Defending champion Phil Taylor is odds-on favourite to win his 15th world title at the PDC Championships, which begin at Alexandra Palace on Friday.

Taylor plays Colin Monk first up, who admitted: "Nobody wants to draw Phil, but I've got to get on with it now.

"He's only a human being and I've got to hope things go my way and he has a bit of a stinker."

World number two Raymond van Barneveld faces Warren Parry, while third-ranked James Wade plays Steve Brown.

John Part, the 2008 PDC world champion, takes on Dutch youngster Toon Greebe, while number five seed Mervyn King will play Matt Clark.

The £1m tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The BDO world championships at Lakeside start on Saturday 2 January and are live on the BBC.

PDC preliminary round draw:

Per Laursen (Den) v Christian Perez (Phi)

Ken MacNeil (Can) v Norman Madhoo (Guy)

Jarkko Komula (Fin) v Roman Konchikov (Rus)

Haruki Muramatsu (Jap) v Krzysztof Kciuk (Pol)

Tomas Seyler (Ger) v Shi Yongsheng (Chi)

Magnus Caris (Swe) v Francisco Ruiz (Spa)

Aodhagan O'Neill (Ire) v Les Francis (SA)

Phillip Hazel (NZ) v Osmann Kijamet (Slo)

First round draw:
Numbers denote seedings

Phil Taylor (1, Eng) v Colin Monk (Eng)

Roland Scholten (32, Ned) v Steve Hine (Eng)

Robert Thornton (16, Sco) v Per Laursen/Christian Perez

Wayne Mardle (17, Eng) v Jyhan Artut (Ger)

Adrian Lewis (8, Eng) v Aodhagan O'Neill/Les Francis

Wes Newton (25, Eng) v Jarkko Komula/Roman Konchikov

Dennis Priestley (9, Eng) v Kevin McDine (Eng)

Jelle Klaasen (24, Ned) v Barrie Bates (Wal)

Mervyn King (5, Eng) v Matt Clark (Eng)

Co Stompe (28, Ned) v Steve Maish (Eng)

Alan Tabern (12, Eng) v Ken MacNeil/Norman Madhoo

Mark Dudbridge (21, Eng) v Andree Welge (Ger)

John Part (4, Can) v Toon Greebe (Ned)

Kirk Shepherd (29, Eng) v Scott Burnett (US)

Mark Walsh (13, Eng) v Mark Webster (Wal)

Peter Manley (20, England) v Andy Jenkins (Eng)

Raymond van Barneveld (2, Ned) v Warren Parry (NZ)

Tony Eccles (31, Eng) v Brendan Dolan (NI)

Kevin Painter (15, Eng) v Mensur Suljovic (Aut)

Vincent van der Voort (18, Ned) v Dylan Duo (Gib)

Ronnie Baxter (7, Eng) v Haruki Muramatsu/Krzysztof Kciuk

Jamie Caven (26, Eng) v Gary Anderson (Sco)

Colin Lloyd (10, Eng) v Magnus Caris/Francisco Ruiz

Denis Ovens (23, Eng) v Tomas Seyler/Shi Yongsheng

Terry Jenkins (6, Eng) v Paul Nicholson (Aus)

Andy Smith (27, Eng) v Darin Young (US)

Colin Osborne (11, Eng) v Simon Whitlock (Aus)

Wayne Jones (22, Eng) v Alex Roy (Eng)

James Wade (3, Eng) v Steve Brown (Eng)

Michael van Gerwen (30, Ned) v Peter Wright (Sco)

Andy Hamilton (14, Eng) v Phillip Hazel/Osmann Kijamet

Steve Beaton (19, Eng) v Carlos Rodriguez (Spa)

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version