The 2019 BoyleSports World Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at the Citywest Convention Centre in Dublin, as Michael van Gerwen begins his title defence against Jamie Hughes on the opening night.
Seven nights of action will take place from October 6-12, broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.
Tickets are still available - click here to secure your seat.
The first round of the PDC's only double-start event will be staged across the opening two nights on Sunday and Monday.
Reigning champion Van Gerwen faces an opening test against Hughes, whose impressive first year as a PDC Tour Card Holder saw him win a European Tour event winner in Prague in June.
The tournament holds special memories for Van Gerwen who lifted his first televised PDC title at the 2012 World Grand Prix, but the four-time winner isn't putting any pressure on himself to retain the title for the first time in his career.
“It would be nice to defend the title but it’s not something I will focus on too much,” said Van Gerwen, who has won the Premier League and The Masters since winning his third World Championship title in January.
“I believe I can win any match and any tournament I play in. I focus on each one of them at a time and the record books will take care of themselves.
“The World Grand Prix is a huge tournament which I enjoy and I feel confident about to going all the way next week.”
Daryl Gurney famously won the event in 2017, and two years on the Northern Irishman still holds great memories of the night that changed his life.
"It really was a dream come true, it was a night that I will never forget," said Gurney, who begins his bid for a second Dublin crown against Dutchman Danny Noppert on Monday.
"The next morning I woke up I remember thinking 'who owns this trophy beside me?' It still felt like some kind of dream.
"But I'm probably a better player now than I was then so hopefully I can enjoy another dream and wake up with the trophy again."
Alongside Van Gerwen and Gurney, James Wade is the only other previous winner in the 32-player field and is also the only player in this year's event to have hit a nine-dart finish in the double-start format.
Making his 15th World Grand Prix appearance, 2007 and 2010 champion Wade will take on former semi-finalist John Henderson on Sunday night.
Last year's runner-up Peter Wright believes a return to the darts he used at the 2018 tournament could help him go one better this time around.
Wright was left devastated after his 5-2 defeat to Van Gerwen in his first World Grand Prix final, having previously never made it past the quarter-finals stage of the double-start event.
A winner of the World Cup and German Darts Masters so far in 2019, Wright will begin his bid for a first title on the Emerald Isle against German number one Max Hopp on Monday, with the Scot in buoyant mood.
"To be honest it doesn't help me changing darts all the time but I'm going to use the darts I got to the final of the World Grand Prix with last year," said Wright.
"I believe I can go and win all the tournaments coming up but there's some quality players out there in my way. If you don't believe you can win then you shouldn't be playing in my opinion.
"I've got good memories from Dublin last year when I beat Mensur [Suljovic] in the semis. This year I've got Max [Hopp] first up, he's a fantastic player but in my mind I'm playing better than anyone so it doesn't bother me who I play."
Former finalist Gary Anderson begins his quest for a first World Grand Prix title against Keegan Brown, who is making his first appearance since 2015.
Steve Beaton will make his 16th World Grand Prix appearance, having made his debut in 2001, and he takes on rising Dutch star Jeffrey de Zwaan in his opener.
A semi-finalist in three of the last four years in Dublin, Mensur Suljovic will play World Matchplay champion Rob Cross in one of the stand-out ties in round one.
Hughes will be joined by five other players in making their debuts at the £450,000 event: Nathan Aspinall, Krzysztof Ratajski, Glen Durrant, Chris Dobey and Dimitri Van den Bergh.
The players in the top half of the draw will play their first round ties on Sunday, with the bottom half of the draw in action on Monday evening.
Sunday's winners will compete in Tuesday's second round ties, with Monday's winners returning to the stage on Wednesday.
The quarter-finals will then be held on Thursday night, with the semi-finals on Friday ahead of Saturday's final, which will be preceded by the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay final between Keane Barry and Liam Gallagher.
2019 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Draw Bracket
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Jamie Hughes
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Steve Beaton
(8) James Wade v John Henderson
Mervyn King v Dimitri Van den Bergh
(5) Michael Smith v Simon Whitlock
Joe Cullen v Ian White
(4) Gary Anderson v Keegan Brown
Ricky Evans v Chris Dobey
(2) Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic
Glen Durrant v Krzysztof Ratajski
(7) Peter Wright v Max Hopp
Adrian Lewis v Jermaine Wattimena
(6) Gerwyn Price v Dave Chisnall
Stephen Bunting v Jonny Clayton
(3) Daryl Gurney v Danny Noppert
Vincent van der Voort v Nathan Aspinall
Schedule of Play
Sunday October 6 (1900)
First Round x8
Ricky Evans v Chris Dobey
Mervyn King v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Joe Cullen v Ian White
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Steve Beaton
James Wade v John Henderson
Michael Smith v Simon Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen v Jamie Hughes
Gary Anderson v Keegan Brown
Monday October 7 (1900)
First Round x8
Stephen Bunting v Jonny Clayton
Vincent van der Voort v Nathan Aspinall
Adrian Lewis v Jermaine Wattimena
Glen Durrant v Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney v Danny Noppert
Gerwyn Price v Dave Chisnall
Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic
Peter Wright v Max Hopp
Tuesday October 8 (1900)
Second Round x4
Wade/Henderson v King/Van den Bergh
Smith/Whitlock v Cullen/White
Van Gerwen/Hughes v De Zwaan/Beaton
Anderson/Brown v Evans/Dobey
Wednesday October 9 (1900)
Second Round x4
Gurney/Noppert v Van der Voort/Aspinall
Price/Chisnall v Bunting/Clayton
Cross/Suljovic v Durrant/Ratajski
Wright/Hopp v Lewis/Wattimena
Thursday October 10 (1900)
Quarter-Finals
Friday October 11 (1900)
Semi-Finals
Saturday October 12 (2000)
Final
Preceded by Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay Final (1900 BST)
Liam Gallagher v Keane Barry
Best of 11 legs
Format
First Round - Best of three sets
Second Round - Best of five sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of five sets
Semi-Finals - Best of seven sets
Final - Best of nine sets
All sets are the best of five legs. All legs must begin and end with a double.
Prize fund
Winner - £110,000
Runner-up - £50,000
Semi-finalists - £25,000
Quarter-finalists - £16,000
Second round - £10,000
First round - £6,000
BoyleSports World Grand Prix Odds
Outright Winner
7/4 Michael van Gerwen
8/1 Peter Wright
9/1 Gary Anderson
10/1 Rob Cross
12/1 Gerwyn Price
14/1 Daryl Gurney
18/1 Nathan Aspinall
20/1 Michael Smith, Mensur Suljovic
22/1 James Wade, Glen Durrant
28/1 Ian White
33/1 Dave Chisnall
50/1 Krzysztof Ratajski
66/1 Adrian Lewis, Jamie Hughes, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Jeffrey de Zwaan
100/1 Chris Dobey, Joe Cullen, Jonny Clayton
125/1 Simon Whitlock, Stephen Bunting, Max Hopp
150/1 Keegan Brown
175/1 Vincent van der Voort
200/1 Steve Beaton, Danny Noppert, John Henderson, Ricky Evans, Jermaine Wattimena
250/1 Mervyn King
Odds courtesy www.boylesports.com and correct at time of writing. Subject to fluctuation.