BARNEY DRAWS BORLAND AS CAZOO UK OPEN EARLY ROUNDS CONFIRMED

Raymond van Barneveld will face William Borland in 2022 Cazoo UK Open, with the draw and stage allocations confirmed for the opening session of this weekend's Minehead event.

Two-time UK Open Champion Van Barneveld will begin his campaign in round three on Friday afternoon against Borland, who famously hit a nine-dart finish at the 2021/22 World Darts Championship.

The third round tie is one of nine matches scheduled to take place on the Main Stage at Butlin's Minehead Resort in Friday afternoon's action-packed opening session.

Main Stage matches will be broadcast live from 1145 GMT on ITV4 for UK viewers, through the PDC's international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

A busy opening session at the unique multi-board event, featuring 158 players, will see the first three rounds take place on Friday from 1100 GMT.

The first round comprises the Tour Card Holders ranked 97-126 along with players from the 2021 Challenge and Development Tours and 16 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers.

Main Stage action will begin with two round one ties, including 2016 semi-finalist Jelle Klaasen against Mark Rice in a battle of two Rileys Qualifiers, as well as former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks up against Rowby-John Rodriguez.

Second round ties on the Main Stage will include emerging Welshman Lewy Williams up against Germany's Martin Schindler, as well as World Cup winner John Henderson and prospects Keane Barry and Connor Scutt

2014 winner Adrian Lewis will also begin his campaign on the Main Stage, with his third round opponent to be one of four players who have to battle through the early rounds.

While the Main Stage action begins at 1145 GMT, Friday's play begins at 1100 GMT on Stages Two-Eight.

Stage Two matches from the first round include Canada's Matt Campbell against Poland's Sebastian Bialecki, who hit a nine-darter in last year's tournament, while Madars Razma and Jamie Hughes face-off in round three.

Action on Stage Two action on Friday and Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide.

The first round winners will be joined by Tour Card Holders ranked 65-96 in round two, with the 32 second round winners joined by Tour Card Holders ranked 33-64 in round three.

The world's top 32 enter the event in Friday evening's fourth round, including reigning champion James Wade, world number one Gerwyn Price and former UK Open champions Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall.

The action continues on Saturday March 5 with the fifth and sixth rounds across two sessions, before Sunday's action is played out on the Main Stage.

At the conclusion of the third round, an open draw will be made live on the Main Stage for the fourth round, with further draws to be made following each subsequent round.