THE PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship will be held on Friday night, as 64 players bid to win places in the final at The O2 in May.
The sport's leading young talents will descend on the Barnsley Metrodome for the early rounds of the £40,000 tournament, with the field including reigning champion James Hubbard and 2011 winner Arron Monk.
Monk heads the list of qualifiers from the 2012 PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Order of Merit, with a series of International Qualifiers from as far afield as Australia, America, Canada and across Europe travelling to the UK for the event.
Hubbard won the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final against Michael van Gerwen at The O2 last May during the McCoy's Premier League Darts Play-Offs, and is the number three seed for the defence of his title.
"I'm coming into it to enjoy myself and I'll have a good bash," said Hubbard. "It's different to last year, when I was a relative unknown coming into the tournament and this year I'm the number three seed.
There's a little bit more pressure on me but at the same time you could say there's no pressure on me because I've already won it and there's only one other person in the field who's done that, Arron Monk.
"I'd love to go back to The O2. It was a special day and to play in front of 10,000 people on Premier League finals night would be an amazing achievement."
The draw will be made in Barnsley on Friday March 22 following the close of registration at 6.30pm and play will play commence at 7.30pm on the night. Competing players will be issued with a Players Brief via email containing further event information.
The PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship Last 64 will precede the first PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour weekend of the year, which will see three events held on Saturday March 23 and Sunday March 24 - click here for full PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour entry information .
Follow updates from the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship at www.pdc.tv throughout Friday evening.
2013 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship
Field of Competitors
Arron Monk (seed 1)
Michael Smith (seed 2)
James Hubbard (seed 3)
Jamie Lewis (seed 4)
Chris Aubrey (seed 5)
Keegan Brown (seed 6)
Josh Payne (seed 7)
Sam Hill (seed 8)
Shaun Griffiths
Jake Patchett
Samuel Head
Adam Hunt
Jamie Landon
Adam Smith-Neale
Ricky Evans
Reece Robinson
Matthew Dennant
Ben Songhurst
Jake Jones
Aden Kirk
Sam Hamilton
Steve Haggerty
Oliver Stell
Wouter Vaes
Paddy Meaney
Brandonn Monk
Martin Heneghan
Jack Hill
George Killington
Darren Whittingham
Kurt Parry
Lee Whitworth
John de Kruijf
Ryan De Vreede
Matthew Dicken
Brandon Walsh
Curtis Hammond
Lewis Venes
John Seagrave
Joe Davis
Curtis Bagley
Sam Davidson
Ricky De Vos
Ryan Harrington
Josh Jones
James Thompson
Michael Blake
Josh McCarthy
Shane Friedlander
Harry Miles
Liam Showell
Adam Hart
Jackson Wilson-Young (Australia)
Harley Kemp (Australia)
Dean Finn (Ireland)
Oisin Daly (Ireland)
Dirk van Duijvenbode (Holland)
Max Hopp (Germany)
Kai Gotthardt (Germany)
Dan Lauby II (USA)
Shaun Narain (Canada)
Sergio Garcia (Spain)
Teemu Harju (Finland)
Rowby John Rodriguez (Austria)
Prize Fund
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000
Semi-Finalists £3,000
Quarter-Finalists £1,500
Last 16 Losers £725
Last 32 Losers £250
Last 64 Losers £100
Total: £40,000