European Championship Darts 2014: Dates, Draw, Live Stream, TV Info, Prize Money
World Grand Prix winner Michael van Gerwen will be looking to make it back-to-back major titles at the 2014 European Championship in Mulheim, Germany this weekend.
Last year's edition of the competition was won by Adrian Lewis, who will be aiming to defend his title.
Phil Taylor will also be in the mix. The second seed won four consecutive European Championship tournaments between 2008 and 2011, and the Power will be hurting after going out in the last eight two weeks ago in Dublin.
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Read on for a full examination of all the vital tournament info ahead of three days of top-class darts.
Dates: October 24-26
TV Info: ITV4 (UK only)
Live Stream: ITV Player (UK only)
Prize Fund: £250,000
Van Gerwen on a Roll
Dutchman Michael van Gerwen could be in line to make it three celebratory Sundays in a row if he can claim his first European Championship at the RWE Sporthalle this weekend.
Following his excellent World Grand Prix win, the 25-year-old beat James Wade—his opponent in the final in Dublin—in Sunday's Players Championship in Crawley, per Live Darts:
He is in form and will face Englishman Justin Pipe in his opener.
However, Wade is also in a rich vein of form, as was proven by his own Players Championship win at the K2 Centre on Saturday, following some terrific darts in Dublin, which saw him beat Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals and push Van Gerwen all the way in the final.
Here is the full first-round draw for Friday, per PDC:
| Friday Session | Fixture |
| Afternoon | Wes Newton v Ian White |
| Afternoon | Vincent van der Voort v Robert Wagner |
| Afternoon | Rowby-John Rodriguez v Robert Thornton |
| Afternoon | Jamie Caven v Mensur Suljovic |
| Afternoon | Brendan Dolan v Michael Smith |
| Afternoon | Dave Chisnall v Jyhan Artut |
| Afternoon | Dean Winstanley v Kim Huybrechts |
| Afternoon | Christian Kist v Mervyn King |
| Evening | Peter Wright v Benito van de Pas |
| Evening | Andy Hamilton v Stephen Bunting |
| Evening | Gary Anderson v Terry Jenkins |
| Evening | James Wade v Ronny Huybrechts |
| Evening | Adrian Lewis v Jelle Klaasen |
| Evening | Michael van Gerwen v Justin Pipe |
| Evening | Phil Taylor v Steve Beaton |
| Evening | Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld |
The afternoon session begins at 12.45 p.m. BST, the evening session commences at 7 p.m. BST.
Taylor, winner of the first four editions of this tournament, will start his campaign for a fifth against Steve Beaton, whom he beat with ease in his World Grand Prix opener, per bet365:
The Power will need to be at his best this weekend if he is to go all the way—not only are the PDC's big guns out in force, Europe's top dogs will also be on show.
Similarly, defending champion Adrian Lewis needs to bounce back from his shock second-round exit to Kevin Painter in Dublin. The third-seed faces Dutchman Jelle Klaasen first.
There is little doubt about the headline bout of the opening round—the matchup that will fittingly be closing Friday night's proceedings—with Simon Whitlock set to go up against Raymond van Barneveld.
The Wizard has traditionally done very well in the European Championship and was beaten 11-6 in last year's final by Lewis, having claimed victory in 2012.
However, perennial favourite Van Barneveld will prove a very tricky opponent for the Australian fifth seed on Friday night, and it should be a cracking encounter.
All the usual suspects should be competing for the big prize come the business end of the tournament, but there will be an interesting mix of players on show in the PDC's biggest overseas tournament.
Looking at form, Van Gerwen has to be favourite for the gong with Wade—who faces an opener against Belgian Ronny Huybrechts—not far behind.
No matter what happens, with so many stars on show, there is no doubt that there will be some cracking darts over the whirlwind three-day tournament in Germany.
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