THE opening day of the 2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts will see Michael van Gerwen meet Gary Robson, Rob Cross play Mark McGeeney and Glen Durrant take on Simon Whitlock.
The 32-player tournament features stars of the PDC and BDO systems from November 10-18 at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton live on Sky Sports, with tickets available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or by calling 0870 320 7000.
The opening group matches on Saturday November 10 will see play split across two sessions of action.
Saturday's afternoon session features Groups E-H, which include reigning Lakeside Champion Durrant facing recent European Championship finalist Whitlock.
World Champion Cross plays McGeeney, while 2017 Grand Slam of Darts finalist Peter Wright takes on Jim Williams and Mensur Suljovic plays former Lakeside Champion Scott Mitchell.
Emerging stars Max Hopp and Josh Payne open the event, while Gerwyn Price plays debutant Andrew Gilding, World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh meets qualifier Ryan Searle and Stephen Bunting takes on German prospect Martin Schindler.
Reigning champion Van Gerwen headlines Saturday evening's play as he takes on Grand Slam debutant Gary Robson.
2012 Grand Slam winner Raymond van Barneveld opens up against Polish debutant Krzysztof Ratajski, while Gary Anderson plays Germany's Michael Unterbuchner.
Two-time Grand Slam finalist James Wade, the winner of two TV titles in the past two weekends, will meet Dutchman Wesley Harms, and Premier League finalist Michael Smith plays World Masters champion Adam Smith-Neale.
Saturday's evening session will open with a tie between former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster and former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown.
Jonny Clayton then plays qualifier Joe Murnan, and Ian White takes on another debutant, Steve Hine.
Sunday's second day of group stage matches will see Saturday's winning players face each other, and the losing players face off.
Groups E-H will conclude their group matches, with Groups A-D completing their action on Tuesday before the top two players from each group progress to the knockout phase from the last 16 onwards.
For ticket information, and details of car parking and shuttle buses, visit www.wolvescivic.co.uk or call 0870 320 7000.
2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts
Schedule of Play
Saturday November 10
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Groups E-H First Matches
Max Hopp v Josh Payne (E)
Gerwyn Price v Andrew Gilding (F)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Searle (H)
Stephen Bunting v Martin Schindler (G)
Simon Whitlock v Glen Durrant (F)
Mensur Suljovic v Scott Mitchell (G)
Rob Cross v Mark McGeeney (H)
Peter Wright v Jim Williams (E)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Groups A-D First Matches
Keegan Brown v Mark Webster (C)
Jonny Clayton v Joe Murnan (A)
Ian White v Steve Hine (D)
Michael Smith v Adam Smith-Neale (B)
James Wade v Wesley Harms (C)
Raymond van Barneveld v Krzysztof Ratajski (B)
Gary Anderson v Michael Unterbuchner (D)
Michael van Gerwen v Gary Robson (A)
Sunday November 11
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Groups E-H Second Matches
Saturday's winners face each other, and Saturday's losers face each other.
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Groups A-D Second Matches
Saturday's winners face each other, and Saturday's losers face each other.
Monday November 12 (1900 GMT)
Groups E-H Final Matches
Tuesday November 13 (1900 GMT)
Groups A-D Final Matches
Wednesday November 14 (1900 GMT)
Second Round x4
Thursday November 15 (1900 GMT)
Second Round x4
Friday November 16 (1900 GMT)
Quarter-Finals x2
Saturday November 17 (1900 GMT)
Quarter-Finals x2
Sunday November 18
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
Final
Tournament Rules
Two points are awarded for a win and no points will be awarded for a loss. Each game is the best of nine legs, with the winner being the first player to win five legs. There will be no tie-break.
After the first round has been completed, the top two players in each group will progress to the knockout phase. Should there be a two-way Points tie in any position, then the player with the best Leg Difference will be deemed to have finished higher. If both players have the same Leg Difference, then the winner of the group match between those two players will be deemed to be the higher finisher.
Should Points, Leg Difference, Tournament Average and Legs Won Against Throw not be able to separate three players, then if one player has defeated both of the other two players then this player will be deemed to have finished higher, and the winner of the group match between the remaining two players will be the ‘second’ of the three. Should the three players have secured one win apiece against each other, then a Nine-Dart Shoot-Out will be played between the relevant players to determine final standings, with the highest aggregate score over nine darts being used to separate players.
In the event a “Nine-Dart Shoot-Out” finishes level between two or more players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with his three darts.
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format.
Format
Group Stage: Best of nine legs
Second Round: Best of 19 legs
Quarter-Finals: Best of 31 legs
Semi-Finals: Best of 31 legs
Final: Best of 31 legs
Prize Fund
Winner: £110,000
Runner-Up: £55,000
Semi-Final Losers: £28,500
Quarter-Final Losers: £16,000
Second Round Losers: £10,000
Group Winner's Bonus: £2,500
Third Place in Group: £5,000
Fourth Place in Group: £3,000
Total: £450,000
Nine-Dart Finish Bonus: £25,000