Schedule Saturday night at European Championship Darts 2024 with cracker between Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson

We continue Saturday night with the second round of the European Darts Championship. The fans in the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund can look forward to a wonderful cracker between Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. Read our preview here.

It is the seventeenth time the European Darts Championship has been held. Peter Wright crowned himself European champion for the second time in 2023 by defeating James Wade in the final. Van Gerwen and Phil Taylor are the record champions at the European Darts Championship with both winning four titles.

The absolute cracker of the second round is the clash between old rivals Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. Van Gerwen recorded a convincing victory over Gabriel Clemens 6-1 in the first round, while Anderson won his match against Stephen Bunting solidly 6-3.

Although Van Gerwen has four European titles, his last one dates from 2017. Anderson is back at this tournament for the first time since 2016, where he lost to Van Gerwen in the final in 2015. The Dutchman and the Scot have already played 71 matches against each other. In 49 matches Van Gerwen drew the longest, while Anderson was the strongest in 19. Three times they played equal in the old format of Premier League Darts.

In another promising match, James Wade takes on Jermaine Wattimena. Wade, a former European champion and finalist of three of the past six editions, defeated Rob Cross 6-3 in the first round. Wattimena surprised by defeating defending champion Peter Wright with a resounding 6-0, taking revenge for a similar defeat against Wright in 2018.

With his excellent record this season at the majors, Wade is looking to maintain his momentum. However, Wattimena hopes to reach the quarterfinals of a major for the first time since 2019, despite his negative record in mutual encounters with Wade. 'The Machine' won seven of the previous eight clashes.

Top favorite Luke Humphries gave a calling card by defeating Nathan Aspinall with an impressive average of 106. Humphries has been in absolute top form over the past year and will be looking for his next major victory, having won the World Darts Championship, World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay earlier this year. Jonny Clayton, on the other hand, won one Players Championship title and a final on the Euro Tour in 2024, and could reach the quarter-finals at the European Darts Championship for the second time. While Clayton has a slight lead in their head-to-head (4-3), Humphries won three of the last four matches between them.

Andrew Gilding provided a surprise victory over Luke Littler in the first round and hopes to continue his strong season after an earlier quarterfinal finish at the World Matchplay. He meets Ricardo Pietreczko, who also impressed by beating Damon Heta 6-5 and was the only German player to reach the second round. Pietreczko can make history by reaching the quarterfinals at a major for the first time. In the mutual balance, Gilding leads 3-1, but their last meeting in September 2024 was won 6-5 by 'Pikachu'.

The tournament will be broadcast fully live in the UK on ITV4. The daily evening sessions are at 7 p.m., while the afternoon sessions start at 11:45am. on Saturday and Sunday.

The first round will be completed on Thursday, Oct. 24, and Friday, Oct. 25. The 16 winners of the first round will compete for a spot among the final eight on Saturday, Oct. 26. The quarterfinals will be on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 27, followed by the semifinals and finals in the evening.

Compared to 2023, the prize pool has been increased by £100,000. The amount for the winner and runner-up has remained the same, so the extra money flows to the players who do not make it to the final.

All 32 participants are guaranteed a starting premium of 7,500 pounds, which is 25 percent more than last year. This amount eventually rises to a sum of 120,000 for the winner of the 2024 European Darts Championship.

First round - Best of 11 legs

Second round - Best of 19 legs

Quarterfinals - Best of 19 legs

Semifinals - Best of 21 legs

Final - Best of 21 legs

Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson

James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena

Luke Humphries v Jonny Clayton

Andrew Gilding v Ricardo Pietreczko