THE Preliminary Round draw has been made for the William Hill World Darts Championship, ahead of Tuesday's main First Round draw for the sport's greatest tournament.
With 72 players set to compete at Alexandra Palace from December 18-January 4, the Preliminary Round features 16 players who have won through International Qualifiers held worldwide this year.
The World Championship field will be completed at Monday's PDPA Qualifier, with the winner of that event going straight into the First Round draw and the runner-up entering at the Preliminary Round stage.
The Preliminary Round draw was made by PDPA Chief Executive Alan Warriner-Little on Sunday during the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals.
The PDPA Qualifier runner-up will take on Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney, the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay champion who is making his return to the World Championship.
Japan's Haruki Muramatsu is also returning to the Alexandra Palace stage and drew Russian debutant Boris Koltsov, with the South Asia Qualifier Christian Perez - the Philippines ace who has previously competed in the event - drawing Cristo Reyes.
Finland's Jani Haavisto, the SDC Order of Merit winner, drew Greek debutant John Michael, with fellow Finn Kim Viljanen set to take on German newcomer Sascha Stein.
South African Masters winner Nolan Arendse meets Hong Kong's Alex Hon, who won the Greater China Qualifier, while fellow debutants Mark McGrath, from New Zealand, and Scott Kirchner, the American ace who is the reigning DARTSLIVE SuperDarts champion, also clash.
The Preliminary Round's other fixture sees emerging Croatian Robert Marijanovic make his return to Alexandra Palace against Dutch debutant Jermaine Wattimena, who came through the West Europe Qualifier.
The William Hill World Darts Championship First Round draw will be made at 12.30pm on Tuesday December 2, live on Sky Sports News HQ (Sky Channel 401).
William Hill World Darts Championship
Preliminary Round Draw
Christian Perez (Philippines) v Cristo Reyes (Spain)
Jani Haavisto (Finland) v John Michael (Greece)
Nolan Arendse (South Africa) v Alex Hon (Hong Kong)
Boris Koltsov (Russia) v Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
Kim Viljanen (Finland) v Sascha Stein (Germany)
Mark McGrath (New Zealand) v Scott Kirchner (USA)
Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands) v Robert Marijanovic (Croatia)
PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up v Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland)
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