European Championships - At the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf

Phil Taylor is looking to maintain his unbeaten record in the PartyPoker.net European Championship as the fourth edition of the tournament takes place at the Maritim Hotel in Dusseldorf on Thursday.

Taylor has won the previous three stagings of the European Championship since the tournament was introduced in 2008, defeating Adrian Lewis, Steve Beaton and Wayne Jones in the respective finals.
The 50-year-old from Stoke has drawn debutant qualifier John Michael, a Greek player who will be making his first televised appearance, in Thursday's first round, with the game over the best of 11 legs.
Taylor retained his World Matchplay title for a fourth successive year in Blackpool last week, defeating James Wade in the final, and is targeting a repeat of that success in Germany.
"I was delighted to win the World Matchplay and my target now is to keep hold of the European Championship title too," said Taylor, who is unbeaten in 15 previous matches in the event.

Four in a row

"I've enjoyed this event for the last three years and it's my plan to make it four in a row.
"I don't know much about John but I've seen him a couple of times and he's a good player. In a short format I know I'll have to be on top of my game on Thursday and will have to start well."
The PDC's top 16 players are joined by eight Players Championship Order of Merit qualifiers and eight European Order of Merit qualifiers in the event, with Greek ace Michael earning his place by virtue of his displays in Players Championships held in Germany, Austria and Holland earlier this year.
Thursday's eight first round games feature the 16 players in the top half of the draw, and include world number four Gary Anderson up against Derby's Jamie Caven, a quarter-finalist in last year's European Championship.
Simon Whitlock, the number five seed, takes on Austria's Mensur Suljovic as he looks to bounce back from his quarter-final defeat to Andy Hamilton in the World Matchplay, which saw him lose nine successive legs from 15-8 up to lose 17-15.
The night also features a clash between the players ranked eighth and ninth in the world, Mark Webster and Terry Jenkins - who was a semi-finalist in last year's European Championship.

Friday action

Friday sees World Champion Adrian Lewis take on Vincent van der Voort, having defeated the Dutchman 13-5 in the second round of the World Matchplay, while number three seed James Wade takes on Magnus Caris.
Wade won June's UK Open and was the runner-up in the World Matchplay, and said: "I've been in good form recently but I can't take anything for granted because Magnus is a good player with a lot of experience, and I have to make sure I perform well on Friday."
Wes Newton is the other seeded player in the bottom half of the draw, having risen to seventh in the world following his quarter-final appearance in the World Matchplay.
The in-form Fleetwood ace takes on Andy Smith in the first round, having defeated the same opponent 10-2 in his opener in Blackpool recently, but said: "It will be a different game on Thursday and I'm expecting a tough test from Andy.
"He's been playing well this year and is very dangerous in the short format, but I'm happy with how I'm playing and looking forward to it."

JAMES WADE

PHIL THE POWER TAYLOR

GARY ANDERSON

The second round of the £200,000 event will be played across two sessions on Saturday, with the quarter-finals taking place on Sunday afternoon and both the semi-finals and final being played on Sunday evening in one dramatic session.