Scott Waites Begins His Defence

Scott Waites will begin the defence of his William Hill Grand Slam of Darts title against Michael van Gerwen at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday night - live on Sky Sports HD1 from 8pm.

Waites enjoyed the greatest night of his career last November when he came from 8-0 down to defeat James Wade 16-12 in the final.
As number one seed, Waites heads Group A and was drawn alongside debutant Mark Walsh, Tony O'Shea and Dutch ace Michael van Gerwen for the round-robin group stage of the event.
Group B sees number eight seed Raymond van Barneveld drawn with Lakeside Championship finalist Dean Winstanley, two-time World Champion Ted Hankey and Ian White - who got the call for the event on Monday after Simon Whitlock had to withdraw through injury.
Gary Anderson heads Group C alongside Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones - who reached last year's semi-finals, World Grand Prix finalist Brendan Dolan and Wildcard Qualifier Nigel Heydon.

Wildcard

Last year's runner-up Wade, seeded number four, was drawn alongside Terry Jenkins, Justin Pipe and Dave Chisnall in Group D, with the first four groups playing their opening matches on Saturday night.
Number two seed Phil Taylor will enter the fray on Sunday afternoon when Groups E-H play their opening best-of-nine leg contests.
Taylor was drawn in a tasty Group E alongside Mervyn King, Steve Beaton - who ended his reign as champion with a 16-14 quarter-final win last year - and PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship finalist James Hubbard, the 19-year-old who will make his televised debut on Sunday against the 'The Power'.
Group F sees number seven seed Wes Newton joined by 2010 Players Championship Finals winner Paul Nicholson, Welshman Barrie Bates and Sweden's Wildcard Qualifier Magnus Caris.
Former World Champions Mark Webster and John Part are drawn with Holland's Jan Dekker and Under-21 World Champion Arron Monk in Group G, while current PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis meets Dutch pair Vincent van der Voort and Co Stompe and Wales' Martin Phillips in Group H.
The players in Groups A-D will play on Saturday night, Sunday night and Tuesday night, with the players in Groups E-H playing on Sunday afternoon, Monday night and Wednesday night.
The players listed first and fourth in each group will meet in the opening matches, and the players named second and third will also clash.