THE schedule of play for the bwin World Cup of Darts has been confirmed ahead of the fourth staging of the event next week.
An expanded World Cup of Darts will this year see 32 nations, each represented by two players, competing for the title and a £200,000 prize fund at the Sporthalle Hamburg from June 6-8.
The knockout event will kick off on Friday June 6, with the first round being held across two sessions as the 16 seeded nations face the 16 unseeded countries.
Host nation German will take on South Africa in one of the eight fixtures to be played in Friday's afternoon session, while last year's semi-finalists Finland will kick off the tournament against Poland and 2010 semi-finalists Spain face New Zealand.
The top eight seeds will enter the first round on Friday night, with reigning champions England beginning their bid for a third successive title as they meet Thailand.
Netherlands, who won the 2010 event, will play Italy in the first round, while last year's beaten finalists Belgium take on debutants India and 2012 runners-up Australia play Denmark.
Saturday June 7 will see the second round split across two sessions as the remaining 16 nations face off, with the quarter-finals being held on Sunday afternoon and seeing a mixture of Singles and Doubles games.
The tournament will then conclude on Sunday evening, with the semi-finals and final also featuring a mixture of Singles and Doubles contests.
bwin World Cup of Darts
Friday June 6
Afternoon Session (2pm-6pm local time, 1pm-5pm BST)
First Round
Finland (12) v Poland
USA (16) v Hungary
Hong Kong (13) v Norway
Austria (10) v China
Sweden (14) v Gibraltar
Canada (11) v Japan
Germany (9) v South Africa
Spain (15) v New Zealand
Evening Session (8pm-12am local time, 7pm-11pm BST)
First Round
Republic of Ireland (8) v Singapore
Wales (5) v France
Belgium (7) v India
Northern Ireland (6) v Malaysia
Scotland (3) v Russia
England (1) v Thailand
Netherlands (2) v Italy
Australia (4) v Denmark
Saturday June 7
Afternoon Session (2pm-6pm local time, 1pm-5pm BST)
Second Round
Northern Ireland/Malaysia v Canada/Japan
Belgium/India v Austria/China
Wales/France v Finland/Poland
Republic of Ireland/Singapore v Germany/South Africa
Evening Session (8pm-12am local time, 7pm-11pm BST)
Second Round
Australia/Denmark v Hong Kong/Norway
Scotland/Russia v Sweden/Gibraltar
England/Thailand v USA/Hungary
Netherlands/Italy v Spain/New Zealand
Sunday June 8
Afternoon Session (2pm-6pm local time, 1pm-5pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Order of Play TBC
Evening Session
Evening Session (8pm-12am local time, 7pm-11pm BST)
Semi-Finals
Final
Format
First Round
Best of nine legs Doubles
Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals
The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Final
The Final will be played as four best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, and then Reverse Singles following. The first team to win three games is declared the winner. In the event of both nations winning two Singles matches apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Competing Nations
Seeded Nations
1 - England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
2 - Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld)
3 - Scotland (Peter Wright & Robert Thornton)
4 - Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
5 - Wales (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
6 - Northern Ireland (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
7 - Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts)
8 - Republic of Ireland (Connie Finnan & William O'Connor)
9 - Germany (Jyhan Artut & Andree Welge)
10 - Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
11 - Canada (John Part & Shaun Narain)
12 - Finland (Jarkko Komula & Jani Haavisto)
13 - Hong Kong (Ting Chi Royden Lam & Scott Mackenzie)
14 - Sweden (Magnus Caris & Peter Sajwani)
15 - Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
16 - USA (Darin Young & Larry Butler)
Unseeded Nations
China (Yin Deng & Jun Cai)
Denmark (Per Laursen & Dennis Lindskjold)
France (Jacques Labre & Lionel Maranhao)
Gibraltar (Dylan Duo & Dyson Parody)
Hungary (Zsolt Meszaros & Nandor Bezzeg)
India (Amit Gilitwala & Nitan Kumar)
Italy (Marco Brentegani & Daniele Petri)
Japan (Morihiro Hashimoto & Haruki Muramatsu)
Malaysia (Kesava Roa & Thomat Darus)
New Zealand (Rob Szabo & Craig Caldwell)
Norway (Robert Wagner & Vegar Elvevoll)
Poland (Krzysztof Chmielewski & Krzysztof Strozyk)
Russia (Evgenii Zhukov & Evgenii Izotov)
Singapore (Paul Lim & Harith Lim)
South Africa (Devon Petersen & Graham Filby)
Thailand (Thanawat Gaweenuntawong & Watanyu Charoonroj)
Prize Fund
Winning Team: £20,000 per player
Runners-Up: £10,000 per player
Semi-Finalists: £7,000 per player
Quarter-Finalists: £3,500 per player
Second Round Losers: £2,250 per player
First Round Losers: £1,500 per player
Total: £200,000