Gerwyn Price and Dimitri Van den Bergh headline World Grand Prix opening night

Gerwyn Price will open the defence of his World Grand Prix title against Michael Smith on a blockbuster first night of action in Leicester.

World No 1 Price is amongst the stars in action on Sunday, October 3 - live on Sky Sports with the Welshman facing Michael Smith in a tasty tungsten tie.

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The opening night features Price's rivals in the top half of the draw, including two-time World Grand Prix winner James Wade's meeting with Damon Heta and Van den Bergh's tie with Ryan Searle.

Daryl Gurney, the 2017 World Grand Prix winner, plays Stephen Bunting, and former finalists Dave Chisnall, Mervyn King and Dirk van Duijvenbode are also in action.

The first round concludes on Monday, with five-time World Grand Prix champion Michael van Gerwen playing Danny Noppert in an all-Dutch tie.

World Matchplay champion Peter Wright plays Rob Cross, reigning Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa meets Glen Durrant and Premier League winner Jonny Clayton plays Callan Rydz.

Monday's ties also feature history-maker Brendan Dolan, two-time World Champion Gary Anderson and Premier League star Nathan Aspinall.

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World Grand Prix - Schedule of Play

Sunday October 3 (1800 BST)
8x First Round
Martijn Kleermaker vs Mervyn King
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Luke Humphries
Stephen Bunting vs Daryl Gurney
Dave Chisnall vs Mensur Suljovic
Joe Cullen vs Ross Smith
James Wade vs Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price vs Michael Smith
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Ryan Searle

Monday October 4 (1800 BST)
8x First Round
Darius Labanauskas vs Brendan Dolan
Callan Rydz vs Jonny Clayton
Vincent van der Voort vs Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Gary Anderson vs Ian White
Peter Wright vs Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen vs Danny Noppert
Jose de Sousa vs Glen Durrant

Tuesday October 5 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round

Wednesday October 6 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round

Thursday October 7 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals

Friday October 8 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals

Saturday October 9 (2030 BST)
Final

The schedule of play for Tuesday onwards will be confirmed during the World Grand Prix.

Format
First Round - Best of three sets
Second Round - Best of five sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of five sets
Semi-Final - Best of seven sets
Final - Best of nine sets

• All sets are the best of five legs.
• All legs will be double start and double finish, meaning players must first hit a double before they can begin scoring in each leg. The bullseye will count as double 25.
• There will be no tie-break in any match; the deciding set would end 3-2, with the fifth leg being the deciding leg.

Darts is back on your Sky Sports screens when the World Grand Prix gets underway - join us for coverage from the Morningside Arena, starting on Sunday, October 3. Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts