THE world's best darts players will converge on the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut this weekend to challenge for the first ever PDC US Open title.

The £126,000 tournament sees the PDC's stars crossing the Atlantic to take on the best North America has to offer, with coverage live in the UK on Challenge TV.

See foot of page for live TV games

Led by the world's top two - Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld - a total of 70 players from the PDC rankings join 166 hopefuls from America and Canada.

The final 16 North Americans will come from a Friday Night Madness event, with players competing for three hours to throw their best leg of 501, with the top 16 then winning places in the main tournament.

"This is a very exciting new event," said Phil Taylor, who won the "World Series of Darts" event staged at Mohegan Sun 12 months ago.

"American players like John Kuczynski and Ray Carver have proved themselves on the circuit for the past two years and it's a big chance for them to show their talents in front of a home crowd.

"We know how good it is and there are quality players throughout the tournament. It's going to be a good weekend."

Ladbrokes.com World Darts Champion Raymond van Barneveld is looking to bounce back to winning ways, having lost at the quarter-final stage on the defence of his Topic International Darts League title last week.

"The IDL was disappointing but I've had a week to rest and recover now and I'm looking forward to this," said the Dutchman.

"I didn't play in the World Series last year and I lost in the final in Las Vegas Desert Classic, so this is a chance for me to do one better."

Taylor's bid begins against local player Neil McLaughlin, from New York state, while van Barneveld awaits for one of the Friday Night Madness Qualifiers.

Number three seed Colin Lloyd takes on experienced American Jim Widmayer, while Ray Carver meets another leading US player, Brad Wethington.

Larry Butler, the winner of the inaugural World Matchplay back in 1994, returns to competitive action and could face Canadian double World Champion John Part in the early rounds.

Paul Lim, the only player to hit a nine-dart finish during a World Championship, is another famous name in action, awaiting Blackpool's Wes Newton or Massachusetts-based Michael Parks in round two.

Coverage in the UK is screened live from 7.30pm-12.30am on both Saturday and Sunday night, with the start of the tournament also live in the US on the Versus network.

Saturday's coverage will feature selected games from each round, with the last eight then playing off in front of the cameras on Sunday.

Saturday night also sees the World Darts Challenge between a team of Taylor and Carver against van Barneveld and Kuczynski, being screened from 11pm-1am on Fox Sports' "Best Damn Sports Show".

Tickets are still remaining for both Saturday and Sunday - click here for more details.

Click here to see the PDC US Open Draw

The first games to be screened live on Challenge TV on Saturday will be:
Ray Carver v Brad Wethington
Phil Taylor v Neil McLaughlin
Colin Lloyd v Jim Widmayer
Paul Lim v Wes Newton/Michael Parks
Other matches will follow on the main stage as the event progresses

Scores will be updated as they happen here at PlanetDarts.tv

PRIZE FUND BREAKDOWN

Winner	£12,500
Runner-Up	£7,500
3-4th	£5,000
5-8th	£4,000
9-16th	£3,000
17-32nd	£1,500
33-64th	£1,000
Total	£126,000