Taylor: Interesting draw
An intriguing draw for the Grand Slam of Darts has pitted Phil Taylor against former BDO world champion Mark Webster and former women's champ Anastasia Dobromyslova in the group stages.
14-time world champion and defending Grand Slam of Darts champion Taylor is the top seed for the tournament and was handed an interesting draw for this year's event.
This year's Grand Slam of Darts features champions from both the PDC and BDO/WDF systems, and will be held from November 14-22 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
The 32 competitors have been drawn into eight groups for the first round, playing each other once in a round-robin format.
'The Power' is in Group A and plays the BDO men's and women's world champions from 2008 as well as quick-fire Dutchman Vincent van der Voort in the round robin stages.
Current BDO World Champion Ted Hankey is the number two seed for the tournament, and he 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 Women's 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 a 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.
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

Sky Sports News Podcast
Taylor wins number 15
Webster v van Barneveld
Taylor v Whitlock
Taylor strolls into Final
Webster - I didn't enjoy it
Whitlock overcomes Barney to reach Final
Eric Bristow
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Eric Bristow told Soccer AM that Phil 'The Power' Taylor is playing better than ever before.
Comments (1)
Jon Dawn says...
can't wait to see the bdo boys play the big names... o shea and fitton great players but hankey and taylor would be a dream final but unforuanatly the likes of wade, barney,beaton and painter will mean its an all pdc final
Posted 18:31 7th November 2009