Raymond van Barneveld will make his televised return against Alan Soutar on the Main Stage at the Ladbrokes UK Open on Friday, with stage allocations confirmed for this weekend's tournament in Milton Keynes.
Two-time UK Open champion Van Barneveld will compete on the big stage for the first time since his infamous loss to Darin Young at the World Championship in December 2019 after winning back his PDC Tour Card recently.
The returning Dutchman's tie with impressive newcomer Soutar - a UK Open debutant - is one of nine matches scheduled to take place on the Main Stage at the Marshall Arena in Friday afternoon's opening session.
Main Stage matches will be broadcast live on ITV4 for UK viewers, through the PDC's international broadcast partners, including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.
A busy opening session at the unique multi-board event, featuring 154 players, will see the first three rounds take place on Friday afternoon.
The first round comprises the Tour Card Holders ranked 97-122 along with qualifiers from the Development Tour, Challenge Tour and Qualifying Schools Orders of Merit.
Main Stage action will begin with two round one ties, with former World Youth Championship finalists Berry van Peer and Martin Schindler opening proceedings before American newcomer Danny Baggish takes on Brett Claydon.
While the Main Stage action begins at 1200 GMT, Friday's play begins at 1100 GMT on Stages Two-Eight.
Stage Two matches from the first round include former BDO Championship runner-up Jim Williams against Austria's Zoran Lerchbacher and former Lakeside Champion Richie Burnett versus Dutch youngster Geert Nentjes.
Action on Stage Two action on Friday and Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide.
The first round winners will be joined by Tour Card Holders 65-96 in round two, as Van Barneveld takes on Soutar and Lisa Ashton meets Aaron Beeney in the Main Stage games.
Friday's opening session will also see round three take place, with the second round winners joined by Tour Card Holders 33-64, as the winner of Van Barneveld v Soutar returns to the Main Stage for a meeting with Mickey Mansell.
The third round will also see Max Hopp face William O'Connor on the Main Stage, while 2004 UK Open semi-finalist Steve Beaton plays Mark McGeeney on Stage Two.
The world's top 32 enter the event in Friday evening's fourth round, including reigning champion Michael van Gerwen, world number one Gerwyn Price and former UK Open champions Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, James Wade, Nathan Aspinall and Adrian Lewis.
The action continues on Saturday March 7 with the fifth and sixth rounds across two sessions, before Sunday's closing stages are played out on the Main Stage.
At the conclusion of the third round, an open draw will be made live on the Main Stage for the fourth round.
Players will compete for a £100,000 top prize, with a total prize fund of £450,000 on offer being paid down to the last 96.
The annual festival of darts is usually held at the Butlin's Minehead Resort in Somerset, but due to the ongoing situation will this year be staged at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
Six Tour Card Holders (Wesley Harms, Robert Marijanovic, Daniel Larsson, Michael Unterbuncher, Darren Penhall and Boris Kcrmar) will not be competing, therefore six players receive a first round bye.
2021 Ladbrokes UK Open
Friday March 5
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT Start, 1200 GMT on Main Stage)
First, Second & Third Rounds
Main Stage
Berry van Peer v Martin Schindler (R1)
Brett Claydon v Danny Baggish (R1)
Aaron Beeney v Lisa Ashton (R2)
Maik Kuivenhoven v Koltsov/Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R2)
Alan Soutar v Raymond van Barneveld (R2)
Keane Barry v Nentjes/Burnett (R2)
Max Hopp v William O'Connor (R3)
Damon Heta v Siepmann/D Evans (R3)
Soutar/Van Barneveld v Mickey Mansell (R3)
Stage Two
Gordon Mathers v Kirk Shepherd (R1)
Boris Koltsov v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R1)
Zoran Lerchbacher v Jim Williams (R1)
Geert Nentjes v Richie Burnett (R1)
Martin Atkins v Bradley Brooks (R2)
Martijn Kleermaker v Wayne Jones (R2)
Peters/L Williams v Scott Mitchell (R2)
Ciaran Teehan v Claydon/Baggish (R2)
Mark McGeeney v Steve Beaton (R3)
Ross Smith v Callan Rydz (R3)
Beeney/Ashton v Darius Labanauskas (R3)
Murray/Kciuk v Kim Huybrechts (R3)
Stage Three
Rhys Griffin v Sean Fisher (R1)
Matt Jackson v Nathan Rafferty (R1)
Keelan Kay v Kevin McDine (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Brian Raman (R1)
Nick Kenny v Ryan Meikle (R2)
Jeff Smith v Van Peer/Schindler (R2)
Andy Hamilton v Edhouse/Mol (R2)
Lerchbacher/J Williams v Mathers/Shepherd (R2)
James Wilson v Keegan Brown (R3)
Atkins/Brooks v Waites/S Brown (R3)
Barry/Nentjes/Burnett v Luke Woodhouse (R3)
S Taylor/Michael/Lukeman/Verberk v Adam Hunt (R3)
Stage Four
Jitse Van der Wal v Florian Hempel (R1)
Geert De Vos v Niels Zonneveld (R1)
Martin Lukeman v Maikel Verberk (R1)
Scott Taylor v John Michael (R1)
Michael Rasztovits v Peter Jacques (R2)
Hudson/De Vreede v Jesus Noguera (R2)
Scott Waites v Steve Brown (R2)
Kay/McDine v Rowby-John Rodriguez/Raman (R2)
Ryan Joyce v Cristo Reyes (R3)
Heaver/Pronk/Lovely v Ron Meulenkamp (R3)
Murnan/Dennant/Leung v Kenny/Meikle (R3)
Lerchbacher/J Williams/Mathers/Shepherd v Madars Razma (R3)
Stage Five
Shane McGuirk v Jack Main (R1)
Jason Heaver v Lorenzo Pronk (R1)
Luc Peters v Lewis Williams (R1)
Steffen Siepmann v David Evans (R2)
De Vos/Zonneveld v Derk Telnekes (R2)
Alan Tabern v Gawlas/Vos (R2)
Murnan/Dennant v Kai Fan Leung (R2)
Steve West v Jason Lowe (R3)
Andy Boulton v Jelle Klaasen (R3)
Borland/Davis/Doets v Steve Lennon (R3)
Leitinger/Sedlacek v De Decker/Griffin/Fisher (R3)
Raztovits/Jacques v Teehan/Claydon/Baggish (R3)
Stage Six
Jim McEwan v Sebastian Bialecki (R1)
Chas Barstow v Lukas Wenig (R1)
Joe Murnan v Matthew Dennant (R1)
Jon Worsley v Andrew Gilding (R2)
McGuirk/Main v Robert Collins (R2)
Mike De Decker v Griffin/Fisher (R2)
S Taylor/Michael v Lukeman/Verberk (R2)
John Henderson v Matt Edgar (R3)
Hamilton/Edhouse/Mol v J Jones/D Taylor/Blades (R3)
J Smith/Van Peer/Schindler v Kleermaker/W Jones (R3)
J Brown/Carlin/Jackson/Rafferty v Barstow/Wenig/Thomas (R3)
Stage Seven
Joe Davis v Kevin Doets (R1)
Adam Gawlas v Gino Vos (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse v Damian Mol (R1)
Harald Leitinger v Karel Sedlacek (R2)
J Jones/D Taylor v Gary Blades (R2)
J Brown/Carlin v Jackson/Rafferty (R2)
Barstow/Wenig v Martin Thomas (R2)
Justin Pipe v Luke Humphries (R3)
Kuivenhoven/Koltsov/Rusty-Jake Rodriguez v Brendan Dolan (R3)
Hudson/De Vreede/Noguera v Tabern/Gawlas/Vos (R3)
Kay/McDine/Rowby-John Rodriguez/Raman v Josh Payne (R3)
Stage Eight
Jake Jones v Dom Taylor (R1)
Peter Hudson v Ryan De Vreede (R1)
John Brown v Gavin Carlin (R1)
Ryan Murray v Krzysztof Kciuk (R2)
William Borland v Davis/Doets (R2)
McEwan/Bialecki v Van der Wal/Hempel (R2)
Heaver/Pronk v Eddie Lovely (R2)
Ted Evetts v Darren Webster (R3)
McGuirk/Main/Collins v Ryan Searle (R3)
Peters/L Williams/Mitchell v Worsley/Gilding (R3)
McEwan/Bialecki/Van der Wal/Hempel v De Vos/Zonneveld/Telnekes (R3)
Please note: Schedule of play is subject to change and any amendments will be notified at the PDC website as soon as possible.
Session Times
Friday March 5
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT start – 1200 GMT start on Main Stage)
First, Second & Third Rounds
Main Stage, Stage Two & Stages Three-Eight
Evening Session (1900 GMT start)
Fourth Round
Main Stage, Stage Two & Stages Three-Eight
Saturday March 6
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT start)
Fifth Round
Main Stage, Stage Two & Stages Three-Four
Evening Session (1900 GMT start)
Sixth Round
Main Stage & Stage Two
Sunday March 7
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT start)
Quarter-Finals
Main Stage
Evening Session (1900 GMT start)
Semi-Finals & Final
Main Stage
Format
First, Second & Third Rounds - Best of 11 legs
Fourth, Fifth & Sixth Rounds & Quarter-Finals - Best of 19 legs
Semi-Finals & Final - Best of 21 legs
Prize Fund
Winner - £100,000
Runner-Up - £40,000
Semi-Finalists - £20,000
Quarter-Finalists - £12,500
Sixth Round Losers - £7,500
Fifth Round Losers - £4,000
Fourth Round Losers - £2,000
Third Round Losers - £1,000
Total - £450,000