Preview
The inaugural Viaplay Nordic Darts Masters begins on Friday in Copenhagen as Fallon Sherrock ends her year-long absence from the PDC televised stage against Niels Heinsoe.
The first World Series of Darts event of 2021 will see 16 players competing to become the first Nordic Darts Masters champion from September 17-18 at Forum Copenhagen in front of a packed Danish crowd.
Eight PDC stars will take on eight Nordic & Baltic representatives in the first round, which will take place on Friday evening in the first of three sessions.
History-maker Sherrock will take on Danish World Cup representative Heinsoe, a year to the day since her last televised PDC stage appearance against Jeff Smith at the 2020 World Series of Darts Finals.
Following her Alexandra Palace exploits in December 2019 as she became the first woman to win in the PDC World Championship - creating global headlines by defeating Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic - Sherrock was initially chosen to take part in all 2020 World Series of Darts events.
The Covid-19 pandemic put paid to Sherrock's dreams of competing in the World Series' global events last year, but the 27-year-old is now keen to make up for lost time in the rescheduled Nordic Darts Masters.
"It's been a while since I was on stage but I'm excited," said Sherrock. "I've been looking forward to playing in World Series events since last year and it's great to be back playing on stage.
"To play in front of a crowd again will be brilliant. I want to play well and hopefully I can win my first round game and take it from there game by game."
Sherrock or Heinsoe will be rewarded with a tie against either world number one Gerwyn Price or Swedish World Cup representative Daniel Larsson in the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon.
Newly-crowned World Cup of Darts champion Peter Wright will face experienced Finn Marko Kantele in his opening assignment.
The world number two, who has three World Series event wins to his name, is keen to stay in the habit of lifting TV titles heading into a busy end to the year.
"I'm feeling great after the World Cup and it's my aim to be the first Nordic Darts Masters champion," said Wright.
"We've played in Denmark a couple of times on the European Tour and the crowds were brilliant - I loved it and I'm sure it will be great this weekend.
"It's a region which has really grown in recent years and they've got some fantastic players there now too."
Wright or Kantele will play either 2021 Premier League champion Jonny Clayton, making his World Series event debut, or Denmark's Ivan Springborg Poulsen.
Dimitri Van den Bergh - the German Darts Masters runner-up in 2018 on the World Series circuit - will star in the opening game of the tournament against Sweden's World Cup representative Johan Engström.
The winner of that tie will face either six-time World Series event winner Gary Anderson or Danish World Cup representative Andreas Toft Jorgensen.
World number three Michael van Gerwen will be in first round action against Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas, a former World Championship quarter-finalist.
Awaiting Van Gerwen or Labanauskas in round two will be either former US Darts Masters champion Nathan Aspinall or world number 52 Madars Razma of Lativa.