The 2018 Dutch Darts Masters was the sixth of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2018 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at IJsselhallen, Zwolle, Netherlands, between 11–13 May 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
Van Gerwen went on to win the title for the 5th time in a row by defeating Steve Lennon 8–5 in the final, after he was 6–2 down in the semi-finals, before surviving three match darts from Daryl Gurney and winning 7–6 to reach the final.
Prize money
This is how the prize money is divided:
Stage (num. of players)
Prize money
Winner
(1)
£25,000
Runner-up
(1)
£10,000
Semi-finalists
(2)
£6,000
Quarter-finalists
(4)
£4,000
Third round losers
(8)
£3,000
Second round losers
(16)
£2,000
First round losers
(16)
£1,000
Total
£135,000
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.[1][2]
Qualification and format
The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 27 March 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 6 April), eight from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 3 May), four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 10 May), one from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 23 February) and one from the East European Qualifier (held on 24 February).
Rob Cross withdrew with illness on the day of the tournament, so Steve Lennon, who was due to face him in round 2, was given a bye to round 3.[3]
The following players will take part in the tournament: