Michael van Gerwen will begin his title defence on the opening night of the 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship, with the schedule for darts’ biggest event now confirmed.

 

The festive feast of darts kicks-off on Friday December 13, with former Alexandra Palace semi-finalist Jelle Klaasen and Kevin Burness taking to the stage for the event’s opening tie.

The winner will return to the stage for the final game of the evening in a second round clash against three-time World Champion and world number one Van Gerwen, who is the 5/4 favourite to lift The Sid Waddell Trophy with title sponsor William Hill.

Sandwiched between those ties will be two first round meetings as newly-crowned World Youth Champion Luke Humphries faces South Africa’s Devon Petersen, while Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts comes up against Dutch youngster Geert Nentjes.

The first round of the 96-player tournament will be played across the opening 11 sessions, which will all also feature second round action.

The 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and through NOW TV in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

2019/2020 William Hill World Championship

Friday December 13th (19.00 GMT)

x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jelle Klaasen v Kevin Burness (First Round)
Kim Huybrechts v Geert Nentjes (First Round)
Luke Humphries v Devon Petersen (First Round)
Michael van Gerwen v Klaasen/Burness (Second Round)

Saturday December 14th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Darius Labanauskas v Matthew Edgar (First Round)
Ryan Meikle v Yuki Yamada (First Round)
Luke Woodhouse v Paul Lim (First Round)
Jermaine Wattimena v Humphries/Petersen (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mark McGeeney v Matt Campbell (First Round)
Jamie Hughes v Zoran Lerchbacher (First Round)
Raymond van Barneveld v Darin Young (First Round)
Rob Cross v Huybrechts/Nentjes (Second Round)

Sunday December 15th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Kyle Anderson v Xiaochen Zong (First Round)
Ross Smith v Ciaran Teehan (First Round)
Brendan Dolan v Nitin Kumar (First Round)
Ian White v Labanauskas/Edgar (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Arron Monk v Jose Justicia (First Round)
Andy Boulton v Danny Baggish (First Round)
James Richardson v Mikuru Suzuki (First Round)
Michael Smith v Woodhouse/Lim (Second Round)

Monday December 16th (19.00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon v Callan Rydz (First Round)
William O’Connor v Marko Kantele (First Round)
Vincent van der Voort v Keane Barry (First Round)
Gary Anderson v Dolan/Kumar (Second Round)

Tuesday December 17th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Searle v Robbie King (First Round)
Cristo Reyes v Lourence Ilagan (First Round)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Noel Malicdem (First Round)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Hughes/Lerchbacher (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ritchie Edhouse v Boris Koltsov (First Round)
Jose De Sousa v Damon Heta (First Round)
Ted Evetts v Fallon Sherrock (First Round)
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Van Barneveld/Young (Second Round)

Wednesday December 18th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ron Meulenkamp v Ben Robb (First Round)
Mickey Mansell v Seigo Asada (First Round)
Harry Ward v Madars Razma (First Round)
Stephen Bunting v Monk/Justicia (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round
James Wilson v Nico Kurz (First Round)
Josh Payne v Diogo Portela (First Round)
Gabriel Clemens v Benito van de Pas (First Round)
James Wade v Edhouse/Koltsov (Second Round)

Thursday December 19th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Justin Pipe v Benjamin Pratnemer (First Round)
Ryan Joyce v Jan Dekker (First Round)
John Henderson v Richardson/Suzuki (Second Round)
Steve Beaton v K Anderson/Zong (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

4x Second Round
Chris Dobey v Meulenkamp/Robb (Second Round)
Danny Noppert v Lennon/Rydz (Second Round)
Dave Chisnall v Van der Voort/Barry (Second Round)
Gerwyn Price v O’Connor/Kantele (Second Round)

Friday December 20th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

4x Second Round
Darren Webster v Meikle/Yamada (Second Round)
Mervyn King v R Smith/Teehan (Second Round)
Jonny Clayton v Joyce/Dekker (Second Round)
Ricky Evans v McGeeney/Campbell (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

4x Second Round
Nathan Aspinall v Boulton/Baggish (Second Round)
Joe Cullen v Wilson/Kurz (Second Round)
Max Hopp v Clemens/Van de Pas (Second Round)
Peter Wright v Rodriguez/Malicdem (Second Round)

Saturday December 21st
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

4x Second Round
Keegan Brown v Mansell/Asada (Second Round)
Simon Whitlock v Ward/Razma (Second Round)
Steve West v Searle/R King (Second Round)
Adrian Lewis v Reyes/Ilagan (Second Round)

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

4x Second Round
Daryl Gurney v Pipe/Pratnemer (Second Round)
Glen Durrant v De Sousa/Heta (Second Round)
Mensur Suljovic v Evetts/Sherrock (Second Round)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Payne/Portela (Second Round)

Sunday December 22nd
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x Third Round
Clayton/Joyce/Dekker v Bunting/Monk/Justicia
White/Labanauskas/Edgar v Hopp/Clemens/Van de Pas
Aspinall/Boulton/Baggish v Ratajski/Hughes/Lerchbacher

Evening Session (19.00)

3x Third Round
Wade/Edhouse/Koltsov v Beaton/K Anderson/Zong
Cross/Huybrechts/Nentjes v Noppert/Lennon/Rydz
Van Gerwen/Klaasen/Burness v Evans/McGeeney/Campbell

Monday December 23rd
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x Third Round
Cullen/Wilson/Kurz v Wattimena/Humphries/Petersen
Lewis/Reyes/Ilagan v Webster/Meikle/Yamada
M Smith/Woodhouse/Lim v Van den Bergh/Payne/Portela

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x Third Round
Chisnall/Van der Voort/Barry v De Zwaan/Van Barneveld/Young
G Anderson/Dolan/Kumar v West/Searle/R King
Wright/Rodriguez/Malicdem v Brown/Mansell/Asada

Friday December 27th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x Third Round
Whitlock/Ward/Razma v King/R Smith/Teehan
Suljovic/Evetts/Sherrock v Dobey/Meulenkamp/Robb
Gurney/Pipe/Pratnemer v Durrant/De Sousa/Heta

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Price/O’Connor/Kantele v Henderson/Richardson/Suzuki
Fourth Round games TBC

Saturday December 28th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

3x Fourth Round
v
v
v

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

3x Fourth Round
v
v
v

Sunday December 29th
Afternoon Session (12.30 GMT)

Quarter-Finals
v
v

Evening Session (19.00 GMT)

Quarter-Finals
v
v

Monday December 30th (19.00 GMT)

Semi-Finals
v
v

Wednesday January 1st (19.00 GMT)

Final
v

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.

Prize fund:

Winner – £500,000
Runner-up – £200,000
Semi-final – £100,000
Quarter-final – £50,000
Fourth round – £35,000
Third round – £25,000
Second round – £15,000
First round – £7,500

Draw Bracket – Seeded Players Enter In Second Round
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Jelle Klaasen/Kevin Burness
(32) Ricky Evans v Mark McGeeney/Matt Campbell
(16) Jonny Clayton v Ryan Joyce/Jan Dekker
(17) Stephen Bunting v Arron Monk/Jose Justicia
(8) James Wade v Ritchie Edhouse/Boris Koltsov
(25) Steve Beaton v Kyle Anderson/Xiaochen Zong
(9) Ian White v Darius Labanauskas/Matthew Edgar
(24) Max Hopp v Gabriel Clemens/Benito van de Pas
(5) Gary Anderson v Brendan Dolan/Nitin Kumar
(28) Steve West v Ryan Searle/Robbie King
(12) Nathan Aspinall v Andy Boulton/Danny Baggish
(21) Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes/Zoran Lerchbacher
(4) Michael Smith v Luke Woodhouse/Paul Lim
(29) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Josh Payne/Diogo Portela
(13) Adrian Lewis v Cristo Reyes/Lourence Ilagan
(20) Darren Webster v Ryan Meikle/Yuki Yamada
(2) Rob Cross v Kim Huybrechts/Geert Nentjes
(31) Danny Noppert v Steve Lennon/Callan Rydz
(15) Joe Cullen v James Wilson/Nico Kurz
(18) Jermaine Wattimena v Luke Humphries/Devon Petersen
(7) Peter Wright v Rowby-John Rodriguez/Noel Malicdem
(26) Keegan Brown v Mickey Mansell/Seigo Asada
(10) Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort/Keane Barry
(23) Jeffrey de Zwaan v Raymond van Barneveld/Darin Young
(6) Daryl Gurney v Justin Pipe/Benjamin Pratnemer
(27) Glen Durrant v Jose De Sousa/Damon Heta
(11) Mensur Suljovic v Ted Evetts/Fallon Sherrock
(22) Chris Dobey v Ron Meulenkamp/Ben Robb
(3) Gerwyn Price v William O’Connor/Marko Kantele
(30) John Henderson v James Richardson/Mikuru Suzuki
(14) Simon Whitlock v Harry Ward/Madars Razma
(19) Mervyn King v Ross Smith/Ciaran Teehan

First Round
Jelle Klaasen v Kevin Burness
Mark McGeeney v Matt Campbell
Ryan Joyce v Jan Dekker
Arron Monk v Jose Justicia
Ritchie Edhouse v Boris Koltsov
Kyle Anderson v Xiaochen Zong
Darius Labanauskas v Matthew Edgar
Gabriel Clemens v Benito van de Pas
Brendan Dolan v Nitin Kumar
Ryan Searle v Robbie King
Andy Boulton v Danny Baggish
Jamie Hughes v Zoran Lerchbacher
Luke Woodhouse v Paul Lim
Josh Payne v Diogo Portela
Cristo Reyes v Lourence Ilagan
Ryan Meikle v Yuki Yamada
Kim Huybrechts v Geert Nentjes
Steve Lennon v Callan Rydz
James Wilson v Nico Kurz
Luke Humphries v Devon Petersen
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Noel Malicdem
Mickey Mansell v Seigo Asada
Vincent van der Voort v Keane Barry
Raymond van Barneveld v Darin Young
Justin Pipe v Benjamin Pratnemer
Jose De Sousa v Damon Heta
Ted Evetts v Fallon Sherrock
Ron Meulenkamp v Ben Robb
William O’Connor v Marko Kantele
James Richardson v Mikuru Suzuki
Harry Ward v Madars Razma
Ross Smith v Ciaran Teehan