The seeded players and Tour Card Holder Qualifier entries have been released for the Belgian Darts Championship, the first European Tour tournament of the new season.
Taking place from 28 February to 1 March in Hasselt, it is the first time that a Euro Tour tournament has been played in Belgium.
The field consists of the top 16 of the ProTour ranking with Michael Smith replacing Dave Chisnall who has not entered as well as thirty winners from various qualifying tournaments.
Michael van Gerwen is the top seed, Ian White, Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright are also in the top five. Krzysztof Ratajski, Glen Durrant and Jamie Hughes are also in the top 16.
In addition, the two highest ranked players in the Order of Merit from the host country will receive an invite. These are Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts who will start in the first round.
Benjamin Pratnemer recently won the Eastern European Qualifying tournament while at the end of February before the tournament begins there are also two qualifiers for players without Tour Card with one of these tournaments only for the Host Nation.
The 24 remaining places in the tournament will be filled by the winners of the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, which will be played before the next Players Championship weekend on 14 February.
Belgian Darts Championship (ET1)
Feb 28-March 1, Ethias Arena, Hasselt
Top 16 seeded players (first round exemption)
1. Michael van Gerwen
2. Ian White
3. Gerwyn Price
4. Peter Wright
5. Krzysztof Ratajski
6. Mensur Suljovic
7. James Wade
8. Glen Durrant
9. Joe Cullen
10. Nathan Aspinall
11. Jonny Clayton
12. Rob Cross
13 Jermaine Wattimena
14. Jamie Hughes
15. Jeffrey De Zwaan
16. Michael Smith
Two highest placed Belgians
- Dimitri van den Bergh
- Kim Huybrechts
East European Qualifier
- Benjamin Pratnemer
Host Nation Qualifier
Three starting places; qualifying tournament on Thursday, February 27.
Associate Member Qualifier
Two starting places; qualifying tournament on Thursday, February 27.
Tour Card Holder Qualifier Entries
Friday February 14
Toni Alcinas
Lisa Ashton
Scott Baker
Michael Barnard
Barrie Bates
Steve Beaton
Aaron Beeney
Gary Blades
William Borland
Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks
Steve Brown
Keegan Brown
Christian Bunse
Stephen Bunting
Gavin Carlin
Matt Clark
Gabriel Clemens
Mike De Decker
Jose De Sousa
Jan Dekker
Nathan Derry
Chris Dobey
Brendan Dolan
Matthew Edgar
Ricky Evans
Ted Evetts
Adrian Gray
Andy Hamilton
Wesley Harms
John Henderson
Damon Heta
Max Hopp
Luke Humphries
Adam Hunt
Peter Jacques
Wayne Jones
Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Kciuk
Nick Kenny
Mervyn King
Jelle Klaasen
Martijn Kleermaker
Boris Krcmar
Maik Kuivenhoven
Harald Leitinger
Steve Lennon
Kai Fan Leung
Jamie Lewis
Jason Lowe
Mickey Mansell
Mark McGeeney
Yordi Meeuwisse
Ryan Meikle
Ron Meulenkamp
John Michael
Joe Murnan
Ryan Murray
Geert Nentjes
Jesus Noguera
Danny Noppert
Richard North
William O'Connor
David Pallett
Josh Payne
Darren Penhall
Devon Petersen
Justin Pipe
Madars Razma
Cristo Reyes
Reece Robinson
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler
Ryan Searle
Karel Sedlacek
Kirk Shepherd
Steffen Siepmann
Jeff Smith
Ross Smith
Simon Stevenson
Alan Tabern
Ciaran Teehan
Derk Telnekes
Robert Thornton
Benito van de Pas
Vincent van der Meer
Vincent van der Voort
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Mike van Duivenbode
Scott Waites
Harry Ward
Darren Webster
Steve West
Conan Whitehead
Carl Wilkinson
James Wilson
Luke Woodhouse
Jonathan Worsley
Niels Zonneveld