Cazoo European Championship field & draw confirmed

Peter Wright (PDC Europe)

Peter Wright will begin his defence of the Cazoo European Championship title against Florian Hempel, with the field and draw for next month's Salzburg event now confirmed.

The 32 competing players for the European Championship were finalised following the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, with just two PDC European Tour events being staged in 2021 to count towards qualification.

World Champion Gerwyn Price is the number one seed after taking victory in both Hungary and Gibraltar to top the European Tour Order of Merit, and he will face Ritchie Edhouse in round one.

Wright, meanwhile, finished in 15th spot on the rankings and will take on German debutant Florian Hempel, who competed in both European Tour events this year.

Four-time European Championship winner Michael van Gerwen will play Croatia's Boris Krcmar, while 2018 champion James Wade meets Adam Smith-Neale and 2019 winner Rob Cross meets Irish teenager Keane Barry.

Simon Whitlock, the 2012 European Champion, will take on Scotland's William Borland, and 2016 runner-up Mensur Suljovic - the Gibraltar Darts Trophy finalist on Sunday - takes on Adam Hunt.

Adam Gawlas and Lewis Williams are other young talents stepping onto the European Championship stage as they face Joe Murnan and Jose de Sousa respectively.

UK Open finalist Luke Humphries will meet Callan Rydz, the World Matchplay quarter-finalist in July who impressed with a 110 average as he whitewashed Wright in Gibraltar on Saturday.

Third seed Brendan Dolan takes on Kim Huybrechts, while Michael Smith - the Hungarian Darts Trophy runner-up - will face Ryan Searle in round one.

The Cazoo European Championship will be held from October 14-17 at the Salzburgarena. For tickets, visit pdc-europe.tv.

The schedule of play will be confirmed in due course.

2021 Cazoo European Championship
Draw Bracket

(1) Gerwyn Price v (32) Ritchie Edhouse
(16) Adam Gawlas v (17) Joe Murnan
(8) Michael van Gerwen v (25) Boris Krcmar
(9) James Wade v (24) Adam Smith-Neale
(4) Michael Smith v (29) Ryan Searle
(13) Krzysztof Ratajski v (20) Danny Noppert
(5) Nathan Aspinall v (28) Mervyn King
(12) Damon Heta v (21) Gabriel Clemens
(2) Mensur Suljovic v (31) Adam Hunt
(15) Peter Wright v (18) Florian Hempel
(7) Simon Whitlock v (26) William Borland
(10) Joe Cullen v (23) Ted Evetts
(3) Brendan Dolan v (30) Kim Huybrechts
(14) Rob Cross v (19) Keane Barry
(6) Jose de Sousa v (27) Lewis Williams
(11) Luke Humphries v (22) Callan Rydz

Qualifying Field
1 Gerwyn Price
2 Mensur Suljovic
3 Brendan Dolan
4 Michael Smith
5 Nathan Aspinall
6 Jose de Sousa
7 Simon Whitlock
8 Michael van Gerwen
9 James Wade
10 Joe Cullen
11 Luke Humphries
12 Damon Heta
13 Krzysztof Ratajski
14 Rob Cross
15 Peter Wright
16 Adam Gawlas
17 Joe Murnan
18 Florian Hempel
19 Keane Barry
20 Danny Noppert
21 Gabriel Clemens
22 Callan Rydz
23 Ted Evetts
24 Adam Smith-Neale
25 Boris Krcmar
26 William Borland
27 Lewis Williams
28 Mervyn King
29 Ryan Searle
30 Kim Huybrechts
31 Adam Hunt
32 Ritchie Edhouse