WADE & KING SET FOR WOLVERHAMPTON REMATCH IN SINGHA BEER GRAND SLAM OF DARTS
JAMES WADE and Mervyn King will collide once more in the group stage of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts after being paired in a group alongside Tony O'Shea and Jamie Caven for the £400,000 event, while Phil Taylor begins his defence of the title against Richie George on Saturday.
Wade and King fought out an epic contest in the final of The Unibet Masters in Edinburgh on Sunday, as the left-hander came from 9-2 down to claim the title with a dramatic 11-10 victory.
They will meet again during the round-robin stage at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall next week, although number six seed Wade will firstly open his challenge against Wildcard Qualifier Caven and King takes on former semi-finalist O'Shea in Group G.
Reigning Grand Slam of Darts champion Phil Taylor heads Group E as the event's number two seed, and takes on former Lakeside Championship semi-finalist Richie George in their opener, with Andy Hamilton meeting Holland's former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist in their group's other clash on Saturday.
PDC World Champion and number one seed Michael van Gerwen, the 2012 runner-up at the Wolves Civic, meets Wildcard Qualifier Darren Webster in their Group A opener, and Belgium's Kim Huybrechts faces Holland's Jan Dekker.
Reigning Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting will make his Grand Slam debut against another Dutch ace, Wesley Harms, as their Group H rivals Gary Anderson and Dean Winstanley also face off.
2012 Grand Slam of Darts winner and current Premier League Darts champion meets Wolverhampton debutant Robbie Green in Group D, with 2013 runner-up Robert Thornton taking on Holland's Vincent van der Voort in their opener.
Number five seed Adrian Lewis, the two-time World Champion and reigning UK Open champion, will meet Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez in Group C, with Dave Chisnall taking on World Youth Champion Keegan Brown in Saturday's opening games.
Peter Wright, the number seven seed and 2014 PDC World Championship runner-up, takes on Wildcard Qualifier Brendan Dolan in their Group F opener, with top Australian Simon Whitlock and former World Youth Champion Michael Smith also in a tough-looking quartet.
Debutant Alan Norris, January's Lakeside Championship runner-up to Bunting, heads Group B as the number eight seed as he faces Belgian ace Ronny Huybrechts on Saturday, with 2010 Grand Slam champion Scott Waites taking on recent European Championship finalist Terry Jenkins in the other contest.
Saturday's games - split across two sessions at the Wolves Civic live on Sky Sports - see the players compete in the first of three group games, with all 32 players in action again on Sunday and then on either Monday or Tuesday.
The top two players from each group then progress to the knockout phase, with the tournament concluding on Sunday November 16 with the semi-finals and final across two sessions.
Tickets for the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts are still available from the Wolves Civic Box Office on 0870 320 7000 or via www.wolvescivic.co.uk, although some sessions have already sold out.
The schedule of play for the opening games on Saturday November 8 will be confirmed on Tuesday.
The SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts draw was made on the Free Radio 80s Goalzone show on Monday November 3, where Rod Harrington joined Tom Ross and Ian Taylor.
SINGHA BEER GRAND SLAM OF DARTS
THE DRAW
The draw will be updated below as it happens on Monday evening.
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GROUP A |
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MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (1) |
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KIM HUYBRECHTS |
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JAN DEKKER |
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DARREN WEBSTER |
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GROUP B |
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ALAN NORRIS (8) |
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SCOTT WAITES |
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TERRY JENKINS |
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RONNY HUYBRECHTS |
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GROUP C |
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ADRIAN LEWIS (5) |
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DAVE CHISNALL |
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KEEGAN BROWN |
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ROWBY-JOHN RODRIGUEZ |
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GROUP D |
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RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD (4) |
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ROBERT THORNTON |
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VINCENT VAN DER VOORT |
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ROBBIE GREEN |
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GROUP E |
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PHIL TAYLOR (2) |
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ANDY HAMILTON |
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CHRISTIAN KIST |
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RICHIE GEORGE |
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GROUP F |
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PETER WRIGHT (7) |
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SIMON WHITLOCK |
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MICHAEL SMITH |
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BRENDAN DOLAN |
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GROUP G |
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JAMES WADE (6) |
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MERVYN KING |
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TONY O'SHEA |
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JAMIE CAVEN |
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GROUP H |
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STEPHEN BUNTING (3) |
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GARY ANDERSON |
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DEAN WINSTANLEY |
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WESLEY HARMS |
THE SEEDS
1 Michael van Gerwen (PDC World Champion 2014)
2 Phil Taylor (Grand Slam Champion 2013)
3 Stephen Bunting (BDO Lakeside Champion 2014)
4 Raymond van Barneveld (Premier League Champion 2014)
5 Adrian Lewis (UK Open Champion 2014)
6 James Wade (The Masters Champion 2014)
7 Peter Wright (PDC World Championship runner-up 2014)
8 Alan Norris (BDO World Championship runner-up 2014)
POT 2
Gary Anderson (European Tour winner 2014)
Dave Chisnall (World Grand Prix runner-up 2013)
Andy Hamilton (UK Open runner-up 2013)
Kim Huybrechts (World Cup runner-up 2013)
Mervyn King (European Tour winner 2014)
Robert Thornton (Grand Slam runner-up 2013)
Scott Waites (Grand Slam semi-finalist 2013)
Simon Whitlock (European Championship runner-up 2013)
POT 3
Keegan Brown (World Youth Champion 2014)
Jan Dekker (BDO Lakeside Championship semi-finalist 2014)
Terry Jenkins (UK Open runner-up 2014)
Christian Kist (BDO Lakeside Champion in last five years)
Tony O’Shea (BDO Lakeside Championship runner-up 2013)
Michael Smith (European Tour winner 2014)
Vincent van der Voort (European Tour winner 2014)
Dean Winstanley (Grand Slam semi-finalist 2012)
POT 4
Richie George (BDO Lakeside Championship semi-finalist 2013)
Robbie Green (BDO Lakeside Championship semi-finalist 2014)
Wesley Harms (BDO Lakeside Championship semi-finalist 2013)
Ronny Huybrechts (World Cup runner-up 2013)
Rowby-John Rodriguez (World Youth Championship runner-up 2014)
Darren Webster (Wildcard Qualifier One)
Jamie Caven (Wildcard Qualifier Two)
Brendan Dolan (Wildcard Qualifier Three)