The 2018 Austrian Darts Open was the fourth out of thirteen
PDC European Tour The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, te ...
events on the
2018 PDC Pro Tour The 2018 PDC Pro Tour was a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. In this year ...
. The tournament took place at Steiermarkthalle,
Premstätten
Premstätten is since January 2016 a new market town with 5,784 residents (as of 1 January 2016) in Graz-Umgebung District of Styria, Austria. However, it was previously founded in January 2015 as the town name "''Unterpremstätten-Zettling''".
Th ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
between 20–22 April 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
was the defending champion after defeating
Michael Smith 6–5 in the final of
the 2017 tournament, although he withdrew prior to the tournament beginning.
Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his ...
(who became a seeded player following van Gerwen's withdrawal) defeated fellow
Welshman Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...
8–5, in what was both their first
PDC European Tour The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, te ...
final, and which was the second European Tour in a row where a debutant finalist won the event (following on from
Max Hopp
Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...
in the
2018 German Darts Open the previous week).
Prize money
This is how the prize money is divided:
Prize money will count towards the
PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded f ...
, the
ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit, with one exception: should a seeded player lose in the second round (last 32), their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit, although they still receive the full prize money payment.
Qualification and format
The top 16 entrants from the
PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 27 February will automatically qualify for the event and will be seeded in the second round.
The remaining 32 places will go to players from five qualifying events – 18 from the UK Qualifier (held in
Barnsley on 9 March), eight from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 12 April), four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 19 April), one from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 23 February) and one from the East European Qualifier (held on 28 January).
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
, who would have been the number 1 seed, withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw.
Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his ...
, the highest-ranked qualifier, was promoted to 16th seed, with an extra place being made available in the Host Nation Qualifier.
Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champion ...
withdrew with injury on the day of the tournament, so
Wayne Jones, who was due to face him in round 2, was given a bye to round 3.
The following players will take part in the tournament:
:Top 16
:#
Peter Wright ''(second round)''
:#
Rob Cross ''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Michael Smith ''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Daryl Gurney
Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...
''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Mensur Suljović
Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (B ...
''(semi-finals)''
:#
Joe Cullen ''(semi-finals)''
:#
Dave Chisnall
Dave Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He began his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and was the runner-up in their World Champion ...
''(withdrew)''
:#
Ian White ''(quarter-finals)''
:#
Simon Whitlock
Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname ...
''(third round)''
:#
Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...
''(runner-up)''
:#
Mervyn King ''(third round)''
:#
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win ...
''(second round)''
:#
Darren Webster
Darren Michael Webster (born 10 June 1968) is an English darts player nicknamed Demolition Man.
Career
Webster won the 2005 Open Oust Nederland, beating Co Stompé in the final.
Originally nicknamed The Sniper, Webster reached the quarter-fina ...
''(third round)''
:#
Benito van de Pas
Benito van de Pas (born 18 January 1993) is a Dutch professional darts player.
Career BDO
Van de Pas reached the semi-finals of the 2011 PDC Under-21 World Championship, losing 1-4 to Michael van Gerwen.
Van de Pas won the 2011 German Open. Th ...
''(second round)''
:#
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1.
Background
Beaton was born in Co ...
''(third round)''
:#
Jonny Clayton
Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his ...
(champion)
:UK Qualifier
:*
Cameron Menzies
Cameron Menzies (born 27 June 1989) is a Scottish darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Career
BDO
Menzies first played darts on the BDO circuit in 2006, playing in the Gibraltar Open. However, he did ...
''(first round)''
:*
John Henderson ''(first round)''
:*
Stephen Burton ''(first round)''
:*
Luke Humphries
Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.
Career
Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 20 ...
''(second round)''
:*
Brendan Dolan
Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...
''(second round)''
:*
James Wade ''(third round)''
:*
Michael Barnard ''(second round)''
:*
Alan Tabern
"The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Darts career
A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...
''(first round)''
:*
Jason Cullen ''(second round)''
:*
Steve West ''(second round)''
:*
Wayne Jones ''(third round)''
:*
Simon Stevenson ''(first round)''
:*
Richie Burnett ''(second round)''
:*
Steve Lennon ''(second round)''
:*
Ritchie Edhouse ''(first round)''
:*
Adam Hunt
Adam Hunt (born 21 August 1993) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events.
Career
Hunt began competing in PDC events in 2011 and won his first tournament in his second month, beating Josh Jon ...
''(second round)''
:*
Scott Taylor ''(second round)''
:West/South European Qualifier
:*
Cristo Reyes
Cristo Reyes Torres (born 30 July 1987) is a Spanish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
In October 2014, Reyes bested a field of 154 players to win the Iberian Qualifier for the 2015 PDC World Champi ...
''(third round)''
:*
Ron Meulenkamp
Ronnie “Ron” Meulenkamp (born 5 November 1988) is a Dutch darts player playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Career
Meulenkamp was runner-up in both the 2011 Isle of Man Open and England Open.
He was also a semi-f ...
''(second round)''
:*
Max Hopp
Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...
''(second round)''
:*
Simeon Heinz ''(first round)''
:*
Kevin Münch ''(first round)''
:*
Gabriel Clemens
Gabriel Clemens (born August 16, 1983) is a German professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Career
In 2017, Clemens made the semi-finals of the 2017 World Masters (darts), World Masters, and missed matc ...
''(first round)''
:*
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dimitri Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who currently competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a two-time World Youth Champion and the 2020 World Matchplay champion, after beating Gar ...
''(third round)''
:*
Ronny Huybrechts
Ronny Huybrechts (born 20 July 1965) is a former Belgian professional darts player.
Career
Ronny and his brother Kim Huybrechts became the first brothers to play in the World Cup of Darts in February 2013 and advanced from Group H courtesy of a ...
''(first round)''
:Host Nation Qualifier
:*
Bastian Pietschnig ''(first round)''
:*
Hannes Schnier
Johann "Hannes" Schnier (born March 23, 1977 in Vienna) is an Austrian darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.
Career
In June 2006, Schnier won the Austrian National Championship, beating Dietmar Burger in the final. Sin ...
''(first round)''
:*
Dietmar Burger ''(first round)''
:*
Roxy-James Rodriguez
Roxy-James Rodriguez (born 25 November 1991) is a former professional Austrian darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United King ...
''(first round)''
:*
Alex Steinbauer ''(first round)''
:Nordic & Baltic Qualifier
:*
Darius Labanauskas
Darius Labanauskas (born 26 July 1976) is a Lithuanian professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2015, he was the WDF world number 1.
Career
BDO
Labanauskas is a three-time Lithuania National Ch ...
''(second round)''
:East European Qualifier
:*
Tamás Alexits ''(first round)''
Draw
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austrian Darts Open
2018 PDC European Tour
2018 in Austrian sport
April 2018 sports events in Austria
Sport in Styria