PartyPoker.net European Championship Preview

Posted on July 28th, 2010

PHIL TAYLOR opens his challenge for a third successive PartyPoker.net European Championship title on Thursday, when he takes on Co Stompe as the £200,000 tournament begins in Dinslaken, Germany.

Taylor has lifted the European Championship trophy in each of the past two years since the tournament was launched in 2008.

The world number one travels to the Stadthalle in Dinslaken on a high after winning his 11th World Matchplay last Sunday, as he seeks to win a fourth major title inside three months.

“Winning the World Matchplay was great and I’d love to go on and win the European Championship this weekend,” said Taylor. “I’m feeling great and playing well, and winning this would round off a perfect summer.”

Taylor takes on Co Stompe in the first round, with the Dutchman having defeated him in the 2008 German Darts Championship final.

“Co has done brilliantly in the last couple of years and he played superbly when he won the German Darts Championship, but that was a different day,” added Taylor.

“I put it behind me and so has Co, and we’ve played a few times since. He did well in the World Matchplay last week and I know he’ll want that to continue in Germany.”

Stompe followed that German Darts Championship victory with two World Championship quarter-final appearances, as well as winning a Players Championship a month ago and reaching the last eight in Blackpool.

“The win over Phil is in the past and you can’t dwell on that because it’s history,” said Stompe. “It’s a new game on Thursday and I’ve got a hard game against Phil.

“I’ve turned my game around, because I’ve been practising on my doubles and they went alright in Blackpool but my scoring let me down.

“I know I can play better than I did in Blackpool, and I’ll go up there on Thursday and hopefully give Phil a big fight.”

The tournament’s opening night will also feature the eagerly-awaited clash between two of the sport’s fastest throwers, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort.

The Dutch pair have both enjoyed strong form in 2010, while Klaasen – a European Championship semi-finalist last year – reached the quarter-finals of last week’s World Matchplay with a slightly slower throwing style.

“I tried to slow down and it felt good,” he said. “I’m always trying to improve my game and I’ve tried something new on stage now, and I played well.

“I think I’ll try to play slower now in every tournament. It will be a hard match to play against Vincent because we travel all the time and are good friends, but when we get on stage we’re enemies and want to beat each other 6-0.”

The players ranked fourth and fifth in the world, Mervyn King and Terry Jenkins, have an opportunity to bounce back from first round exits in the World Matchplay when they face Barrie Bates and Germany’s Andree Welge respectively.

Simon Whitlock, the Australian who has jumped to eighth in the PDC Order of Merit following his run to the semi-finals of the World Matchplay, takes on two-time World Champion Dennis Priestley on his European Championship debut.

The tournament will open when Paul Nicholson, January’s Players Championship Finals winner, faces Andy Smith – who had minor surgery on a leg injury a week ago but has previously won a Players Championship on the Dinslaken stage.

Gary Anderson, the UK Open finalist who has been troubled by a shoulder injury in recent weeks and lost to Klaasen in Blackpool, meets Jamie Caven, and number eight seed Mark Walsh faces Spanish debutant Antonio Alcinas.

World number two Raymond van Barneveld – who hit a nine-darter in the World Matchplay before losing to Taylor in the final – takes on Andy Hamilton on the second night of play on Friday, while number three seed James Wade faces Colin Lloyd.

German pair Tomas Seyler and Bernd Roith are in action on home soil, with Roith taking on Denis Ovens on his televised debut while Seyler meets Michael van Gerwen – the Dutch youngster who has been sidelined for the past month with a broken collarbone.

The PartyPoker.net European Championship is being shown live on Sport1 in Germany and on Bravo in the UK – Bravo can be found at channel 123 on Sky and 136 on Virgin Media.

Coverage on Bravo will be fronted by Dave Gorman and James Richardson throughout the tournament.

PartyPoker.net European Championship
Schedule of Play
Thursday July 29
First Round
Play commences 8pm German time (7pm UK time)
8.00pm Paul Nicholson v Andy Smith
8.30pm Mark Walsh v Antonio Alcinas
9.00pm Terry Jenkins v Andree Welge
9.30pm Simon Whitlock v Dennis Priestley
10.00pm Gary Anderson v Jamie Caven
10.30pm Phil Taylor v Co Stompe
11.00pm Jelle Klaasen v Vincent van der Voort
11.30pm Mervyn King v Barrie Bates

Friday July 30
First Round
Play commences 8pm German time (7pm UK time)
8.00pm Bernd Roith v Denis Ovens
8.30pm Mark Dudbridge v Robert Thornton
9.00pm Adrian Lewis v Wayne Jones
9.30pm Tomas Seyler v Michael van Gerwen
10.00pm James Wade v Colin Lloyd
10.30pm Raymond van Barneveld v Andy Hamilton
11.00pm Colin Osborne v Wes Newton
11.30pm Ronnie Baxter v Alan Tabern

Saturday July 31
Second Round
Afternoon Session
Play commences 2pm German time (1pm UK time)
2.00pm Walsh/Alcinas v Klaasen/van der Voort
3.00pm Jenkins/Welge v Whitlock/Priestley
4.00pm Baxter/Tabern v Osborne/Newton
5.00pm Lewis/Jones v Dudbridge/Thornton

Evening Session
Play Commences 8pm German time (7pm UK time)
8.00pm King/Bates v Anderson/Caven
9.00pm van Barneveld/Hamilton v Roith/Ovens
10.00pm Taylor/Stompe v Nicholson/Smith
11.00pm Wade/Lloyd v Seyler/van Gerwen

Sunday August 1
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals
Play commences 2pm German time (1pm UK time)
2.00pm Jenkins/Welge/Whitlock/Priestley v King/Bates/Anderson/Caven
3.00pm Wade/Lloyd/Seyler/van Gerwen v Baxter/Tabern/Osborne/Newton
4.00pm Taylor/Stompe/Nicholson/Smith v Walsh/Alcinas/Klaasen/van der Voort
5.00pm van Barneveld/Hamilton/Roith/Ovens v Lewis/Jones/Dudbridge/Thornton

Evening Session
Play commences 8pm German time (7pm UK time)
Semi-Finals
8.00pm
9.15pm
Final
11.00pm

Format

Prize Fund

Tags: European Championship, Preview
Filed under European Championship, PDC | 2 Comments »

Magical Taylor Rules Europe

Posted on November 3rd, 2008

PHIL TAYLOR claimed the PartyPoker.net European Championship title with an 11-5 win over Adrian Lewis last night.

Taylor produced a majestic weekend of darts in Frankfurt, recording two of the top three highest ever televised averages at over 113 in reaching the final.

He then came from 2-0 down to see off former protégé Lewis in the final and claim the £50,000 title, surging clear by winning seven out of eight legs in mid-game.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: European Championship, Results, Review
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

PartyPoker.net European Championship – Second Round Round-Up

Posted on November 2nd, 2008

PHIL TAYLOR produced the second highest average in the history of televised darts in defeating Mervyn King 9-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the PartyPoker.net European Championship.

Taylor averaged a superb 113.92, bettered only by his own display against Wes Newton in this year’s Blue Square UK Open, to storm into the last eight in Frankfurt.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: European Championship, Review Results
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

PartyPoker.net European Championship – Second Round Afternoon Session

Posted on November 1st, 2008

RONNIE BAXTER and Robert Thornton set up a tasty quarter-final clash at the PartyPoker.net European Championship with wins in Saturday’s early second round games.

Baxter ended the hopes of Spanish newcomer Carlos Rodriguez with a 9-5 victory at the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt, reaching his first televised quarter-final this year.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: European Championship, Results, Review
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

PartyPoker.net European Championship – Night Two Round-Up

Posted on November 1st, 2008

ADRIAN LEWIS defied a badly cut hand to progress to round two of the PartyPoker.net European Championship on Friday night.

Lewis went on stage at the Südbahnhof in Frankfurt sporting three plasters on a cut left hand after attempting to catch a falling glass shortly before his game.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: European Championship, Results, Review
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

Seeds Fall On European Championships Opening Night

Posted on October 31st, 2008

WORLD CHAMPION John Part and number five seed Terry Jenkins were among the big names to lose out on the opening night of the PartyPoker.net European Championship.

Part crashed to a 5-3 loss against Scottish star Robert Thornton, who came from 3-2 down to take victory.

Jenkins was defeated 7-5 in a thrilling clash by Spanish newcomer Carlos Rodriguez, the 29-year-old from Barcelona making his debut in front of the television cameras.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: European Championship, Results, Review
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

PartyPoker.net European Championship Preview

Posted on October 29th, 2008

THE inaugural PartyPoker.net European Championship begins on Thursday night in Frankfurt, with 32 players competing for the £50,000 winner’s cheque.

The new event, the eighth major ranking event on the PDC circuit, will be televised live on ITV4 from the Südbahnhof from Thursday-Sunday.

World number one Phil Taylor will be bidding to claim a fourth successive televised title, having won the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic, Stan James World Matchplay and Sky Poker World Grand Prix since June.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Draw, European Championship, Preview, schedule
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

European Championship Qualifiers & Draw

Posted on October 27th, 2008

JACKO BARRY and Andy Jenkins claimed the final two qualifying places for the European Championship – and drew Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld for the inaugural event.

Irish star Barry, from Dublin, will take on world number one Taylor on the opening night of the tournament, which is screened live on ITV4.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Draw, European Championship
Filed under European Championship, PDC | No Comments »

Both poker and darts are highly popular pursuits. The games are available online, in fact, that there are organizations dedicated to making sure the rules of video poker and online darts are conformed. Similar to darts having the World Darts Federation, among others, and poker has the Tournament Directors Association. These rules are put into place in highly competitive tournaments, in which as many as hundreds or even thousands of people compete for cash prizes as well as prestige.