Darts stars preparing for Gibraltar return

Stars from the world of darts, including World Champion Gary Anderson and world number one Michael van Gerwen, are preparing to return to Gibraltar for the fourth staging of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy from May 6-8. The three-day tournament will see 48 players descend on the Victoria Stadium to compete for £115,000 in the third of ten PDC European Tour events being staged across continental Europe this year.

The field will include reigning Gibraltar Darts Trophy champion Michael van Gerwen and 2014 winner James Wade, who will be joined by World Champion Gary Anderson, 2015 Gibraltar runner-up Terry Jenkins, two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis and flamboyant Peter "Snakebite" Wright amongst the 16 seeded players. The 20 UK Qualifiers came from a knockout event in Barnsley last Friday and include former Gibraltar Darts Trophy finalists Jamie Lewis and Steve Beaton as well as Ross Smith, who landed a nine-dart finish in Gibraltar in 2013 and knocked out Phil Taylor in qualifying.

Former major winners Kevin Painter and Stephen Bunting also won places in Gibraltar, alongside former major finalists Andy Hamilton, Mark Walsh, Wayne Jones, Alan Norris and the emerging Australian star Kyle Anderson.

April's European Qualifier will provide a further eight qualifiers and will feature the likes of Dutch stars Raymond van Barneveld, Vincent van der Voort and Jelle Klaasen, while four Gibraltarian representatives will be found at the Host Nation Qualifier on Thursday May 5.