Last year’s winner Mensur Suljovic
The next big PDC event on the sporting calendar is the Champions League of Darts which is set to be broadcast on the BBC on September 22 and 23. While we await betting prices — and indeed any action whatsoever this week — we give you a sneak peak as organisers have made the draw for the tournament that will be played in Brighton one month from now.
After the first two editions of the Champions League were staged in Cardiff the tournament has now relocated to the Brighton Centre to replace Brighton’s hosting of a Premier League night. Locals will now have the pleasure of seeing the PDC’s leading eight players all competing in a live televised event.
At the draw, the chairman of the PDC, Barry Hearn, talked of his pride in bringing the tourney to the South Coast and how popular the event has now become.
“The Champions League of Darts has become a hugely popular event since being introduced to the circuit two years ago. The concept of the world’s top eight players facing off over one weekend is one which works perfectly for BBC Sport, and we feel that The Brighton Centre is an ideal venue to host the Champions League of Darts. With the Premier League’s growth seeing Brighton replaced on that circuit, we remained committed to taking a televised PDC event to the south coast and we’re delighted for this to be this year’s Champions League of Darts.”
A look at the draw
The draw itself threw up some great opening ties. World number one Michael van Gerwen was naturally seeded in Group A and is joined there by recent World Matchplay winner Gary Anderson, 2017 World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney plus Dave Chisnall.
UK Open champion Peter Wright finds himself in Group B with world champion Rob Cross, reigning Champions League winner Mensur Suljovic and former European Championship winner Simon Whitlock.
This means that in the opening match of the 2018 event Mensur Suljovic will face-off against world champion Rob Cross, who will be making his Champions League debut. This match will lead into Peter Wright going head to head against Simon Whitlock, followed by a Gary Anderson and Daryl Gurney battle and lastly, Michael van Gerwen versus Dave Chisnall.
The round-robin phase continues in the second session on Saturday evening before play carries over into Sunday afternoon, where the top two players from each group will compete for the title in the semi-finals and final.
Champions League of Darts draw and schedule
Group A
- Michael van Gerwen
- Gary Anderson
- Daryl Gurney
- Dave Chisnall
Group B
- Peter Wright
- Rob Cross
- Mensur Suljovic
- Simon Whitlock
Saturday, 22 September (13:15 BST)
- Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic (B)
- Peter Wright v Simon Whitlock (B)
- Gary Anderson v Daryl Gurney (A)
- Michael van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall (A)
Saturday, 22 September (18:30 BST)
There will be four matches consisting of the winners of the first group plus the two losers from both groups.
Sunday, 23 September (13:00 BST)
There will be four matches consisting of the remaining group matches, deciding on the top two qualifiers from each group.
Sunday, 23 September (18:30 BST)
Two semi-finals plus the final.