Announcements

ST HELENS darts stars Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith feature in what is going to be an emotional farewell for Raymond van Barneveld.

'Barney' will say an emotional farewell to his army of Dutch fans in his last ever televised PDC event in the Netherlands at the 2019 Jack's Casino World Series of Darts Finals.

The World Series of Darts Finals begin tonight at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam, with five-time World Champion Van Barneveld entering as one of eight seeded players following his run to the final of the NZ Darts Masters in August.

The 24-player event in Amsterdam sees a culmination of the year's five World Series events, with the 16 non-seeded players battling it out for the right to face the seeds on Saturday evening. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place on Sunday across two sessions.

Chisnall and Smith are both in action tonight.

Smith faces Gerwyn Price again, having been knocked out by the Welshman in the semi-finals of the Unibet European Championship in Germany last weekend.

World Grand Prix runner-up Chisnall meets Simon Whitlock in another highly-anticipated round one clash.

The tournament will be broadcast live on ITV4.

Van Barneveld, who faces a second round assignment against either fellow-Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena or Germany's Gabriel Clemens, is determined to put on a show one final time for his adoring 'Barney Army'.

"This event will be a magnificent chance for me to say thank you to my Dutch fans who have supported me on this journey through the years," said Van Barneveld.

"But not only that, I am here to do my best to win matches and try to make this tournament even more memorable for everyone and myself.

"The last few years have been painful for me as I have been unable to be the winner I am but now I have a chance to do it one more time.

"The standard we see now is ridiculous so for me to do well in this tournament will of course be very difficult but I am up for the challenge and hopefully the old Barney comes out."

Elsewhere, James Wade will be looking to defend the title he won in Vienna at last year's World Series Finals and he will face Jonny Clayton or Wayne Jones.

World number one Michael van Gerwen, who won the first three stagings of the even from 2015-2017, will play the winner of the mouth-watering first round game between Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price.

After suffering a shock first round defeat at the hands of Ross Smith at the European Championship last week, Van Gerwen wants to put that right in front of his home fans.

"Of course it always hurts to lose, but credit to Ross Smith he played a great game to beat me," said Van Gerwen.

"But the tournaments are coming thick and fast this time of year which is a nice thing because I have the chance to win the next one.

"This weekend will be a lot about Raymond's last PDC event in the Netherlands but I have a job to do also and I hope to lift that title in front of a phenomenal crowd in Amsterdam."

Jack's Casino World Series of Darts Finals

Draw Bracket

(1) Michael van Gerwen v Smith/Price

(8) James Wade v Jones/Clayton

(5) Damon Heta v K Anderson/Suljovic

(4) Daryl Gurney v Ratajski/Aspinall

(2) Peter Wright v Evans/White

(7) Gary Anderson v Noppert/De Zwaan

(6) Raymond van Barneveld v Wattimena/Clemens

(3) Rob Cross v Chisnall/Whitlock

Schedule of Play

Friday November 1 (1945 local time, 1845 GMT)

First Round x8

Wayne Jones v Jonny Clayton

Ricky Evans v Ian White

Kyle Anderson v Mensur Suljovic

Krzysztof Ratajski v Nathan Aspinall

Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price

Dave Chisnall v Simon Whitlock

Danny Noppert v Jeffrey de Zwaan

Jermaine Wattimena v Gabriel Clemens

Saturday November 2 (2000 local time, 1900 GMT)

Second Round x8

James Wade v Jones/Clayton

Damon Heta v K Anderson/Suljovic

Daryl Gurney v Ratajski/Aspinall

Michael van Gerwen v Smith/Price

Peter Wright v Evans/White

Gary Anderson v Noppert/De Zwaan

Raymond van Barneveld v Wattimena/Clemens

Rob Cross v Chisnall/Whitlock

Sunday November 3

Afternoon Session (1345 local time, 1245 GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (2000 local time, 1900 GMT)

Semi-Finals & Final

Format

First Round - Best of 11 legs

Second Round - Best of 11 legs

Quarter-Finals - Best of 19 legs

Semi-Finals - Best of 21 legs

Final - Best of 21 legs

Prize Fund

Winner £70,000

Runner-Up £30,000

Semi-Finalists £20,000

Quarter-Finalists £10,000

Second Round £7,500

First Round £5,000

Total £300,000