European Championship darts come to ITV4

June 24, 2011   ·   0 Comments

The Professional Darts Corporation have announced that The PartyPoker.net European Championship will be televised live in the UK on ITV4 next month.

The £200,000 tournament will be played from July 28-31 at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf, Germany, as 32 players compete for the £50,000 title.

The European Championship has been won in each of the past three years since its inception in 2008 by world number one Phil Taylor, who has defeated Adrian Lewis, Steve Beaton and Wayne Jones in the respective finals.

Taylor will be amongst this year’s qualifiers, with the world’s top 16 following the forthcoming World Matchplay joined by the top eight Players Championship Order of Merit qualifiers and the top eight European Order of Merit qualifiers.

The broadcasts on ITV4 will see the broadcaster continue their coverage of PDC darts tournaments, after previously screening the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals, as well as the 2008 European Championship.  Sky Sports picked up the rights to the Grand Slam of Darts for 3 years from 2011.

“We’re delighted to continue our association with ITV4 for the PartyPoker.net European Championship,” said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

“This tournament has gained in popularity in each of the past three years, with the mix of the world’s top professionals and form qualifiers from Europe and the UK making it a vibrant tournament.”

Niall Sloane, ITV Controller of Sport, said: “We’re delighted to be broadcasting free to air coverage of the European Championship to our viewers.”

The tournament is already set to be a huge success in Germany, where tickets have already sold out for five of the six sessions and coverage will be screened live on Sport1.  Dutch broadcaster RTL7 and Australia’s Fox Sports will also screen the event live in July.

PartyPoker.net European Championship Schedule of Play

Date	Local Time	UK Time	Games
Thu July 28	8pm-12am	7pm-11pm	8x Round One
Fri July 29	8pm-12am	7pm-11pm	8x Round One
Sat July 30	2pm-6pm	1pm-5pm	4x Round Two
	8pm-12am	7pm-11pm	4x Round Two
Sun July 31	2pm-6pm	1pm-5pm	Quarter-Finals
	8pm-12am	7pm-11pm	Semi-Finals & Final

Tags: Barry Hearn, ITV4, Niall Sloane, PDC, Phil Taylor