Sherrock, Barney headline Grand Slam opening night

Fallon Sherrock and Raymond van Barneveld will headline the opening night at the Grand Slam of Darts which will also feature Michael van Gerwen vs Lisa Ashton.

Last Friday’s draw threw up a host of big-name matches for the unique event which pitches 32 players into eight groups of four, and the qualification of Sherrock and Ashton ensured the two biggest females names in the game would feature in Wolverhampton.

The all-star cast was strengthened when five-time world champion and 2012 Grand Slam winner Van Barneveld came through Friday’s qualifier to secure his return to the tournament.

Van Barneveld has been drawn in Group H alongside Gary Anderson, Joe Davis and his Saturday night opponent Michael Smith, while Sherrock will face former world champion Peter Wright in Group E.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Van Gerwen – who won in 2015, 2016 and 2017 but has not reached the final since – faces former women’s world champion Ashton who is chasing her first victory over a male opponent on TV.

Nine days of action begin on Sky Sports on Saturday afternoon with the first of four sessions of darts over the weekend that will see all players play their opening two group games.

Groups A-D are in action on Saturday afternoon in a session that will feature world No 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price, in-form World Grand Prix and Premier League champion Jonny Clayton, and three-time runner-up James Wade.

Price will take on highly-rated youngster Nathan Rafferty, while Wade will face Jim Williams. The 32-player field for the latest televised ranking event was confirmed over the weekend when Rusty-Jake Rodriguez took the final spot on offer via the European Development Tour – joining his brother Rowby-John in Wolverhampton.

Both men will be in action in the opening afternoon session, Rusty-Jake taking on Clayton – a four-time TV winner this year – while Rowby-John will meet former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Qualifiers Stephen Bunting and Ryan Joyce have the honour of kicking off the tournament in the opening game of this year’s event, where Jose De Sousa is the defending champion after victory over Wade in last year’s final in Coventry.

Don’t miss a dart with all nine days of live Grand Slam of Darts action from Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Leisure Village getting underway on Saturday, November 13 – join us from 1pm on Sky Sports Arena.