Schedule Friday night at Flanders Darts Trophy 2024 including Clayton-Van Duijvenbode and Wade-Menzies

A spectacle is guaranteed Friday night when the last eight matches of the first round of the Flanders Darts Trophy are played. No fewer than five Dutchmen and three Belgians take to the oche during the evening session at the Antwerp EXPO.

Francois Schweyen forced his way into the main tournament of the Flanders Darts Trophy on Thursday via the Host Nation Qualifier. Schweyen will face Kevin Doets in front of his own crowd. Schweyen has participated in Euro Tour tournaments twice before, but has never won a match. For Doets it will be his fourth Euro Tour tournament of the year. At the European Darts Open in Leverkusen, 'Hawk Eye' cleverly made it to the last sixteen.

Dirk van Duijvenbode is the second Dutchman in action. 'Aubergenius' makes his appearance against Jonny Clayton. At times we see again the Van Duijvenbode who often played a role in the final stages of PDC tournaments. 'Aubergenius' could use a good result in Antwerp, however, as for now he is outside the qualifying spots for the European Darts Championship. Clayton has so far played eight Euro Tours, and reached the final at the Dutch Darts Championship. He lost to Josh Rock.

Then Mike de Decker will take on Richard Veenstra. De Decker was originally not qualified for the Flanders Darts Trophy, but due to cancellations he advanced to the main tournament. The Belgian missed only one Euro Tour this season, and managed to reach the last eight at the Baltic Sea Darts Open. For Veenstra it will be his fifth Euro Tour entry of the season. In the previous four, 'Flyers' managed to get past the first round each time.

Midway through the evening there is a Dutch cracker between Raymond van Barneveld and Maik Kuivenhoven. Last week Kuivenhoven also got to appear in Hildesheim, but then he lost in the first round to James Wade. Van Barneveld also sat out the first round last week. The 57-year-old Hagenaar went down against Dom Taylor. Cameron Menzies will make his fourth appearance of the season on the Euro Tour. 'Cammy' has been in top form in recent weeks and reached the third round at the International Darts Open and Dutch Darts Championship earlier this year. Four times he has already failed in the first round, while at the other five Euro Tours the second round was the end station.

No doubt the Belgian fans will all be ready for the sixth match of the evening, as Dimitri van den Bergh takes the stage for his match against Andrew Gilding. The previous Euro Tours on Belgian soil brought little luck for 'The Dreammaker'. Three times he stranded in the second round, and earlier this year he was even eliminated in the opening round of the Belgian Darts Open. Perhaps Van den Bergh can shine in his hometown.

The brand new German Darts Championship champion may also be in action on Friday night. Peter Wright surprisingly took the title at the Euro Tour tournament in Hildesheim last week. The reborn 'Snakebite' will take on Brendan Dolan in the first round of this event, who has only managed to get past the last 32 once in the last twelve ranking tournaments. Rydz then lost to Simon Whitlock in the first round. Cullen made it to the third round, but then delivered a very poor match, losing to Dave Chisnall (6-0) with an average of 79.

The Flanders Darts Trophy will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the Flanders 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 Flanders 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 Flanders Darts Trophy eventually goes home with the top prize of 30,000 pounds.

Francois Schweyen v Kevin Doets

Jonny Clayton v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Mike De Decker v Richard Veenstra

Raymond van Barneveld v Maik Kuivenhoven

Cameron Menzies v James Wade

Andrew Gilding v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Brendan Dolan v Peter Wright

Joe Cullen v Callan Rydz