Cross faces Dutch rival in bid to retain European crown

The world number five from St Leonards is scheduled to play his first-round match against Dutch thrower Martijn Kleermaker in the German city of Oberhausen.

Cross is the 13th seed as he seeks to retain a title he won last year with an 11-6 victory over world number two Gerwyn Price in the final.

His opening opponent was 80th-ranked Kleermaker, who was making his European Championship debut in his maiden year on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit.

Cross was a 6-1 winner when the pair last met in round three of the European Darts Grand Prix on Sunday October 18.

Televised on ITV4, the Unibet European Championship starts on Thursday (Oct 29) night and will continue until Sunday night.

The 32-player field was finalised on Sunday following the International Darts Open, which was the fourth European Tour event in a shortened 2020 season.

Cross suffered an early exit from that tournament, held in the German town of Riesa, after losing 6-3 to Franz Roetzsch in round two on Saturday afternoon.

The 30-year-old Cross, nicknamed Voltage, is also a former World Championship and World Matchplay winner.

Draw: 2020 Unibet European Championship October 29-November 1, Oberhausen

(1) Joe Cullen v (32) William O’Connor

(16) Jamie Hughes v (17) Dave Chisnall

(8) Nathan Aspinall v (25) Maik Kuivenhoven

(9) James Wade v (24) Steve Lennon

(4) Devon Petersen v (29) Andy Hamilton

(13) Rob Cross v (20) Martijn Kleermaker

(5) Michael van Gerwen v (28) Darius Labanauskas

(12) Mervyn King v (21) Ian White

(2) Gerwyn Price v (31) Kim Huybrechts

(15) Peter Wright v (18) Gabriel Clemens

(7) Mensur Suljovic v (26) Daryl Gurney

(10) Krzysztof Ratajski v (23) Steve West

(3) Jose De Sousa v (30) Jeffrey de Zwaan

(14) Jonny Clayton v (19) Max Hopp

(6) Michael Smith v (27) Ross Smith

(11) Danny Noppert v (22) Dirk van Duijvenbode