As far as 'group of deaths' go, Glen Durrant couldn't have ended up in one much worse for this year's Boylesports Grand Slam of Darts.
The three-time Lakeside king, who is competing in Wolverhampton as one of the eight BDO representatives for the fourth consecutive year having won their world title back in January, was placed in Group H alongside Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Martin Schindler.
Durrant has only failed to get out of the groups once - 12 months ago - while his best run was a quarter-final appearance in 2017 when he pushed Peter Wright in a classic encounter.
The Teessider will no doubt be eyeing another lengthy run on the back of a stunning debut season in the PDC which has seen him win two titles and also reach the World Matchplay semi-finals, beating Michael van Gerwen along the way.
Durrant, who faces third seed Smith first, told www.pdc.tv: "It's being dubbed 'the group of death' but I'm fine with it. You're never going to get an easy draw in the Grand Slam anyway but that opening game against Michael is going to be massive for me.
"Now that I know who I will be playing, I'm itching to get back on the practice board tonight and start preparing for my games mentally.
"It's a great competition, I've loved every minute I've played in the Grand Slam and if I experience anything like the high I got at the World Matchplay then it will be an amazing feeling.
"In the PDC you experience the huge disappointment of losing to Ricky Evans in the European Championship and by the time you're on the plane home you've got the Grand Slam to look forward to.
"I'm over the moon to be playing at the Grand Slam and I will be proud to represent the BDO as their World Champion for one last time."
You can click here for the full tournament draw and daily schedule, which will be updated with results throughout the tournament.
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