World Championship Draw

PHIL TAYLOR will begin the defence of his Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship against Colin Monk.

Taylor will take on the Basingstoke qualifier on the opening night of this year's tournament on Friday December 18 at Alexandra Palace in London, as the prize fund reaches a record £1 million, with £200,000 to the winner.

Number two see Raymond van Barneveld drew Oceanic Masters winner Warren Parry from New Zealand, while world number three James Wade draw Bristol's Steve Brown.

2008 World Champion John Part takes on Dutch youngster Toon Greebe, while number five seed Mervyn King will play Matt Clark.

Terry Jenkins faces a tough challenge against Paul Nicholson, while leading qualifier and world number 33 Gary Anderson drew Jamie Caven, the emerging star from Derby.

Colin Osborne, who defeated Taylor to win the Championship League Darts this year, meets Australian number one Simon Whitlock, who ends a seven-year absence from the PDC World Championship - with both players ironically sharing the "Wizard" nickname.

The full schedule of play will be released on Tuesday December 8.

Update: Shi Yongsheng will represent China in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, and takes on Tomas Seyler in the preliminary round.

Tickets for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship are still available from SeeTickets via 0871 220 0260 or www.seetickets.com/darts.

2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship Draw
First Round Draw
Phil Taylor (1, England) v Colin Monk (England)
Roland Scholten (32, Netherlands) v Steve Hine (England)
Robert Thornton (16, Scotland) v Per Laursen/Christian Perez (Philippines)
Wayne Mardle (17, England) v Jyhan Artut (Germany)
Adrian Lewis (8, England) v Aodhagan O'Neill (Ireland)/Les Francis (South Africa)
Wes Newton (25, England) v Jarkko Komula (Finland)/Roman Konchikov (Russia)
Dennis Priestley (9, England) v Kevin McDine (England)
Jelle Klaasen (24, Netherlands) v Barrie Bates (Wales)
Mervyn King (5, England) v Matt Clark (England)
Co Stompe (28, Netherlands) v Steve Maish (England)
Alan Tabern (12, England) v Ken MacNeil (Canada)/Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
Mark Dudbridge (21, England) v Andree Welge (Germany)
John Part (4, Canada) v Toon Greebe (Netherlands)
Kirk Shepherd (29, England) v Scott Burnett (USA)
Mark Walsh (13, England) v Mark Webster (Wales)
Peter Manley (20, England) v Andy Jenkins (England)
Raymond van Barneveld (2, Netherlands) v Warren Parry (New Zealand)
Tony Eccles (31, England) v Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland)
Kevin Painter (15, England) v Mensur Suljovic (Austria)
Vincent van der Voort (18, Netherlands) v Dylan Duo (Gibraltar)
Ronnie Baxter (7, England) v Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)/Krzysztof Kciuk (Poland)
Jamie Caven (26, England) v Gary Anderson (Scotland)
Colin Lloyd (10, England) v Magnus Caris (Sweden(/Francisco Ruiz (Spain)
Denis Ovens (23, England) v Tomas Seyler (Germany)/Shi Yongsheng (China)
Terry Jenkins (6, England) v Paul Nicholson (Australia)
Andy Smith (27, England) v Darin Young (USA)
Colin Osborne (11, England) v Simon Whitlock (Australia)
Wayne Jones (22, England) v Alex Roy (England)
James Wade (3, England) v Steve Brown (England)
Michael van Gerwen (30, Netherlands) v Peter Wright (Scotland)
Andy Hamilton (14, England) v Phillip Hazel (New Zealand)/Osmann Kijamet (Slovenia)
Steve Beaton (19, England) v Carlos Rodriguez (Spain)

Preliminary Round Draw
Per Laursen (Denmark) v Christian Perez (Philippines)
Ken MacNeil (Canada) v Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
Jarkko Komula (Finland) v Roman Konchikov (Russia)
Haruki Muramatsu (Japan) v Krzysztof Kciuk (Poland)
Tomas Seyler (Germany) v Shi Yongsheng (China)
Magnus Caris (Sweden) v Francisco Ruiz (Spain)
Aodhagan O'Neill (Ireland) v Les Francis (South Africa)
Phillip Hazel (New Zealand) v Osmann Kijamet (Slovenia)