• Grand Slam of Darts

Barneveld drawn with O'Shea for Grand Slam

Raymond van Barneveld won the 2012 Grand Slam to end a run of five years without a major victory © PA Photos

Enlarge

Raymond van Barneveld will begin the defence of his Grand Slam of Darts title with group games against Mervyn King, Tony O'Shea and Ricky Evans after the draw was confirmed by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) on Monday.

Van Barneveld, who is seeded second for the tournament, ended a run of over five years without a major tournament victory when he defeated Michael van Gerwen 16-14 in last year's final at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall.

World No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Phil Taylor has been drawn in Group A with Kevin Painter, Paul Nicholson and Stuart Kellet.

Elsewhere, Group B will see James Wade, Gary Anderson, Wesley Harms and Peter Wright fight it out for the two top spots to qualify for the last 16.

In Group C, two-time world champion Adrian Lewis will face Christian Kist, Ronny Huybrechts and Ritchie George - who is also the son of Bobby George.

Van Gerwen will endure tough challenges from Kim Huybrechts, PDC newcomer Dean Winstanley and fellow Dutchman Vincent van der Voort in Group D.

Premier League stars Andy Hamilton and Robert Thornton will face each other in Group F, alongside Mark Walsh and Justin Pipe.

Group G contains Simon Whitlock, Wes Newton, Mark Webster and Ross Smith while Group H sees BDO world champion and 2010 champion Scott Waites battle it out with high-flying Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Ted Hankey.

The seventh staging of the Grand Slam takes place on November 9-17 at the Civic Hall. It is the only major tournament to feature a mixture of players from the PDC, British Darts Organisation (BDO) and World Darts Federation (WDF).

Download ESPN's new UK sport app, a fresh and powerful new way to follow your favourite UK sports news, scores and video.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd