2017 European Championship

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2017 Unibet European Championship** was the tenth edition of the Professional Darts Corporation tournament, the European Championship, which saw the top players from the twelve European tour events compete against each other.

The tournament took place from 26–29 October 2017 at the Ethias Arena in Hasselt, Belgium.

Michael van Gerwen was the three-time defending champion, having beaten Mensur Suljović 11–1 in the final of the 2016 tournament, and he retained his title for a fourth time, by defeating Rob Cross 11–7 in the final.

Kyle Anderson hit a nine-dart finish in his semi-final defeat to van Gerwen, in which he also missed two match darts to win the match himself.

Notably, former World champions Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld and Adrian Lewis were notable absences at the tournament after taking part in none or too few European Tour events to qualify.

## Format

The format remained the same as the previous year.

 Second
 Semi-finals
 Final

## Prize money

The 2017 European Championship had a total prize fund of £400,000, the same amount as the last staging of the tournament.

The following is the breakdown of the fund:

## Qualification

The 2017 tournament continues the new system in terms of qualification of the 2016 edition: The top 32 players from the European Tour Order of Merit, which is solely based on prize money won in the twelve European tour events during the season, qualified for the tournament.

New regulations affected the prize money counting for seeds at all European Tour Events: If a seeded player lost in the second round (seeds enter already at second stage of the events), they still receive the full prize money payment, but their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit.

The following players took part in the tournament, with the top 8 players being seeds:

1. **Michael van Gerwen**  **(Champion)**
2. Peter Wright  *(Quarter-finals)*
3. Michael Smith  *(Quarter-finals)*
4. Mensur Suljović  *(Quarter-finals)*
5. Jelle Klaasen  *(Second round)*
6. Rob Cross  *(Runner-up)*
7. Joe Cullen  *(First round)*
8. Simon Whitlock  *(Quarter-finals)*
9. Dave Chisnall  *(Second round)*
10. Benito van de Pas  *(Second round)*
11. Kim Huybrechts  *(First round)*
12. Daryl Gurney  *(Semi-finals)*
13. Mervyn King  *(First round)*
14. Gerwyn Price  *(Second round)*
15. Cristo Reyes  *(First round)*
16. Ian White  *(Second round)*
17. Stephen Bunting  *(Second round)*
18. Krzysztof Ratajski  *(First round)*
19. Alan Norris  *(Second round)*
20. Vincent van der Voort  *(First round)*
21. Martin Schindler  *(First round)*
22. Christian Kist  *(First round)*
23. John Henderson  *(First round)*
24. Kyle Anderson  *(Semi-finals)*
25. Dimitri Van den Bergh  *(First round)*
26. Steve Beaton  *(First round)*
27. Nathan Aspinall  *(First round)*
28. Ronny Huybrechts  *(First round)*
29. Jan Dekker  *(First round)*
30. James Richardson  *(First round)*
31. Darren Webster  *(First round)*
32. Jonny Clayton  *(Second round)*

## References

1. ↑ European Hat-Trick For Amazing van Gerwen. PDC.
2. ↑ Four-Some Van Gerwen's European Glory. PDC.
3. ↑ European Tour Changes Announced. Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved on October 15, 2023.
4. ↑ Allen, Dave. 2017 Unibet European Championship Field. Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved on October 15, 2023.
5. ↑ 2017 Unibet European Championship Draw. PDC.