Luke Humphries will begin his defence of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts against Austria’s World Cup runner-up Rowby-John Rodriguez on a bumper opening day in Wolverhampton on Saturday.
The Grand Slam of Darts group stage will see 32 players competing in a round-robin format across the opening four days at WV Active Aldersley, with 16 ties taking place across two sessions on Saturday.
Saturday afternoon’s opening session will feature the players in Groups B, C, D and H, before Groups A, E, F and G take centre stage on Saturday evening.
Fourth seed Rob Cross will headline Saturday afternoon’s action, as the 2023 runner-up kicks off his title challenge against CDC Continental Cup winner Leonard Gates.
Three-time runner-up Peter Wright will play Martin Lukeman in the other Group C tussle, while Danny Noppert faces Women’s World Matchplay winner Beau Greaves in his Group B opener.
German number one Martin Schindler and Scottish star Cameron Menzies will also lock horns in Group B, while 2014 runner-up Dave Chisnall gets his Group D campaign underway.
Fifth seed Chisnall takes on Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner Connor Scutt, before Ritchie Edhouse and Ross Smith go head-to-head in a battle of the European Champions.
Masters champion Stephen Bunting and emerging Dutchman Wessel Nijman meet in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, while the other Group H tussle features a clash between young stars Josh Rock and Gian van Veen.
Reigning champion Humphries will be the star attraction on Saturday evening, with the world number one pitted against the returning Rodriguez in a repeat of June’s World Cup of Darts final.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler will make his Grand Slam debut against Irish star Keane Barry in Group F, while three-time champion Michael van Gerwen plays debutant Noa-Lynn van Leuven in Group G.
In Group E, 2022 champion Michael Smith will begin his title bid against Austrian veteran Mensur Suljovic, while World Grand Prix winner Mike De Decker takes on European Championship runner-up Jermaine Wattimena.
Elsewhere, two-time Grand Slam runner-up Gary Anderson faces a tough test against World Grand Prix semi-finalist Ryan Joyce, with a potential Group G showdown against Van Gerwen awaiting the winner.
UK Open winner Dimitri Van den Bergh makes his Wolverhampton return against PDC Asian Champion Lourence Ilagan in Group F, while three-time runner-up James Wade and debutant Mickey Mansell collide in the evening’s opener.
The group stage continues on Sunday, as Saturday’s winning players go head-to-head, with the losing players also doing battle before the final round-robin games take place across Monday and Tuesday.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, the top two players from each group will move through to the knockout stage of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts.
The last 16 will be split across Wednesday and Thursday evening, with the quarter-finals being held on Friday and Saturday.
The tournament then concludes with a bumper double-session on Sunday November 17, as the afternoon’s semi-finals are followed by the final in the evening session.
The 2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Schedule of Play
Saturday November 9
Afternoon Session (1300-1700 GMT)
Group Stage x8 – Groups B-C-D-H First Matches
Stephen Bunting v Wessel Nijman (H)
Josh Rock v Gian van Veen (H)
Dave Chisnall v Connor Scutt (D)
Danny Noppert v Beau Greaves (B)
Martin Schindler v Cameron Menzies (B)
Rob Cross v Leonard Gates (C)
Peter Wright v Martin Lukeman (C)
Ross Smith v Ritchie Edhouse (D)
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Group Stage x8 – Groups A-E-F-G First Matches
James Wade v Mickey Mansell (A)
Gary Anderson v Ryan Joyce (G)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Lourence Ilagan (F)
Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic (E)
Michael van Gerwen v Noa-Lynn van Leuven (G)
Luke Littler v Keane Barry (F)
Luke Humphries v Rowby-John Rodriguez (A)
Mike De Decker v Jermaine Wattimena (E)
Sunday November 10
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Group Stage x8 – Groups B-C-D-H Second Matches
Saturday’s winning players in each group meet, and Saturday’s losing players in each group meet.
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Group Stage x8 – Groups A-E-F-G Second Matches
Saturday’s winning players in each group meet, and Saturday’s losing players in each group meet.
Monday November 11 (1900 GMT)
Group Stage x8
Groups A-D Final Matches
Tuesday November 12 (1900 GMT)
Group Stage x8
Groups E-H Final Matches
Wednesday November 13 (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Thursday November 14 (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Friday November 15 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday November 16 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Sunday November 17
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Evening Session (1930 GMT – please note amended start time)
Final
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
