PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts Media Release
Reigning champion Phil Taylor will take on former World Champions Mark Webster and Anastasia Dobromyslova in the group stage of the 2009 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts.
This year^s Grand Slam of Darts, featuring champions from both the Professional Darts Corporation and BDO/WDF systems, will be held from November 14-22 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
The 32 competitors are drawn into eight groups for the first round, playing each other once in a round-robin format.
Taylor, the two-time Grand Slam of Darts winner and number one seed, drew both the mens and womens 2008 BDO World Champions, Webster and Dobromyslova, as well as Holland^s Vincent van der Voort in Group A.
Current BDO World Champion Ted Hankey, who is seeded second for the tournament, will take on Australia^s Simon Whitlock, Wayne Mardle and Scott Waites in the group phase.
A total of eight World Championship titles will be on show in Group D, where Raymond van Barneveld, John Part and the incumbent Womens World Champion Francis Hoenselaar are drawn with Kevin Painter.
Number three seed James Wade will take on Robert Thornton, 2007 Grand Slam runner-up Andy Hamilton and Gary Mawson in Group H, while Terry Jenkins, Adrian Lewis, Darin Young and Denis Ovens complete Group G.
Tony O^Shea, the runner-up to Hankey in January^s Lakeside event, drew Colin Osborne, Colin Lloyd and Brian Woods in Group B, while Mervyn King,
Darryl Fitton and Kirk Shepherd will be joined by the ITV Wildcard Qualifier in Group C.
Gary Anderson, the number seven seed, will meet Steve Beaton - the European Championship runner-up last weekend who earned a Grand Slam debut with that display - as well as Co Stompe and Kevin McDine in Group F.
The group phase will be played from Saturday November 14-Wednesday November 18, with the top two players then progressing to the knockout phase.
The last 16 will play off on Thursday and Friday, with the quarter-finals on Saturday November 21 and the semi-finals and final played on Sunday November 22 in Wolverhampton.
Tickets for the PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts are still available from the Wolves Civic Box Office on 0870 320 7000 or via www.wolvescivic.co.uk.
GROUP A
Phil Taylor (1)
Mark Webster
Vincent van der Voort
Anastasia Dobromyslova
GROUP B
Tony O^Shea (8)
Colin Osborne
Colin Lloyd
Brian Woods
GROUP C
Mervyn King (5)
Darryl Fitton
ITV Wildcard Qualifier
Kirk Shepherd
GROUP D
Raymond van Barneveld (4)
John Part
Kevin Painter
Francis Hoenselaar
GROUP E
Ted Hankey (2)
Simon Whitlock
Wayne Mardle
Scott Waites
GROUP F
Gary Anderson (7)
Steve Beaton
Co Stompe
Kevin McDine
GROUP G
Terry Jenkins (6)
Adrian Lewis
Darin Young
Denis Ovens
GROUP H
James Wade (3)
Robert Thornton
Andy Hamilton
Gary Mawson