Schedule Saturday night at European Darts Open: Peter Wright, Michael Smith and Jonny Clayton enter the fray

The action intensifies on Saturday night in Leverkusen as the second round of the European Darts Open gets underway. Eight high-stakes matchups are on the schedule, with several tournament favourites making their first appearance. Peter Wright, Michael Smith and Jonny Clayton headline the session.

The European Darts Open is one of just three Euro Tour events to have featured on the calendar since the circuit's inception in 2012. The only exceptions came during the COVID-hit years of 2020 and 2021. Originally staged in Düsseldorf, the tournament crowned Raymond van Barneveld its inaugural champion, with the Dutch legend defeating Dave Chisnall in the 2012 final.

Van Barneveld is one of two Dutchmen to have lifted the trophy, with Michael van Gerwen holding the record for most titles — five in total (2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022). Other past champions include Peter Wright (2014, 2017), Robert Thornton (2015), Gerwyn Price (2023), and Dave Chisnall (2024).
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Niko Springer is emerging as the latest German breakthrough on the European stage, following in the footsteps of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko. The 24-year-old reached the final of last week’s Dutch Darts Championship and kicked off his Leverkusen campaign in style with a 6–1 demolition of Dirk van Duijvenbode. His next challenge is Chris Dobey, who has struggled to find consistency on the Euro Tour this season. Despite a quarter-final appearance in Austria, Dobey has crashed out in the first round of his other five Euro Tour events.

Lukas Wenig survived a major scare on Friday, surrendering a 5–2 lead before eventually edging out Niels Zonneveld 6–5. It marked just the fifth time in 14 Euro Tour appearances that Wenig has reached the second round. He now faces James Wade, a player who’s shown flashes of form with a semi-final in Belgium and a quarter-final in Sindelfingen, but who also has four second-round exits to his name this season.

Darryl Pilgrim impressed in the opening round with a 6–3 win over Madars Razma and now finds himself up against two-time world champion Peter Wright. While ‘Snakebite’ has reached three quarter-finals on this year’s Euro Tour, he’s yet to mount a serious title charge — a reality he'll be keen to change in Leverkusen.

Jonny Clayton enters Leverkusen riding a wave of momentum after claiming the title at the Dutch Darts Championship in Rosmalen. His second-round opponent, Jermaine Wattimena, eased past Joshua Hermann 6–0 and will be hoping to spring a surprise. It’s their 20th career meeting, and although ‘The Ferret’ leads the head-to-head, Wattimena has nine wins to his name and won’t be short on belief.

It won’t be Raymond van Barneveld but Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson who takes on Michael Smith. ‘Dirty Harry’ punished Barney’s missed doubles to earn a 6–3 win on Friday and continued his impressive record of never losing a first-round Euro Tour match. However, the second round has proven a hurdle: on three previous occasions he’s failed to progress beyond this stage. For ‘Bullyboy’, the stakes are high — he needs ranking points to secure a spot at the World Matchplay and will see this as a must-win.

Premier League finalist Nathan Aspinall is the only playoff contender to make the trip to Leverkusen. With significant prize money to defend later in the year, Aspinall is eager to keep adding to his tally. His Euro Tour form is strong — a title in Austria and a final in Riesa — and he now faces fellow Englishman Bradley Brooks, who edged Joe Cullen 6–5 in a dramatic opening round.

Germany’s World Cup pairing will collide on Saturday as Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko battle for a place in the last 16. Schindler has yet to lose a second-round match on this year’s Euro Tour and captured the title in Graz. Pietreczko, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals last week in Rosmalen — his best showing in quite some time.

Saturday night’s finale pits top seed Stephen Bunting against Luke Woodhouse. ‘Woody’ brushed aside Dragutin Horvat 6–2 in round one and will be keen to cause an upset. Bunting, installed as top seed due to the absence of the PDC’s top four, is seeking a return to form after winning the International Darts Open in early April but failing to pick up a Euro Tour win since.

The tournament will be broadcast by PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the European Darts Open 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 Pro Tour players are then paired with one of the 16 players who managed to get through the various qualifying tournaments. The top-16 seeded players enter the tournament on Saturday in the second round. The conclusion of the tournament follows on Sunday, with the third round first in the afternoon session. Sunday night the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will follow.

All participants starting from the first round are guaranteed £1250 in prize money, while the top-16 enter from the second round and receive £2,500 anyway. This amount eventually rises to the grand prize of £30,000 for the winner.

An important detail is that players who are automatically seeded via the Order of Merit and lose their first match will not be awarded prize money on the various rankings. This does apply to qualifiers who are later designated as seeded by the withdrawal of others.

Chris Dobey v Niko Springer

James Wade v Lukas Wenig

Peter Wright v Darryl Pilgrim

Jonny Clayton v Jermaine Wattimena

Michael Smith v Andreas Harrysson

Nathan Aspinall v Bradley Brooks

Martin Schindler v Ricardo Pietreczko

Stephen Bunting v Luke Woodhouse