2018 Austrian Darts Open

The 2018 Austrian Darts Open was the fourth out of thirteen PDC European Tour events on the 2018 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at Steiermarkthalle, Premstätten, Austria between 20–22 April 2018. It featured a field of 48 players and £135,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.

2018 Austrian Darts Open
Tournament information
Dates	20–22 April 2018
Venue	Steiermarkthalle
Location	Premstätten
Country	Austria
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£135,000
Winner's share	£25,000
High checkout	160 Ron Meulenkamp Kevin Münch (first round)
Champion(s)
Jonny Clayton
«Event 3 Event 5»

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after defeating Michael Smith 6–5 in the final of the 2017 tournament, although he withdrew prior to the tournament beginning.

Jonny Clayton (who became a seeded player following van Gerwen's withdrawal) defeated fellow Welshman Gerwyn Price 8–5, in what was both their first PDC European Tour final, and which was the second European Tour in a row where a debutant finalist won the event (following on from Max Hopp in the 2018 German Darts Open the previous week).

Prize money

This is how the prize money is divided:

Stage (num. of players)		Prize money
Winner	(1)	£25,000
Runner-up	(1)	£10,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£6,000
Quarter-finalists	(4)	£4,000
Third round losers	(8)	£3,000
Second round losers	(16)	£2,000
First round losers	(16)	£1,000
Total	£135,000

Prize money will count towards the PDC Order of Merit, the ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit, with one exception: should a seeded player lose in the second round (last 32), their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit, although they still receive the full prize money payment.

Qualification and format

The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 27 February will automatically qualify for the event and will be seeded in the second round.

The remaining 32 places will go to players from five qualifying events – 18 from the UK Qualifier (held in Barnsley on 9 March), eight from the West/South European Qualifier (held on 12 April), four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held on 19 April), one from the Nordic & Baltic Qualifier (held on 23 February) and one from the East European Qualifier (held on 28 January).

Michael van Gerwen, who would have been the number 1 seed, withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw. Jonny Clayton, the highest-ranked qualifier, was promoted to 16th seed, with an extra place being made available in the Host Nation Qualifier.

Dave Chisnall withdrew with injury on the day of the tournament, so Wayne Jones, who was due to face him in round 2, was given a bye to round 3.

The following players will take part in the tournament:

Top 16

1. Peter Wright (second round)
2. Rob Cross (quarter-finals)
3. Michael Smith (quarter-finals)
4. Daryl Gurney (quarter-finals)
5. Mensur Suljović (semi-finals)
6. Joe Cullen (semi-finals)
7. Dave Chisnall (withdrew)
8. Ian White (quarter-finals)
9. Simon Whitlock (third round)
10. Gerwyn Price (runner-up)
11. Mervyn King (third round)
12. Jelle Klaasen (second round)
13. Darren Webster (third round)
14. Benito van de Pas (second round)
15. Steve Beaton (third round)
16. Jonny Clayton (champion)

UK Qualifier

• Cameron Menzies (first round)
• John Henderson (first round)
• Stephen Burton (first round)
• Luke Humphries (second round)
• Brendan Dolan (second round)
• James Wade (third round)
• Michael Barnard (second round)
• Alan Tabern (first round)
• Jason Cullen (second round)
• Steve West (second round)
• Wayne Jones (third round)
• Simon Stevenson (first round)
• Richie Burnett (second round)
• Steve Lennon (second round)
• Ritchie Edhouse (first round)
• Adam Hunt (second round)
• Scott Taylor (second round)

West/South European Qualifier

• Cristo Reyes (third round)
• Ron Meulenkamp (second round)
• Max Hopp (second round)
• Simeon Heinz (first round)
• Kevin Münch (first round)
• Gabriel Clemens (first round)
• Dimitri Van den Bergh (third round)
• Ronny Huybrechts (first round)

Host Nation Qualifier

• Bastian Pietschnig (first round)
• Hannes Schnier (first round)
• Dietmar Burger (first round)
• Roxy-James Rodriguez (first round)
• Alex Steinbauer (first round)

Nordic & Baltic Qualifier

• Darius Labanauskas (second round)

East European Qualifier

• Tamás Alexits (first round)

Draw

	First round (best of 11 legs) 20 April					Second round (best of 11 legs) 21 April					Third round (best of 11 legs) 22 April					Quarter-finals (best of 11 legs) 22 April					Semi-finals (best of 13 legs) 22 April					Final (best of 15 legs) 22 April
						1	Peter Wright 101.51	4
	James Wade 97.09		6				James Wade 102.81	6
												Wade 93.30	3
	Hannes Schnier 85.79		3
											16	Clayton 105.32	6
						16	Jonny Clayton 90.02	6
	Max Hopp 90.96		6				Max Hopp 89.84	3
																16	Clayton 86.91	6
	Stephen Burton 86.89		5
																8	White 88.26	4
						8	Ian White 98.22	6
	Brendan Dolan 92.88		6				Brendan Dolan 89.01	4
											8	White 90.22	6
	Alan Tabern 88.77		4
											9	Whitlock 96.16	3
						9	Simon Whitlock 83.84	6
	Adam Hunt 86.95		6				Adam Hunt 84.14	4
																					16	Clayton 86.66	7
	Cameron Menzies 91.72		5
																					5	Suljović 84.24	6
						5	Mensur Suljović 106.29	6
	Ritchie Edhouse 88.16		3				Darius Labanauskas 95.76	1
											5	Suljović 91.44	6
	Darius Labanauskas 92.01		6
												Reyes 94.84	3
						12	Jelle Klaasen 88.60	2
	Cristo Reyes 86.85		6				Cristo Reyes 91.15	6
																5	Suljović 103.90	6
	Bastian Pietschnig 70.44		1
																4	Gurney 95.37	1
						4	Daryl Gurney 90.67	6
	Ron Meulenkamp 92.08		6				Ron Meulenkamp 86.69	3
											4	Gurney 95.01	6
	Gabriel Clemens 89.45		3
											13	Webster 97.06	3
						13	Darren Webster 92.57	6
	Richie Burnett 93.94		6				Richie Burnett 85.95	5
																										16	Clayton 96.80	8
	Alex Steinbauer 76.40		0
																										10	Price 94.84	5
						2	Rob Cross 94.95	6
	Steve West 101.88		6				Steve West 90.25	5
											2	Cross 95.70	6
	Ronny Huybrechts 93.20		3
											15	Beaton 90.09	5
						15	Steve Beaton 91.29	6
	Luke Humphries 99.53		6				Luke Humphries 91.46	5
																2	Cross 87.09	3
	Kevin Münch 89.37		2
																10	Price 100.98	6
						7	Dave Chisnall	w/d
	Wayne Jones 81.57		6				Wayne Jones	w/o
												Jones 89.48	3
	Dietmar Burger 77.68		1
											10	Price 90.76	6
						10	Gerwyn Price 101.36	6
	Scott Taylor 91.57		6				Scott Taylor 88.51	2
																					10	Price 85.56	7
	Simeon Heinz 70.65		1
																					6	Cullen 87.27	6
						6	Joe Cullen 96.37	6
	Steve Lennon 81.24		6				Steve Lennon 88.07	2
											6	Cullen 89.86	6
	Roxy-James Rodriguez 66.31		0
											11	King 88.86	3
						11	Mervyn King 94.93	6
	Jason Cullen 91.02		6				Jason Cullen 79.77	0
																6	Cullen 98.07	6
	Tamás Alexits 79.63		1
																3	Smith 90.59	2
						3	Michael Smith 104.86	6
	John Henderson 85.37		1				Michael Barnard 80.57	0
											3	Smith 99.13	6
	Michael Barnard 87.45		6
												Van den Bergh 83.28	2
						14	Benito van de Pas 83.36	4
	Dimitri Van den Bergh 106.42		6				Dimitri Van den Bergh 93.43	6
	Simon Stevenson 95.56		4