THE 2018 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals begins on Friday, with Michael van Gerwen bidding for a fifth title in six years - live on ITV4.
The event will take place from November 23-25 at the Butlin's Minehead Resort in Somerset, featuring the leading 64 stars from the 2018 Players Championship Order of Merit following this year's 22 one-day ProTour events.
The tournament offers a 460,000 pound prize fund, including 100,000 pound to the winner, with Van Gerwen beginning the defence of his title against Matthew Edgar.
"I want to play really well in this tournament like I always do and I am coming to win, nothing less," said Van Gerwen, who has won the Players Championship Finals for the last three years in succession.
"I didn't play well in my last match but there is nothing I can do about that now. I never let the last tournament affect this one whether I won or lost.
"It's the last big TV tournament before the Worlds so it would be nice to play really well and put a bit more fear in my opponents and I will make sure I do everything right to give myself the best chance."
Top seed Ian White will face Scott Taylor in the first round, while newly-crowned Grand Slam of Darts Champion Gerwyn Price meets Krzysztof Ratajski.
Number two seed Gary Anderson will take on Alan Tabern, fourth seed Peter Wright will play Spain's Toni Alcinas and World Champion Rob Cross will face Alcinas' World Cup partner and Spanish number one Cristo Reyes.
A clash between Daryl Gurney and Robert Thornton will see two former World Grand Prix champions collide, Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson will meet in an all-Australian tie, while Dutch pair Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jelle Klaasen will face off.
World number seven Mensur Suljovic has withdrawn from the event, and has been replaced by the next non-qualified player from the Players Championship Order of Merit, Benito van de Pas.
Play will be split across two stages on the opening two days, before Finals Day on the Main Stage, while the weekend will also feature the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final on Sunday evening between Dimitri Van den Bergh and Martin Schindler.
Televised coverage of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will focus on the Main Stage, while play on Friday and Saturday on Stage Two will be available on PDCTV-HD for all subscribers worldwide.