ROB CROSS and Lisa Ashton will headline the opening night of the 2018/2019 William Hill World Darts Championship, with the schedule for darts’ biggest event now confirmed.

The £2.5 million event’s first of 16 days of action on Thursday December 13 at London’s Alexandra Palace will see reigning World Champion Cross open his title defence. The Hastings ace will take on the winner of the tournament’s opening fixture, between World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey de Zwaan and Indian Qualifier Nitin Kumar, as he aims to repeat last year’s incredible success.

Reigning Lakeside Women’s Champion Ashton will make her Alexandra Palace debut against Dutchman Jan Dekker in another high-profile fixture on the opening night. Ashton joined Anastasia Dobromyslova in qualifying for the event, with the Russian ace set to take on Ryan Joyce in her opening tie on Monday December 17.

Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson headlines the second day of action as he meets Paul Nicholson or Kevin Burness, with 2018 semi-finalist Jamie Lewis also in action as he plays Martin Schindler or Cody Harris. World number one Michael van Gerwen enters the event on Saturday December 15 to play either Alan Tabern or Raymond Smith, with former World Youth Champions Max Hopp and Keegan Brown taking to the stage across the double session.

The William Hill World Championship will be broadcast live on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel from December 13-January 1.

2018/2019 William Hill World Darts Championship
Thursday December 13 (1900)
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Nitin Kumar (R1)
Martin Schindler v Cody Harris (R1)
Jan Dekker v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Rob Cross v De Zwaan/Kumar (R2)

Friday December 14
Afternoon Session (1230)
Michael Barnard v Jose De Sousa (R1)
Alan Tabern v Raymond Smith (R1)
Paul Nicholson v Kevin Burness (R1)
Jamie Lewis v Schindler/Harris (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Danny Noppert v Royden Lam (R1)
Simon Stevenson v Ted Evetts (R1)
Chris Dobey v Boris Koltsov (R1)
Gary Anderson v Nicholson/Burness (R2)

Saturday December 15
Afternoon Session (1230)
Richard North v Robert Marijanovic (R1)
Mickey Mansell v Jim Long (R1)
Josh Payne v Jeff Smith (R1)
Max Hopp v Noppert/Lam (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Toni Alcinas v Craig Ross (R1)
Ryan Searle v Stephen Burton (R1)
Keegan Brown v Karel Sedlacek (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Tabern/Ray Smith (R2)

Sunday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230)
Gabriel Clemens v Aden Kirk (R1)
William O’Connor v Yordi Meeuwisse (R1)
Brendan Dolan v Yuanjun Liu (R1)
Dave Chisnall v Payne/J Smith (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt (R1)
Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas (R1)
Ross Smith v Paul Lim (R1)
Peter Wright v Alcinas/Ross (R2)

Monday December 17 (1900)
Vincent van der Voort v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
Wayne Jones v Devon Petersen (R1)
Ryan Joyce v Anastasia Dobromyslova (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Edgar/Labanauskas (R2)

Tuesday December 18
Afternoon Session (1230)
Robert Thornton v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Ricky Evans v Rowby-John Rodriguez (R1)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Seigo Asada (R1)
Darren Webster v Van der Voort/Ilagan (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Steve Lennon v James Bailey (R1)
Ron Meulenkamp v Diogo Portela (R1)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chuck Puleo (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Ross Smith/Lim (R2)

Wednesday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230)
Nathan Aspinall v Geert Nentjes (R1)
Jeffrey de Graaf v Noel Malicdem (R1)
Joe Cullen v Dolan/Liu (R2)
Kim Huybrechts v Thornton/Larsson (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
James Wilson v O’Connor/Meuwisse (R2)
Simon Whitlock v Joyce/Dobromyslova (R2)
Michael Smith v Meulenkamp/Portela (R2)
James Wade v Ratajski/Asada (R2)

Thursday December 20
Afternoon Session (1230)
Jermaine Wattimena v Barnard/De Sousa (R2)
Alan Norris v Lennon/Bailey (R2)
Stephen Bunting v Humphries/Hunt (R2)
Steve Beaton v Dobey/Koltsov (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Cristo Reyes v Evans/Rodriguez (R2)
Mervyn King v Dekker/Ashton (R2)
Adrian Lewis v Stevenson/Evetts (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v Searle/Burton (R2)

Friday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230)
Benito van de Pas v Mansell/Long (R2)
John Henderson v Clemens/Kirk (R2)
Steve West v North/Marijanovic (R2)
Kyle Anderson v De Graaf/Malicdem (R2)

Evening Session (1900)
Ian White v Jones/Petersen (R2)
Jelle Klaasen v Brown/Sedlacek (R2)
Gerwyn Price v Aspinall/Nentjes (R2)
Jonny Clayton v Van den Bergh/Puleo (R2)

Saturday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230)
Whitlock/Joyce/Dobromyslova v Norris/Lennon/Bailey (R3)
Chisnall/Payne/J Smith v Huybrechts/Thornton/Larsson (R3)
Gurney/Ross Smith/Lim v J Lewis/Schindler/Harris (R3)

Evening Session (1900)
Suljovic/Searle/Burton v Wilson/O’Connor/Meeuwisse (R3)
G Anderson/Nicholson/Burness v Wattimena/Barnard/De Sousa (R3)
Van Gerwen/Tabern/Ray Smith v Hopp/Noppert/Lam (R3)

Sunday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230)
Webster/Van der Voort/Ilagan v Beaton/Dobey/Koltsov (R3)
Cullen/Dolan/Liu v King/Dekker/Ashton (R3)
Wade/Ratajski/Asada v Klaasen/Brown/Sedlacek (R3)

Evening Session (1900)
A Lewis/Stevenson/Evetts v Van Barneveld/Edgar/Labanauskas (R3)
Price/Aspinall/Nentjes v K Anderson/De Graaf/Malicdem (R3)
Cross/De Zwaan/Kumar v Reyes/Evans/Rodriguez (R3)

Thursday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230)
White/Jones/Petersen v West/North/Marijanovic (R3)
Clayton/Van den Bergh/Puleo v Bunting/Humphries/Hunt (R3)
M Smith/Meulenkamp/Portela v Henderson/Clemens/Kirk (R3)

Evening Session (1900)
Wright/Alcinas/Ross v Van de Pas/Mansell/Long (R3)
Fourth Round x2

Friday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230)
Fourth Round x3

Evening Session (1900)
Fourth Round x3

Saturday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230)
Quarter-Finals x2

Evening Session (1900)
Quarter-Finals x2

Sunday December 30 (1900)
Semi-Finals

Tuesday January 1 (2000)
Final

Format
First Round – Best of five sets (no tie-break)
Second Round – Best of five sets
Third Round – Best of seven sets
Fourth Round – Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals – Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals – Best of 11 sets
Final – Best of 13 sets
A tie-break will be in operation in all round from the second round onwards, where the final set must be won by two clear legs. If the score reaches five-all, the 11th leg will be a sudden-death leg.

(1) Michael van Gerwen v Alan Tabern/Raymond Smith
(32) Max Hopp v Danny Noppert/Royden Lam
(16) Adrian Lewis v Simon Stevenson/Ted Evetts
(17) Raymond van Barneveld v Matthew Edgar/Darius Labanauskas
(8) Simon Whitlock v Ryan Joyce/Anastasia Dobromyslova
(25) Alan Norris v Steve Lennon/James Bailey
(9) James Wade v Krzysztof Ratajski/Seigo Asada
(24) Jelle Klaasen v Keegan Brown/Karel Sedlacek
(5) Daryl Gurney v Ross Smith/Paul Lim
(28) Jamie Lewis v Martin Schindler/Cody Harris
(12) Dave Chisnall v Josh Payne/Jeff Smith
(21) Kim Huybrechts v Robert Thornton/Daniel Larsson
(4) Gary Anderson v Paul Nicholson/Kevin Burness
(29) Jermaine Wattimena v Michael Barnard/Jose De Sousa
(13) Darren Webster v Vincent van der Voort/Lourence Ilagan
(20) Steve Beaton v Chris Dobey/Boris Koltsov
(2) Rob Cross v Jeffrey de Zwaan/Nitin Kumar
(31) Cristo Reyes v Ricky Evans/Rowby-John Rodriguez
(15) Jonny Clayton v Dimitri Van den Bergh/Chuck Puleo
(18) Stephen Bunting v Luke Humphries/Adam Hunt
(7) Mensur Suljovic v Ryan Searle/Stephen Burton
(26) James Wilson v William O’Connor/Yordi Meeuwisse
(10) Michael Smith v Ron Meulenkamp/Diogo Portela
(23) John Henderson v Gabriel Clemens/Aden Kirk
(6) Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall/Geert Nentjes
(27) Kyle Anderson v Jeffrey de Graaf/Noel Malicdem
(11) Ian White v Wayne Jones/Devon Petersen
(22) Steve West v Richard North/Robert Marijanovic
(3) Peter Wright v Toni Alcinas/Craig Ross
(30) Benito van de Pas v Mickey Mansell/Jim Long
(14) Joe Cullen v Brendan Dolan/Yuanjun Liu
(19) Mervyn King v Jan Dekker/Lisa Ashton

First Round
Alan Tabern v Raymond Smith
Danny Noppert v Royden Lam
Simon Stevenson v Ted Evetts
Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas
Ryan Joyce v Anastasia Dobromyslova
Steve Lennon v James Bailey
Krzysztof Ratajski v Seigo Asada
Keegan Brown v Karel Sedlacek
Ross Smith v Paul Lim
Martin Schindler v Cody Harris
Josh Payne v Jeff Smith
Robert Thornton v Daniel Larsson
Paul Nicholson v Kevin Burness
Michael Barnard v Jose De Sousa
Vincent van der Voort v Lourence Ilagan
Chris Dobey v Boris Koltsov
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Nitin Kumar
Ricky Evans v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chuck Puleo
Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt
Ryan Searle v Stephen Burton
William O’Connor v Yordi Meeuwisse
Ron Meulenkamp v Diogo Portela
Gabriel Clemens v Aden Kirk
Nathan Aspinall v Geert Nentjes
Jeffrey de Graaf v Noel Malicdem
Wayne Jones v Devon Petersen
Richard North v Robert Marijanovic
Toni Alcinas v Craig Ross
Mickey Mansell v Jim Long
Brendan Dolan v Yuanjun Liu
Jan Dekker v Lisa Ashton