Michael van Gerwen has been drawn against fellow Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan in the first round of the BetVictor World Matchplay, which will take place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool between July 21-29, and it will see 32 competitors line up for one of the highlights in the darting calendar.
van Gerwen, a winner in 2015 and 2016, will be a red-hot favourite to lift the trophy for a third time at the end of the month, but in de Zwaan he will face a player that is starting to gain consistency in top-level events, and will provide 'Mighty' Mike with a tough opening duel, but van Gerwen will fancy his chances of kicking off with a win before getting stuck into the latter stages of the tournament.
Second seed, and last year's runner-up, Peter Wright has been handed a tough draw against Jelle Klaasen, with current world champion and number three seed Rob Cross being handed a tie against veteran Mervyn King, as 'Voltage' tries to cement his place as one of the elite players and build on his world championship win at the start of the year.
James Wade (10) is the only other former winner lining up in a tournament dominated by Phil Taylor down the years, and 'The Machine' will face Jermaine Wattimena, while other eye-catching clashes include Gary Anderson v Stephen Bunting and Raymond van Barneveld v Kyle Anderson in what should be a fabulous week of top quality action, and will provide a real week of entertaining action on and off the oche.
Here's the confirmed draw for the 2018 @BetVictor World Matchplay, taking place at the @WGBpl from July 21-29.
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