Raymond van Barneveld is set to compete in the European Qualifiers in Leverkusen tonight, in a bid to qualify for this weekend’s European Darts Open.
The five-time world champion is hoping to make what would be only his second appearance on this year’s European Tour, but first he must come through this evening’s qualifier at the Ostermann Arena.
Only eight spots are up for grabs in the main draw of this weekend’s European Tour event, with a competitive field of players expected to be in attendance.
Last year, van Barneveld, along with fellow former world champion Adrian Lewis, both missed out on qualifying for the Unibet European Championship, as the duo finished outside the top 32 on the European Tour Order of Merit.
Van Barneveld made a late bid to try and qualify for the major tournament, entering himself into the qualifiers for the final two European Tour events, but crucially he only qualified for one, and his run to the semi-finals of the European Darts Grand Prix saw him fall short of qualification.
This year, van Barneveld has already been in action on the European Tour, enjoying a run to the quarter-finals of the German Darts Masters in April, before bowing out to world number one Michael van Gerwen.
As it stands, van Barneveld is currently outside the top 32 of the European Tour Order of Merit, and with only four events left on the tour following this weekend, a big run in Leverkusen could be enough to push him into the top 32 and ensure his spot in this year’s European Championship.
BDO world youth champion Justin van Tergouw is rumoured to be making his first appearance in the European Qualifiers in Leverkusen this evening. The 17-year-old Dutch ace is the holder of both the World Youth Masters and World Youth Championship titles in the BDO.
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