World number one Michael van Gerwen and multiple time major winner James Wade are both set to return to action on the PDC European Tour at the HappyBet European Darts Trophy in Mülheim this weekend.
The Premier League duo both missed last week’s HappyBet International Darts Open in Riesa through injury and illness respectively.
Wade withdrew earlier in the week, while van Gerwen’s premature departure came during the opening day of the tournament on Friday afternoon.
The pair, seeded first and third for the £115,000 event, have both enjoyed success on the European Tour so far in 2016, with van Gerwen claiming four of the seven tournaments he has competed in.
While it was Wade who put a stop to the Dutchman’s winning streak on the European Tour on his way to winning the HappyBet European Darts Matchplay in Hamburg back in May.
Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney also pulled out of last weekend’s event in Riesa, withdrawing last Friday on medical advice due to a broken finger.
Gurney has failed to recover in time for this weekend’s Mülheim event and yesterday announced he had withdrawn once again.
The world number 27 posted on Twitter yesterday: “I haven’t travelled to Germany today my hand isn’t right yet gonna (sic) give myself enough time to heal sufficiently!”
Gurney will be hoping to be fully fit for next weekend when the ninth European Tour event of the year takes place in Sindelfingen.
Gurney was replaced in the draw by a fifth Host Nation Qualifier. Thursday evening saw five German players – Martin Schindler, Kevin Munch, Justin Webers, Jyhan Artut and Max Hopp – came through the Host Nation Qualifier, with the main event commencing on Friday as the 32 qualifiers face off.
The 16 seeded players then enter the action in Saturday’s second round, with Sunday seeing the third round in the afternoon session before the culmination on Sunday evening with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
2016 HappyBet European Darts Trophy Draw
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Keegan Brown/Justin Webers
Simon Whitlock (16) v Jyhan Artut/Ricky Evans
Benito van de Pas (8) v Josh Payne/Cristo Reyes
Jelle Klaasen (9) v Max Hopp/Vincent van der Voort
Dave Chisnall (5) v Jamie Caven/Kevin Munch
Gerwyn Price (12) v Simon Stevenson/Jermaine Wattimena
Kim Huybrechts (4) v Kyle Anderson/Darren Webster
Terry Jenkins (13) v Joe Murnan/Zoran Lerchbacher
Peter Wright (2) v Andy Smith/Robbie Green
Stephen Bunting (15) v Joe Cullen/Jamie Lewis
Ian White (7) v Devon Petersen/Matthew Dennant
Mensur Suljovic (10) v Ronny Huybrechts/Vincent Kamphuis
Michael Smith (6) v Mervyn King/Dimitri van den Bergh
Robert Thornton (11) v Janos Vegso/Martin Schindler
James Wade (3) v Ritchie Edhouse/Justin Pipe
Alan Norris (14) v Andy Jenkins/Steve West
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