The 2017 Unibet European Championship was the tenth edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament, the European Championship, which saw the top players from the twelve European tour events compete against each other. The tournament took place from 26–29 October 2017 at the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium.
| 2017 Unibet European Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 26–29 October 2017 | ||
| Venue | Ethias Arena | ||
| Location | Hasselt | ||
| Country |  Belgium | ||
| Organisation(s) | PDC | ||
| Format | Legs | ||
| Prize fund | £400,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £100,000 | ||
| Nine-dart finish |  Kyle Anderson (semi-finals) | ||
| High checkout | 170  Michael van Gerwen (quarter-finals) | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Michael van Gerwen | |||
| |||
Michael van Gerwen was the three-time defending champion, having beaten Mensur Suljović 11–1 in the final of the 2016 tournament,[1] and he retained once again to capture his fourth title, by defeating Rob Cross 11–7 in the final.
Notably, Kyle Anderson hit a nine-dart finish in his semi-final defeat to van Gerwen, in which he also missed two match darts to win the match himself.
Former World champions Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis were notable absences at the tournament after taking part in none or too few European Tour events to qualify.[2]
Prize money
editThe 2017 European Championship will have a total prize fund of £400,000, equal the amount of the last staging of the tournament.[3] The following is the breakdown of the fund:
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £425,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £100,000 |
| Runner-Up | (1) | £40,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £20,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £15,000 |
| Last 16 (second round) | (8) | £10,000 |
| Last 32 (first round) | (16) | £5,000 |
| Nine-dart finish | (1) | £25,000 |
Qualification
editThe 2017 tournament continues the new system in terms of qualification of the 2016 edition: The top 32 players from the European Tour Order of Merit, which is solely based on prize money won in the twelve European tour events during the season, qualifying for the tournament.[4]
New regulations affected the prize money counting for seeds at all European Tour Events: If a seeded player loses in the second round (seeds enter already at second stage of the events), they still receive the full prize money payment, but their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit.[5]
The following players will take part in the tournament, with the top 8 players being seeds:[6]
Michael van Gerwen (winner)
Peter Wright (quarter-finals)
Michael Smith (quarter-finals)
Mensur Suljović (quarter-finals)- Jelle Klaasen (second round)
- Rob Cross (runner-up)
- Joe Cullen (first round)
Simon Whitlock (quarter-finals)- Dave Chisnall (second round)
- Benito van de Pas (second round)
Kim Huybrechts (first round)
Daryl Gurney (semi-finals)- Mervyn King (first round)
Gerwyn Price (second round)
Cristo Reyes (first round)- Ian White (second round)
- Stephen Bunting (second round)
Krzysztof Ratajski (first round)- Alan Norris (second round)
- Vincent van der Voort (first round)
Martin Schindler (first round)- Christian Kist (first round)
- John Henderson (first round)
- Kyle Anderson (semi-finals)
- Dimitri Van den Bergh (first round)
- Steve Beaton (first round)
- Nathan Aspinall (first round)
- Ronny Huybrechts (first round)
- Jan Dekker (first round)
- James Richardson (first round)
- Darren Webster (first round)
- Jonny Clayton (second round)
Draw
editReferences
edit- ^ "Michael Van Gerwen seals hat-trick of European Championship titles". Sky Sports. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- ^ "Vier „Top Guns" fehlen bei der Darts-EM in Belgien (german)". Darts1.de. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "Prize Fund Boosts Announced". Professional Darts Corporation. 2015-12-29. Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
- ^ "Prize Fund Boosts Announced". Professional Darts Corporation. 2015-12-29. Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ^ "European Tour Changes Announced". Professional Darts Corporation. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ Allen, Dave (2017-10-16). "2017 Unibet European Championship Field". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- ^ "Unibet European Championship Day One". PDC. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Unibet European Championship Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- ^ "Unibet European Championship Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Unibet European Championship Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 28 October 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c "Unibet European Championship Finals Day". PDC. Retrieved 29 October 2017.[permanent dead link]