May 21 - Cross And Van Gerwen Head Up Gibraltar Darts Trophy Hopefuls

Written on 21 May 2018.

World Darts Champion Rob Cross and world number one Michael van Gerwen will headline the field of stars visiting The Rock for the 2018 Gibraltar Darts Trophy from June 8-10.

The PDC European Tour event sees 48 players competing across three days at the Tercentenary Sports Hall in a bid to claim the £25,000 first prize.

Defending champion Michael Smith will be hoping to follow up his run to the Unibet Premier League final by keeping hold of the title in Gibraltar after being confirmed as the number two seed.

World number one Van Gerwen, the Premier League champion who has won 12 tournaments already in 2018, headlines the 16 seeded players, who enter at the second round stage on Saturday June 9.

Van Gerwen has previously won the Gibraltar Darts Trophy title twice with his 2015 and 2016 victories.

New World Champion Cross, a quarter-finalist on his debut in Gibraltar last year, returns to The Rock alongside 2014 champion James Wade and flamboyant world number two Peter Wright.

Premier League stars Daryl Gurney, Mensur Suljovic, Simon Whitlock and Gerwyn Price will also compete in Gibraltar as seeds, alongside former TV event winners Mervyn King and Stephen Bunting.

Friday's UK Qualifier in Milton Keynes saw a further 18 players secure their places in the first round of the event.

They were headlined by two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis, former TV event winners Robert Thornton and Paul Nicholson, former Lakeside Champion Richie Burnett and 2005 World Championship finalist Mark Dudbridge.

2018 World Championship semi-finalist Jamie Lewis, a former runner-up in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, also qualified alongside Ross Smith, who achieved the European Tour's most recent nine-dart finish in Gibraltar in 2013.

A further eight players will win a place in the Gibraltar Darts Trophy at the European Qualifier in Frankfurt on May 30, with four places for local stars on offer in the Host Nation Qualifier on June 7.

Tickets for the Gibraltar Darts Trophy are available now from www.buytickets.gi.

For details of how to get to Gibraltar and things to do, please see www.visitgibraltar.gi.

2018 Gibraltar Darts Trophy

Seeded Players

1 Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)

2 Michael Smith (England)

3 Peter Wright (Scotland)

4 Rob Cross (England)

5 Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland)

6 Mensur Suljovic (Austria)

7 Joe Cullen (England)

8 Jonny Clayton (Wales)