THE biggest names in darts are preparing to take part in the PDC's first tournament in Japan next week at the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters.
The tournament is the second of five PDC World Series of Darts events being staged this year, and will be held on Saturday June 27 & Sunday June 28 at the Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama.
The year's first event, the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, was held in May won by Michael van Gerwen as he defeated Phil Taylor in the final.
Following the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters, there will be a treble-header of events in Australia and New Zealand during August, with the TABtouch Perth Darts Masters followed by the Sydney Darts Masters and Auckland Darts Masters.
All four remaining events will include eight local qualifiers competing against eight of the biggest names in darts in the first round, before playing off to find the champion.
The opening day of the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters will see the eight PDC stars take on their Japanese rivals in the first round on Saturday June 27.
Sunday's play on June 28 will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place.
Tickets for the Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters are available now and can be purchased via www.pdj.co.jp.
Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters
Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama, Japan
June 27-28 2015
PDC Representatives
Michael van Gerwen
Phil Taylor
Gary Anderson
Adrian Lewis
Peter Wright
James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld
Stephen Bunting
Japanese Representatives
Haruki Muramatsu
Sho Katsumi
Masumi Chino
Morihiro Hashimoto
Katsuya Aiba
Yuki Yamada
Shintaro Inoue
Chikara Fujimori
Session Times
Saturday June 27 (6pm local time)
First Round x8
Best of 11 legs
Sunday June 28 (6pm local time)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
All games best of 15 legs
In an exciting new development for 2015, the World Series of Darts Finals will also be held at the end of the year, giving a further opportunity for players who have competed throughout the five global events during the year to compete to find the concept's overall champion.
World Series of Darts Ranking Points
Winner - 12 Points
Runner-Up - 8 Points
Semi-Finalists - 5 Points
Quarter-Finalists - 3 Points
First Round Losers (Last 16) - 1 Point
World Series of Darts Rankings
12 Michael van Gerwen
8 Phil Taylor
5 Gary Anderson
5 Adrian Lewis
3 Peter Wright
3 James Wade
3 Raymond van Barneveld
3 Stephen Bunting
Following Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters
Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters Draw Bracket
Michael van Gerwen (1) v
Stephen Bunting (8) v
Peter Wright (5) v
Adrian Lewis (4) v
Phil Taylor (2) v
Raymond van Barneveld (7) v
James Wade (6) v
Gary Anderson (3) v
The draw will be made on Friday June 26 at a pre-event launch in Yokohama.
Television Coverage
The Zipang Casino Japan Darts Masters is being broadcast live worldwide and worldwide through the PDC's series of broadcast partners, as well as online through www.LIVEPDC.TV for International Pass Subscribers.
Coverage of the Zipang Casino Darts Masters on ITV4 will be shown delayed at 6.30pm-11.30pm (BST) on Saturday June 27 and from 6.15pm-11.15pm (BST) on Sunday June 28.
Television Coverage
JSport - Japan
ITV4 - UK (Delayed)
Setanta - Ireland
OSN - Middle East & North Africa
Fox Sports - Australia
Sky - New Zealand
RTL7 - Netherlands
Fox Asia
PPTV Online - China
www.LIVEPDC.TV for International Pass Subscribers outside of UK, Ireland & Netherlands.