Martin Schindler will begin his defence of the Swiss Darts Trophy against Ricardo Pietreczko or Oskar Lukasiak, with the draw and schedule confirmed for this weekend’s showpiece in Basel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The year’s penultimate Winamax European Tour event will see a 48-player field competing for the \u00a330,000 top prize at St. Jakobshalle, as the race for World Grand Prix qualification concludes on Swiss soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schindler prevailed in the tournament’s inaugural staging 12 months ago, and he will kick off his title defence against his World Cup partner Pietreczko or Swedish star Lukasiak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first round will feature 16 matches across two sessions, as newly crowned Hungarian Darts Trophy champion Niko Springer returns to action against Dutchman Richard Veenstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Springer’s breakthrough win in Budapest catapulted him into the World Grand Prix qualification spots, with Krzysztof Ratajski currently occupying the final provisional place in next month’s double-start event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ratajski will begin his campaign against Owen Bates, with William O’Connor and Raymond van Barneveld bidding to overhaul Poland’s number one in the World Grand Prix race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O’Connor faces Northern Ireland’s World Cup champion Daryl Gurney in round one, while Van Barneveld will lock horns with European Tour debutant\u00a0Ansh Sood in his opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Niels Zonneveld also harbours slender hopes of qualifying for next month’s World Grand Prix, and the left-hander will go up against Czech qualifier Dalibor Smolik for a place in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nathan Aspinall kicks off his challenge for a third European Tour title of the year against Denmark’s Andreas Toft Jorgensen, as 2023 UK Open champion Andrew Gilding plays Norway’s Cor Dekker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the stand-out ties will see Wessel Nijman go head-to-head with European Champion Ritchie Edhouse, who is hoping to avoid the prospect of missing out on defending his title in Dortmund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic and Grand Slam runner-up Martin Lukeman also collide, as Connor Scutt takes on World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top 16 players on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder will enter the tournament in round two on Saturday, as Schindler sets his sights on a fourth European Tour crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luke Humphries also headlines this weekend’s action, and the world number one has been handed a tough opening assignment against Scutt or Rydz for a place at Finals Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephen Bunting \u2013 the number two seed in the absence of Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen – begins his bid against quick-fire Dutchman Chris Landman or Host Nation Qualifier\u00a0Denis Schnetzer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aspinall and Toft Jorgensen will fight it out for the right to meet fourth seed Jonny Clayton, with James Wade poised to meet Ryan Joyce or Swiss newcomer\u00a0Rocco Fulciniti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifth seed Chris Dobey will play Suljovic or Lukeman, while Rob Cross continues his bid for European Championship qualification against Veenstra or high-flying Springer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australian number one Damon Heta faces a potential clash with Dutch legend Van Barneveld, with former European Champion Ross Smith awaiting Nijman or Edhouse in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Cup winner Josh Rock – a European Tour runner-up in Antwerp and Prague this autumn – will aim to maintain his superb form when he meets European Championship runner-up Jermaine Wattimena or Swiss number one Stefan Bellmont, who won through Thursday’s Host Nation Qualifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gian van Veen will feature in an all-Dutch tie on Saturday, as Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jitse Van der Wal attempt to set up a showdown against the World Youth Champion.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Hungarian Darts Trophy runner-up Danny Noppert will play Gurney or O’Connor a place in round three on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Martin Schindler will begin his defence of the Swiss Darts Trophy against Ricardo Pietreczko or Oskar Lukasiak, with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-3701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t