WHILST many darts stars in the UK are gearing up for the Ladbrokes World Championship's opening night on Friday, leading Soft-Tip players are getting ready for the Grand Final of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD in Hong Kong on December 14 & 15.
Following the eight stages of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD Soft Darts World Championship throughout 2013, the leading 100 players from the rankings will converge on the Kitec Centre in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong this weekend.
Play will initially see the players ranked 49-100 competing on Saturday in a bid to claim one of 16 places in Sunday's Grand Final, where the 64 players will play down to a winner, who receives $1 million HK (approx £80,000).
Players are ranked based on points gained by playing in at least three of the eight stages of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD, with 18 countries represented in the Grand Final, including reigning champion Takehiro Suzuki from Japan.
Philippines duo Lourence Ilagan (pictured) and Ronald Briones and England's Stephen Bunting both won two stages during the year to be ranked inside the top ten alongside the other two stage winners, Philippines' Christian Perez and American Scott Kirchner.
Singapore's Paul Lim is the top-ranked player, with Hong Kong's Royden Lam, Croatia's Boris Krcmar and Japanese pair Takehiro Suzuki and Yuji Eguchi also in the top ten.
The Grand Final will be streamed online through the DARTSLIVE website at darts-theworld.com/en/gf/, and will also be available through Ustream.
DARTSLIVE have also announced a partnership with social gaming company Bodugi Technology to offer betting markets for the Grand Final, both for outright winner and on individual matches, through www.bodugi.com/THEWORLD.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD Grand Final Rankings
1 Paul Lim (Singapore)
2 Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
3 Royden Lam (Hong Kong)
4 Boris Krcmar (Croatia)
5 Takehiro Suzuki (Japan)
6 Scott Kirchner (USA)
7 Ronald Briones (Philippines)
8 Yuji Eguchi (Japan)
9 Christian Perez (Philippines)
10 Stephen Bunting (UK)
11 Benjamin Dersch (USA)
12 Morihiro Hashimoto (Japan)
13 Tony Martin (UK)
14 Mitsumasa Hoshino (Japan)
15 Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
16 Alain Abiabi (Philippines)
17 Kei Usami (Japan)
18 Raymond Carver (USA)
19 R Van Deursen (USA)
20 Robert Modra (Australia)
21 Adrian Gray (UK)
22 Eduardo Santos (Philippines)
23 Atsushi Matsumoto (Japan)
24 Hirokazu Osaki (Japan)
25 Kenichi Ajiki (Japan)
26 Celso Parfan (Philippines)
27 Chris White (Canada)
28 Shingo Enomata (Japan)
29 Harith Lim (Singapore)
30 Sho Katsumi (Japan)
31 Ryan Condat (Philippines)
32 Cheung Pui Hong (Hong Kong)
33 Yuta Miyamoto (Japan)
34 Joseph Domanais (Philippines)
35 Richard Espinoza (USA)
36 Ken Touzawa (Japan)
37 Prince Shek (Hong Kong)
38 Ryan Ocampo (Philippines)
39 Liu Yuan Jun (China)
40 Tomoya Tsumura (Japan)
41 Filipe Chan (Macau)
42 Deng Yin (China)
43 Darryl Fitton (UK)
44 Jose Justicia (Spain)
45 Bryan Eribal (Philippines)
46 Larry Butler (USA)
47 Haze Leung (Hong Kong)
48 Cyril Blot (France)
49 Brunno Parungao (Philippines)
50 Alvin Mallillin (Philippines)
51 T Kawamura (Japan)
52 Watanyu (Thailand)
53 DJ Sayre (USA)
54 Hiroki Akiyama (Japan)
55 Tsai Tzu Hao (Taiwan)
56 Huang Shih Hua (Taiwan)
57 Franck Guillermont (France)
58 Gilbert Ulang (Philippines)
59 Benoit Le Thomas (France)
60 John Fong (Hong Kong)
61 Hiroaki Shimizu (Japan)
62 Kazuki Hagane (Japan)
63 Thanawat (Thailand)
64 George Chan (Hong Kong)
65 Ramon Sablboro (Philippines)
66 Scott Mackenzie (Hong Kong)
67 Juanito Gionson (Philippines)
68 Tommy Pong (Hong Kong)
69 Wilfred (Philippines)
70 Yu Nakata (Japan)
71 Shinya Kohno (Japan)
72 Ivan Ho (Hong Kong)
73 Liao Yeng Chou (Taiwan)
74 A G Amin (Malaysia)
75 David Fatum (Canada)
76 Norhisame (Malaysia)
77 Alex Kong (Macau)
78 Wilson Tang (Hong Kong)
79 Park Hyun Chul (Korea)
80 Mamo Otani (Japan)
81 Gregor Gorjup (Slovenia)
82 Fev Wong (Hong Kong)
83 Han Woong Hee (Korea)
84 Y Matsumoto (Japan)
85 Yohei Kariya (Japan)
86 Robert Morris (Canada)
87 River Ang (Malaysia)
88 Ivan Shen (Taiwan)
89 Masa Lui (Hong Kong).
90 Ben Wong (Hong Kong)
91 Kevin Mok (Hong Kong)
92 Michael So (Hong Kong)
93 Donny Joe (USA)
94 Shen Wei kai (Taiwan)
95 Michael Felix (Philippines)
96 Paul Fong (Hong Kong)
97 Ally Salazar (Philippines)
98 Kang Byung Koo (Korea)
99 Chan Wah (Hong Kong)
100 Francis Rabuck (USA)
Prize Fund Breakdown (approx £UK totals)
Winner £80,000
Runner-Up £25,000
Semi-Finalists £8,500
Quarter-Finalists £4,250
Last 16 Losers £2,000
Last 32 Losers £1,000
33-48th Place £700
49-64th Place £500