance during the evening session. The 57-year-old from The Hague was paired with Ritchie Edhouse in the draw for the Hungarian Darts Trophy. The Englishman showed good form this week with a semi-final on the Pro Tour, while Edhouse also reached two quarter-finals on the Euro Tour earlier this year. As a result, Edhouse is already certain to participate in the World Grand Prix and the European Championship. Van Barneveld will also be there at the World Grand Prix, but will have to pull out all the stops to also make it to the European Championship. In the qualification race for that tournament, the Dutchman is just outside the top-32.

The latter also applies to Dimitri van den Bergh, who is behind Van Barneveld in 34th place. 'The Dreammaker' will be aiming for revenge against Andrew Gilding in a duel between the reigning UK Open champion and the 2023 UK Open winner. The Belgian and the Englishman also met two years ago in the first round of the Flanders Darts Trophy in Antwerp. Back then, Gilding surprisingly won 6-2 after a strong match.

The final match of the evening is by no means the least. The first round will conclude with a clash between former world champion Michael Smith and former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton. For Smith, it will be only his sixth Euro Tour of the year, as he decided to skip five of them. At the European Dart Open, 'Bullyboy' did make it to the semifinals, putting Smith just inside the top-32 on the Euro Tour rankings. Clayton is a bit more comfortable in that regard. 'The Ferret' reached the final at the Dutch Darts Championship in Rosmalen, while he also reached the last eight at the Belgian Darts Open earlier in 2024.

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.

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 Hungarian Darts Trophy from the second round will receive 2,500 pounds anyway.

They do - like the 16 Order of Merit qualifiers starting in the first round - have to win their first match in order for the prize money to count toward the world rankings and the other rankings. The winner of the Hungarian Darts Trophy eventually goes home with the top prize of 30,000 pounds.

First round: Best of 11 legs

Second round: Best of 11 legs

Third round: Best of 11 legs

Quarterfinals: Best of 11 legs

Semifinals: Best of 13 legs

Final: Best of 15 legs

Jim Williams v Alan Soutar

Luke Woodhouse v Scott Williams

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gabriel Clemens

Krzysztof Ratajski v Nathan Aspinall

Peter Wright v Joe Cullen

Raymond van Barneveld v Ritchie Edhouse

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Andrew Gilding

Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton