van Gerwen & Barney take Dutch semi-final spots. Klaasen, Scholten & van der Voort out. Manley strides confidently into semis with 100% record knocking Taylor out in the process. King, Mardle & Lloyd battle it out on night five for the one remaining semi final place.

Michael van Gerwen 3-2 Mervyn King
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Wayne Mardle
Jelle Klaasen 1-3 Phil Taylor
Roland Scholten 1-3 Peter Manley
Vincent van der Voort 0-3 Colin Lloyd

WEDNESDAYS MATCHES (night 5)

Roland Scholten 3-2 Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort 3-1 Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 Colin Lloyd
Michael van Gerwen 2-3 Peter Manley
Jelle Klaasen 3-0 Wayne Mardle

The top two players from a league table of each country’s participants will then play off in the semi-finals and final on 17 and 18 February.

The opening day of the event will see Phil Taylor meet Dutch wonderkid Michael van Gerwen.

Roland Scholten and Colin Lloyd will clash, while Raymond van Barneveld will face off against the final English player – who will be announced in the New Year – and Jelle Klaasen meets Mervyn King.

The second night includes Taylor taking on Scholten in a repeat of the 2006 Holsten Premier League Darts final, before the 13-time World Champion meets van Barneveld on Monday 12 February.

Saturday 10 February
Jelle Klaasen v Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen v Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld v English Wildcard
Vincent van der Voort v Wayne Mardle
Roland Scholten v Colin Lloyd

Sunday 11 February
Vincent van der Voort v English Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld v Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen v Wayne Mardle
Roland Scholten v Phil Taylor
Jelle Klaasen v Colin Lloyd

Monday 12 February
Jelle Klaasen v English Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld v Phil Taylor
Michael van Gerwen v Colin Lloyd
Vincent van der Voort v Mervyn King
Roland Scholten v Wayne Mardle

Tuesday 13 February
Roland Scholten v English Wildcard
Jelle Klaasen v Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld v Wayne Mardle
Michael van Gerwen v Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort v Colin Lloyd

Wednesday 14 February
Roland Scholten v Mervyn King
Vincent van der Voort v Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld v Colin Lloyd
Michael van Gerwen v English Wildcard
Jelle Klaasen v Wayne Mardle

Format
Group Stage – Best of five sets, five legs per set

Saturday 17 February
Semi-Finals – Best of 11 sets, five legs per set

Sunday 18 February
Final – Best of 13 sets, five legs per set

The world number four will complete the five-man England team for the tournament, which will see them take on their Dutch counterparts.

Manley, a three-time World Championship finalist and former Las Vegas Desert Classic winner, joins Phil Taylor, Colin Lloyd, Wayne Mardle and Mervyn King in the England team.

The Dutch team will be captained by World Champion Raymond van Barneveld and also features Roland Scholten, Michael van Gerwen, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort.

“I’m delighted to have been selected,” said Manley.

“I am looking forward to teaming up with the English players – I’m used to playing against people like Phil and Colin, but it will be good fun playing with them.”

The tournament begins at the Expocenter, Hengelo on Saturday 10 February, with five days of round-robin games being played between the countries.

The semi-finals, featuring the top two players from each country, will be played on Saturday 17 February, with the final on Sunday 18 February.