THE groups for the 2012 Championship League Darts have been confirmed, with the £200,000 internet-streamed tournament beginning on Tuesday September 25 with the first of nine days’ action.

Championship League Darts sees eight eight-player groups face off in a league format at Crondon Park GC in Essex, with the eight Group Winners then playing off for the £10,000 first prize and places in the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts.

The tournament is streamed exclusively online through LIVEPDC.TV and a series of bookmakers’ websites.
Each day’s play sees the players face each other once over the best of 11 legs before the top four from the final league table progress to the Play-Offs, where they contest the semi-finals and final.

The champion progresses to the Winners Group, while the bottom two players in the league table are eliminated, with the next three players from the PDC Order of Merit then coming in for the next day’s group.Prize money is paid at £50 per leg on in the league phase, with £100 per leg won in the Play-Offs, with the prize money doubled for the big-money Winners Group on Thursday November 1, where a further £20,000 is paid out to the winner, runner-up and semi-finalists.

Places in the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts are also on offer for the eventual winner and runner-up, with a total achievable prize fund in the event of over £200,000 making Championship League Darts one of the richest tournaments in the sport. The groups are based on rankings in the PDC Order of Merit as at September 17 2012, meaning that the world’s top eight players – including reigning champion Phil Taylor, 2010 winner James Wade and World Champion Adrian Lewis will contest in Group One on Tuesday September 25.

Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld has declined his invitation to compete, meaning that Kevin Painter joins Mark Webster and debutant Justin Pipe will be the three players who enter for Group Two.

Another debutant, Dave Chisnall, will come in for Group Three alongside Ronnie Baxter and Mark Walsh, with Paul Nicholson, Vincent van der Voort and Mervyn King – a former finalist – entering in Group Four.

Andy Smith, Colin Lloyd and Robert Thornton will come in for Group Five, Wayne Jones, Jamie Caven and John Part enter in Group Six and two players will make their Championship League Darts debuts in Group Seven, with Michael van Gerwen and Brendan Dolan joining 2009 champion Colin Osborne in entering.

Richie Burnett, Denis Ovens and Peter Wright will then come in for Group Eight, which will be held on Wednesday October 31 to precede the Winners Group on November 1.