FORMER European Tour event winners Kim Huybrechts and Steve Beaton will clash in the stand-out tie of Friday's first round at the European Darts Trophy.
The Lokhalle in Göttingen, Germany will host the year's 13th and final European Tour event, as 48 players compete over the weekend for the £25,000 top prize.
Friday's first round, featuring the 32 qualifiers, will be headlined by the tie between Huybrechts and Beaton, who have both previously tasted success on the European Tour.
Former Austrian Darts Open winner Vincent van der Voort plays Simon Stevenson, while Dutch Darts Championship finalist Ricky Evans is also in first round action as he plays Andrew Gilding.
Danny Noppert, a recent Players Championship winner, will take on Spain's Toni Alcinas, while Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski plays Steve West in another tasty tie.
Former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown will play 2017 Development Tour Order of Merit winner Luke Humphries, while former European Tour finalist John Henderson and 2018 Players Championship winner Mickey Mansell are also in action on Friday.
Dutch duo Jelle Klaasen - who became a father for the second time this week - and Jeffrey de Zwaan are joined by Marko Kantele, Brendan Dolan, Luke Woodhouse and Richard North in awaiting their opponents from Thursday's Host Nation Qualifier.
With Mensur Suljovic and Adrian Lewis withdrawing from the event for personal reasons, Mervyn King and Stephen Bunting step up to become seeds, with a further two Host Nation Qualifier places on offer.
The 16 seeded players enter the action in Saturday's second round, with world number one Michael van Gerwen chasing his eighth European Tour title of 2018 a week after claiming victory in the Unibet World Grand Prix.
Fellow 2018 European Tour event winners Max Hopp, Jonny Clayton, Ian White and Gerwyn Price are also seeded, alongside World Champion Rob Cross and world number two Peter Wright.
James Wade, who joined Klaasen in celebrating the birth of a baby boy this week as he became a father for the first time, is also set to line up in Göttingen.
The European Darts Trophy is the final tournament before the qualification cut-off for the Unibet European Championship, with eight places in the 32-player field still on offer going into this weekend's event.
The European Darts Trophy will be streamed worldwide for PDCTV-HD Subscribers and available through a series of bookmakers' websites worldwide.
2018 European Darts Trophy (ET13)
Draw Bracket
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Simon Stevenson/Vincent van der Voort
Stephen Bunting (16) v Mickey Mansell/George Killington
Joe Cullen (8) v Matthew Edgar/Jeffrey de Graaf
Daryl Gurney (9) v Luke Humphries/Keegan Brown
Michael Smith (5) v Marko Kantele/Robert Marijanovic
Gerwyn Price (12) v Kim Huybrechts/Steve Beaton
Ian White (4) v Mark Wilson/John Henderson
Dave Chisnall (13) v Ryan Joyce/Jermaine Wattimena
Peter Wright (2) v Maik Langendorf/Jelle Klaasen
Mervyn King (15) v Luke Woodhouse/Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton (7) v Gabriel Clemens/Brendan Dolan
Simon Whitlock (10) v Richard North/Christian Bunse
James Wade (6) v Danny Noppert/Toni Alcinas
Darren Webster (11) v Ricky Evans/Andrew Gilding
Rob Cross (3) v Jeffrey de Zwaan/Steffen Siepmann
Max Hopp (14) v Krzysztof Ratajski/Steve West
Schedule of Play
Friday October 12
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Luke Humphries v Keegan Brown
Matthew Edgar v Jeffrey de Graaf
Mickey Mansell v George Killington
Mark Wilson v John Henderson
Gabriel Clemens v Brendan Dolan
Marko Kantele v Robert Marijanovic
Ryan Joyce v Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski v Steve West
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Richard North v Christian Bunse
Ricky Evans v Andrew Gilding
Luke Woodhouse v Martin Schindler
Simon Stevenson v Vincent van der Voort
Maik Langendorf v Jelle Klaasen
Kim Huybrechts v Steve Beaton
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Steffen Siepmann
Danny Noppert v Toni Alcinas
Saturday October 13
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Joe Cullen v Edgar/De Graaf
Michael Smith v Kantele/Marijanovic
Dave Chisnall v Joyce/Wattimena
Stephen Bunting v Mansell/Killington
Daryl Gurney v Humphries/Brown
Simon Whitlock v North/Bunse
Ian White v Wilson/Henderson
Jonny Clayton v Clemens/Dolan
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Mervyn King v Woodhouse/Schindler
Gerwyn Price v Huybrechts/Beaton
Darren Webster v Evans/Gilding
Michael van Gerwen v Stevenson/Van der Voort
Peter Wright v Langendorf/Klaasen
James Wade v Noppert/Alcinas
Max Hopp v Ratajski/West
Rob Cross v De Zwaan/Siepmann
Sunday October 14
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (7.15pm local time, 6.15pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Sunday’s games played in Draw Bracket order
Watch Online
PDC European Tour events can be watched online by all PDCTV-HD Subscribers worldwide - click here to visit PDCTV-HD.
Live coverage with faster streams may also be available at the following bookmakers' websites:
bet365 - www.bet365.com - Worldwide
Bet90 - www.bet90.com - Brazil, Germany
Betfair - www.betfair.com - Brazil, Denmark, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales
Betfred - www.betfred.com - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
bwin - www.bwin.com - Worldwide
FDJ - www.fdj-gaming-solutions.com - France
Fonbet - www.fonbet.com - Armenia, Belarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Russian federation, Ukraine
Fortuna - www.fortunagroup.eu - Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
Legolasbet - www.legolas.bet - Sweden
Ligastavok - www.ligastavok.ru/ - Russia
Marathonbet - www.betmarathon.com - Belarus, Russian Federation, Spain, Ukraine
Nike - www.nike.sk - Slovakia
Olimp - www.betolimp.com - Kazakhstan, Russian Federation
Paddy Power - www.paddypower.com/ - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Stoiximan - www.stoiximan.gr - Cyprus, Greece, Romania
Supabets - www.supabets.com.gh - Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa
Superbet - www.superbet.ro/ - Romania, Poland
Tempobet - www.tempobet.org - Europe
Totogaming - www.totogaming.am/en/ - Armenia
Tipsport - www.tipsport.cz - Czech Republic & Slovakia
Unibet - www.unibet.com - Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom
William Hill - www.williamhill.com - Great Britain, Ireland, Spain
Winlinebet - www.winlinebet.ru - Russia
World Sports Betting - www.worldsportsbetting.co.za - Namibia, South Africa