SIMON WHITLOCK has withdrawn from the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts following an operation on a broken bone in his ankle. The Australian was injured when he slipped last weekend during the Spanish Darts Trophy Players Championships in Benidorm.

Having initially withdrawn from Sunday’s event in Spain, further tests revealed a broken bone in the joint which required minor surgery.

Whitlock, a two-time Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist, has now pulled out of the nine-day tournament in Wolverhampton, which begins on Saturday November 12.

“I’m extremely disappointed to be missing Wolverhampton, but will be watching with the fans,” said Whitlock, the 2010 World Championship runner-up.

Stoke’s Ian White, who won the third-place play-off in Friday’s Wildcard Qualifier to be the first reserve, will now be invited to compete in the Grand Slam of Darts.

The draw for the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts will be made on Monday evening after 6pm on BRMB Gold’s Sports Bar show, and published at www.pdc.tv.

The William Hill Grand Slam of Darts will be played from November 12-20, with tickets still available from the Wolves Civic Box Office or on 0870 320 7000.

The eight groups for the first round of the tournament will be drawn after 6pm live on BRMB Gold’s Sports Bar show, hosted by Tom Ross alongside former Aston Villa footballer Ian Taylor – with special darts guests lined up both in the studio and on the phone for the draw.

Darts fans can listen live at 1152AM, on DAB or online via www.brmb.co.uk (exact link to follow).

The 32 competing players in the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts will be drawn into eight groups of four players for the round-robin first round in Wolverhampton.

Eight players, led by reigning champion Scott Waites and three-time winner Phil Taylor, are seeded, with the remaining 24 players placed into three eight-man pools for the draw.

Seeded Players
Scott Waites (1)
Phil Taylor (2)
Adrian Lewis (3)
James Wade (4)
Gary Anderson (5)
Mark Webster (6)
Wes Newton (7)
Raymond van Barneveld (8)

Pool B
Paul Nicholson
Terry Jenkins
Mervyn King
Mark Walsh
Wayne Jones
Vincent van der Voort
Dean Winstanley
Jan Dekker

Pool C
Co Stompe
Brendan Dolan
John Part
Justin Pipe
Steve Beaton
Barrie Bates
Tony O’Shea
Ted Hankey

Pool D
Michael van Gerwen
Dave Chisnall
Nigel Heydon
Ian White
Magnus Caris
Arron Monk
Martin Phillips
James Hubbard

DRAW GROUPS – one player from Pools B, C and D to be drawn into each Group.

Group A Scott Waites (1)

Group B Raymond van Barneveld (8)

Group C Gary Anderson (5)

Group D James Wade (4)

Group E Phil Taylor (2)

Group F Wes Newton (7)

Group G Mark Webster (6)

Group H Adrian Lewis (3)

The schedule of play will be announced on Tuesday, however 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.