The 2018 European Darts Matchplay was the ninth of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2018 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the Edel-optics.de Arena, Hamburg, Germany from 29 June–1 July 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.
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 8 June 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 – 16 from the UK Qualifier (held in Wigan on 15 June), 8 from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 28 June), 6 from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 28 June), 1 from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 25 May) and 1 from the East European Qualifier (held on 25 February).
Peter Wright, who would have been the number 2 seed, withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw. James Wilson, the highest-ranked qualifier, was promoted to 16th seed. Jim Brown also withdrew prior to the draw. Two extra places were made available in the Host Nation Qualifier.[3]
The following players will take part in the tournament: