2018 European Darts Open
Tournament information
Dates	23–25 March 2018
Venue	Ostermann-Arena
Location	Leverkusen
Country	Germany
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£135,000
Winner's share	£25,000
High checkout	170 Simon Whitlock (third round) Michael van Gerwen (quarter-finals) Peter Wright (semi-finals)
Champion(s)
Michael van Gerwen
Event 2»

The 2018 European Darts Open was the first of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2018 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at Ostermann-Arena, Leverkusen, Germany, between 23–25 March 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.

This was the first event in the PDC European Tour where the format of the semi-finals and final were slightly altered. As in previous years, the first 3 rounds of action, plus the quarter-finals were all best of 11 legs matches, but the semi-finals became best of 13 legs matches, and the final became a best of 15 legs match.

Peter Wright was the defending champion after defeating Mervyn King 6–2 in the final of the 2017 tournament. He reached the final of this tournament, but he was defeated by Michael van Gerwen 8–7 in the first best of 15 legs final.^[1]

Prize money

This is how the prize money is divided:

Prize money will count towards the PDC Order of Merit, 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.^[2][3]

Qualification and format

The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 6 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 16 February), eight from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 22 March), four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 22 March), one from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 26 January) and one from the East European Qualifier (held on 26 January).

The following players will take part in the tournament:

Draw

	First round (best of 11 legs) 23 March[9]					Second round (best of 11 legs) 24 March[10]					Third round (best of 11 legs) 25 March[1]					Quarter-finals (best of 11 legs) 25 March[1]					Semi-finals (best of 13 legs) 25 March[1]					Final (best of 15 legs) 25 March[1]
						1	Michael van Gerwen 94.82	6
	Cameron Menzies 94.83		6				Cameron Menzies 84.30	3
											1	van Gerwen 105.99	6
	Mark Wilson 87.63		2
											16	Norris 96.64	3
						16	Alan Norris 89.70	6
	Jonny Clayton 86.91		2				Jermaine Wattimena 89.96	4
																1	van Gerwen 101.61	6
	Jermaine Wattimena 90.55		6
																8	Whitlock 89.44	1
						8	Simon Whitlock 91.96	6
	Jan Dekker 92.27		3				Tytus Kanik 94.75	2
											8	Whitlock 96.44	6
	Tytus Kanik 87.45		6
											9	Chisnall 84.23	1
						9	Dave Chisnall 88.36	6
	Vincent van der Voort 96.27		4				Marko Kantele 77.90	1
																					1	van Gerwen 103.30	7
	Marko Kantele 90.08		6
																						North 92.48	1
						5	Daryl Gurney 85.07	4
	Dimitri Van den Bergh 87.25		3				Ron Meulenkamp 89.67	6
											Meulenkamp 101.44		6
	Ron Meulenkamp 90.37		6
											Pipe 88.43		1
						12	Ian White 88.43	1
	Justin Pipe 82.84		6				Justin Pipe 89.66	6
																Meulenkamp 85.74		2
	Michael Rasztovits 80.37		2
																North 82.25		6
						4	Rob Cross 107.44	6
	Adrian Lewis 97.06		6				Adrian Lewis 91.03	1
											4	Cross 97.69	5
	Ritchie Edhouse 96.25		5
												North 91.50	6
						13	Gerwyn Price 84.69	5
	Richard North 85.89		6				Richard North 94.66	6
																										1	van Gerwen 102.04	8
	Martin Atkins 76.00		0
																										2	Wright 98.55	7
						2	Peter Wright 105.98	6
	Ryan Meikle 90.38		2				Luke Woodhouse 90.54	3
											2	Wright 100.46	6
	Luke Woodhouse 94.74		6
												Henderson 90.21	2
						15	Kyle Anderson 91.68	4
	John Henderson 95.82		6				John Henderson 98.19	6
																2	Wright 98.56	6
	Maik Langendorf 84.84		2
																7	Cullen 101.54	3
						7	Joe Cullen 87.74	6
	Jeffrey de Zwaan 82.82		4				Danny Noppert 86.67	5
											7	Cullen 98.88	6
	Danny Noppert 92.17		6
												Dobey 95.73	5
						10	Kim Huybrechts 94.09	2
	Chris Dobey 93.08		6				Chris Dobey 89.88	6
																					2	Wright 102.48	7
	Wayne Jones 78.83		1
																						Wade 98.92	4
						6	Mensur Suljović 90.87	6
	Max Hopp 93.18		4				Jamie Hughes 89.08	4
											6	Suljović 94.90	3
	Jamie Hughes 92.09		6
											11	King 91.85	6
						11	Mervyn King 97.92	6
	Gabriel Clemens 99.06		6				Gabriel Clemens 91.27	2
																11	King 93.14	4
	Thomas Junghans 84.74		1
																	Wade 99.14	6
						3	Michael Smith 99.48	6
	Darren Johnson 103.22		6				Darren Johnson 87.77	3
											3	Smith 106.21	4
	Luke Humphries 99.55		2
												Wade 105.59	6
						14	Jelle Klaasen 88.98	3
	James Wade 96.93		6				James Wade 94.38	6
	Steve Beaton 97.08		3

References