Davis to make Cazoo Grand Slam debut despite injury

Joe Davis

Joe Davis will make his Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts debut on Saturday, but has revealed he almost had to withdraw from the event due to injury.

Davis has been suffering from 'tennis elbow', meaning he has been unable to throw a dart for the last five weeks.

Since finishing runner-up in the 2020 World Youth Championship, the Brighton-based 24-year-old has suffered a frustrating 2021 campaign thus far.

"I was really close to pulling out, even as recently as Wednesday," Davis revealed.

"So just getting on the stage will be an achievement for me, hopefully I will be pain free and able to throw.

"For the last five weeks I haven't really been able to play, but I'm just hoping that come Saturday with some medication and exercises my elbow should hold up.

"It's going to be hard playing three games in four days having not thrown a dart in so long, but all I can do is give it my best and see how it goes.

"It has been a frustrating month, I've had to pull out of numerous events that I wanted to play to give me the best preparation for the Grand Slam.

"But, these things happen and I'm just fortunate that it is getting better and it will all be sorted in the near future."

Davis has been drawn into Group H, which features 2012 Grand Slam champion Raymond van Barneveld, two-time runner-up Gary Anderson and world number ten Michael Smith, his first opponent on Saturday night.

"I'm looking forward to it, I've never played any of those three so I think it will be good fun," said Davis.

"It will be an experience for me to play these great players. My aim is to win a Tour Card in the next couple of years, so I'm going to take this experience into Q School in January."

Tickets for the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

Coverage of the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's international broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

2021 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts
Schedule of Play
Saturday November 13
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)

8x Group Matches
Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce (D)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Martin Schindler (A)
Mervyn King v Bradley Brooks (B)
James Wade v Jim Williams (C)
Rob Cross v Boris Krcmar (C)
Jonny Clayton v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (B)
Gerwyn Price v Nathan Rafferty (A)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Rowby-John Rodriguez (D)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
8x Group Matches
Gabriel Clemens v Mike De Decker (E)
Jose de Sousa v Matt Campbell (F)
Luke Humphries v Mensur Suljovic (F)
Gary Anderson v Joe Davis (H)
Michael van Gerwen v Lisa Ashton (G)
Joe Cullen v John Henderson (G)
Peter Wright v Fallon Sherrock (E)
Michael Smith v Raymond van Barneveld (H)

Sunday November 14
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)

8x Group Matches
Groups A-D Second Matches

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
8x Group Matches
Groups E-H Second Matches

Monday November 15 (1900 GMT)
8x Group Matches
Groups A-D Final Matches

Tuesday November 16 (1900 GMT)
8x Group Matches
Groups E-H Final Matches

Wednesday November 17 (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round

Thursday November 18 (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round

Friday November 19 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals

Saturday November 20 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals

Sunday November 21
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)

Semi-Finals

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Final