Taylor & Hankey to clash in daily mirror grand slam of darts
TAYLOR & HANKEY TO CLASH IN DAILY MIRROR GRAND SLAM OF DARTS
PHIL TAYLOR and Ted Hankey will clash in the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts next week after being drawn together in the groups for the tournament.
Taylor, the 15-time World Champion and reigning Grand Slam of Darts champion, and two-time Lakeside Championship winner Hankey were drawn alongside Wes Newton and Michael van Gerwen in one of eight groups for the tournament, which begins at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday.
The pair entered last year^s Grand Slam of Darts as darts^ respective World Champions, but a showdown failed to materialise when Hankey lost out in the first round.
They will get their chance to compete next week, although Taylor will open his defence in the group stage on Sunday against 21-year-old Dutch ace van Gerwen, who won through to the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship final last weekend.
Hankey will take on in-form Wes Newton in their first game of the round-robin stage, with the Fleetwood ace having won through Friday^s ITV Wildcard Qualifier to earn a spot in Wolverhampton before claiming back-to-back Players Championship victories in Barnsley.
The Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts will begin on Saturday evening with the first games from Groups A-D, which will include the meeting of Simon Whitlock and Dave Chisnall - who lost in PDC World Championship final and Lakeside Championship finals respectively in January.
Colin Osborne and Robert Thornton complete Group A, while Gary Anderson, Wolverhampton Wayne Jones, Mark Webster and Mark Hylton - another ITV Wildcard Qualifier - form Group B.
PDC Unicorn Women^s World Champion Stacy Bromberg was drawn into Group C alongside number seven seed Mervyn King, 2008 Grand Slam of Darts runner-up Terry Jenkins and Scottish debutant John Henderson.
World number two James Wade, who hit a nine-dart finish in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts, heads up Group D and will come up against Vincent van der Voort, Tony O^Shea and the other ITV Wildcard Qualifier, Rugeley^s Mark Hylton.
The remaining four groups will play their opening games on Sunday afternoon, and Group E will feature number five seed Adrian Lewis, alongside last year^s Grand Slam runner-up Scott Waites, Co Stompe and Wales^ Martin Phillips.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, Colin Lloyd, Darryl Fitton and Tricia Wright - the Women^s World Championship finalist - will form Group F.
Group G is headed by number eight seed Paul Nicholson, who won January^s Players Championship Finals to claim his maiden major title, and also features Ronnie Baxter, Steve Beaton and Arron Monk - the 20-year-old from Hampshire who joins van Gerwen in the Under-21 World Championship Final in January.
Groups A-D will play their second games on Sunday night and their final round-robin contests on Tuesday, with Groups E-H competing on Sunday afternoon, Monday night and Wednesday night at the Wolves Civic.
The draw for the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts was made by former Aston Villa midfielder Ian Taylor live on BRMB Radio^s Sports Bar show on Monday night.
The Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts will be played from November 13-21 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, and screened live on ITV4. For tickets, call 0870 320 7000 or visit the Wolves Civic Box Office
Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts
GROUP A
Simon Whitlock (3)
Colin Osborne
Robert Thornton
Dave Chisnall
GROUP B
Gary Anderson (6)
Wayne Jones
Mark Webster
Mark Hylton
GROUP C
Mervyn King (7)
Terry Jenkins
John Henderson
Stacy Bromberg
GROUP D
James Wade (2)
Vincent van der Voort
Tony O^Shea
Justin Pipe
GROUP E
Adrian Lewis (5)
Co Stompe
Scott Waites
Martin Phillips
GROUP F
Raymond van Barneveld (4)
Colin Lloyd
Darryl Fitton
Tricia Wright
GROUP G
Paul Nicholson (8)
Ronnie Baxter
Steve Beaton
Arron Monk
GROUP H
Phil Taylor (1)
Wes Newton
Ted Hankey
Michael van Gerwen
ENDS