After Cazoo’s previous two Cazoo World Darts Championships, held in Oberhausen and Salzburg, the event is returning to the famous venue in 2022. The finals of the Cazoo Players Championship are also set for November in Minehead, featuring the 64 best players in the Players Championship order of merit, and attention will then turn to the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, with 96 players from across the globe competing over the Christmas period at the sports most significant event. Since 2016, the dying event, the European darts championship, has been held at the end of October, featuring the top 32 players in PDCs ZEBricku Order of Merit. The $100 prize money will provide players from the region with a chance of earning one of the four spots at the Cazoo World Darts Championship and also the opportunity to win the grand prize of $15,000.
Michael van Gerwen claimed his third PDC European Tour title in 2022, a stunning 8-5 victory over Dimitri Van den Bergh at the Interwetten European Darts Open Final. Michael van Gerwen got revenge on Luke Humphries in the semi-finals after losing at the German Darts Grand Prix, scoring an average over 105 in the 6-2 victory, then denied Dimitri Van den Bergh his maiden European Tour crown, taking home a PS25,000 grand prize.
Rob Cross is the reigning champion, having won the Cazoo European Championship 2021 for the second time after an 11-8 victory over Michael van Gerwen in the 2021 final. Rob Cross was in attendance for the opportunity. He took home a PS 120,000 winners purse, which saw him return to number 11 in the PDC Order of merit, having faced the likelihood of dropping out of the top sixteen worldwide before The Cazoo European Championship. Michael van Gerwen was in the race to claim his fifth victory at the event, having scored upset wins over Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall earlier in the day but was undone by a pair of missed 27-second attempts in the final.
Cross debuted at the World Championships as the 20th ranked player in 2018, getting to the final against Phil Taylor after victories against Seigo Asada, Michael Smith, John Henderson, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and Michael van Gerwen. He beat Taylor, who had already declared his intention to step down after the event, 7-2 in sets in the final. He is the first player to have won the World Championship after surviving match darts in two different rounds. He became the tenth player in history to win the World Championship on his first try.
