Grand Slam of Darts: Fallon Sherrock to face Michael van Gerwen on opening day

Michael Smith will begin his defence of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts against debutant Nathan Girvan.

The group stage of the 32-player event will see 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, D, F and H, with Groups A, C, E and G taking centre stage on Saturday evening.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price will headline Saturday afternoon's action, as the Welshman opens his Group D campaign against Northern Ireland's Nathan Rafferty.

World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall - a runner-up to Smith last year - will also kick off his challenge against Women's World Matchplay champion Beau Greaves in a fascinating Group H tie.

Wales' World Cup star Jonny Clayton will play the returning Berry van Peer, Dutch number two Danny Noppert meets Japan's Haruki Muramatsu, while Masters champion Chris Dobey faces World Youth Champion Josh Rock.

Elsewhere, UK Open champion Andrew Gilding takes on Brendan Dolan, Ryan Searle goes up against European Championship semi-finalist Gian van Veen, while Damon Heta and Ricardo Pietreczko collide in the tournament's curtain-raiser.

Saturday's evening session will feature a clash between reigning champion Smith and Scottish youngster Girvan, as three-time champion Van Gerwen plays 2021 quarter-finalist Sherrock in a blockbuster tussle.

Three-time runner-up Peter Wright has been pitted against American newcomer Stowe Buntz in his opening group game, while World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries opens his title bid against Steve Lennon.

Dutch star Dirk van Duijvenbode and two-time finalist Gary Anderson will collide in another stellar showdown, as 2014 runner-up Dave Chisnall meets a resurgent Stephen Bunting in a tasty tie.

Martijn Kleermaker will make his Wolverhampton debut against 2018 World Champion Rob Cross, while three-time finalist James Wade kicks off the evening's action against Poland's number one Krzysztof Ratajski.

The group stage continues on Sunday, with Saturday's winning players facing off and the losing players also meeting each other, 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 19, as the afternoon's semi-finals are followed by the final in the evening session.

The 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).