WORLD DARTS TROPHY - ORDER OF PLAY REVEALED
BDO Events has today (January 28) announced the order of play for next month’s World Darts Trophy at EventCity, Manchester.
The line-up for the tournament from February 26 to March 1 kicks off on the Thursday with action from some of the games greatest players.
The men’s competition is headed by the newly crowned Lakeside champion Scott Mitchell (Scotty Dog) and his opponent from the epic final, the three-times former BDO World Champion ‘Wolfie’ Martin Adams.
‘The Count’ Ted Hankey, this year’s wild card and a real crowd puller, is making a welcome return to the BDO big stage when he takes on 2013 Lakeside World Champion ‘Scotty 2 Hotty’ Scott Waites, holder of no less than 19 BDO World Ranking titles.
Hankey is one of the most colourful characters in darts and is hoping the World Darts Trophy will kick-start his game which has brought him so much success over the last decade.
The first men’s player to the oche is ‘Silverback’ Tony O’Shea who, together with ‘The Dazzler’ Darryl Fitton, will be competing on home turf and are sure to entertain the Manchester crowd.
Pick of the ladies matches sees Deta Hedman (The Dark Destroyer) winner of nine BDO World Ranking Tournaments in 2014 against her rival Trina Gulliver MBE (The Golden Girl), the seven times world champion.
Thursday’s action concludes with the Lakeside re-match between ‘Wolfie’ Martin Adams and ‘Captain America’ Jim Widmayer, which saw Adams triumph.
Play resumes on Friday with another stellar line-up including both recent Lakeside semi-finalists, ‘Duzza’ Glen Durrant, who was just a dart away from reaching the final himself, and Canada’s ‘Silencer’ Jeff Smith, who impressed on his Lakeside debut.
Ladies World Champion ‘The Lancashire Rose’ Lisa Ashton, opens her account against Maud Jansson from Sweden. Lisa is competing on home soil and defended her crown at Lakeside this year where she registered the highest ever finish with 156.
The 2015 World Darts Trophy will also see some exciting newcomers including Japan’s charismatic ‘Mr. Miyagi’ Hiroaki Shimizu and Lancashire reigning England Classic champion ‘Gladiator’ Mark McGeeney.
Stephen Holland, BDO Events managing director, said: " The draw had revealed some exciting pairings including the meeting of Scott Waites who will be taking on Ted Hankey now that he has just returned to the BDO big stage. The title will surely be hotly contested by some of the world’s best players.”
Thursday Order of Play
Seeds
7 Rachel Brooks v Irina Armstrong
12 Tony O’Shea v Stefaan Deprez
15 Rick Hofstra v Geert De Vos
4 Fallon Sherrock v Paula Jacklin
6 Gary Robson v Darius Labanauskas
11 Remco Van Eijden v Mark McGeeney
8 Lorraine Winstanley v Rhian Griffiths
16 Madras Razma v Wayne Warren
7 Wesley Harms v Peter Sajwani
2 Deta Hedman v Trina Gulliver MBE
9 Scott Waites v Ted Hankey
2 Martin Adams v Jim Widmayer
Friday Order of Play
Seeds
6 Zoe Jones v Anneke Kuijten
5 Jamie Hughes v Hiroaki Shimizu
13 Jeffrey De Graaf v Eddy Sims
5 Aileen De Graff v Ann-Louise Peters
14 Pip Blackwell v Paul Jennings
3 Glen Durrant v Karel Sedlacek
3 Lisa Ashton v Maud Jansson
4 Martin Adams v Willem Mandigers
10 Darryl Fitton v Ritchie Edhouse
1 Anastasia Dobromyslova v Casey Gallagher
1 Scott Mitchell v David Cameron
8 Ross Montgomery v Jeff Smith
Tickets for the World Darts Trophy range in price from £16 for a standard single day pass to £89 for a premier single four-day pass.
For tickets visit www.ticketline.co.uk, www.bdoevents.co, or call 0844 888 9991.
• The 2015 World Darts Trophy at EventCity is the second. The first was held at Blackpool Tower in February 2014.
• The trophy features 38 players from the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship 2015.
• Seven world champions will be competing along with nine other winners of major titles.
• The current holders of over 80 BDO ranking titles combined are taking part in the trophy.
• All eight Lakeside 2015 semi finalists will take to the stage.