REIGNING Ladbrokes World Darts Champion Phil Taylor will be in action on the opening night of this year's tournament on Friday December 13 after the schedule of play for the £1 million event was confirmed.
Taylor, who won his 16th World Championship title on New Year's Day when he came from 4-2 down to claim a famous 7-4 victory against Michael van Gerwen, will open his bid to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy against either New Zealand's Rob Szabo or PDPA Qualifier Ian Moss, who will play their preliminary round tie earlier in the night.
The opening night will also feature three-time World Champion John Part - the first Alexandra Palace winner in 2008 - up against Holland's Mareno Michels, the 1995 Lakeside Champion Richie Burnett up against Dean Winstanley and Peter Wright's clash with Joe Cullen.
The World Championship's first round is split across eight sessions in the opening seven days, with one preliminary round contest accompanied by four games from the first round at the north London venue, live on Sky Sports.
The afternoon session of Saturday December 14 sees former World Championship semi-finalists Wayne Jones and Terry Jenkins in action, Stoke's rising star Ian White up against DPA Australian Grand Prix champion Kyle Anderson and former UK Open finalist Mark Walsh taking on top Finnish player Jarkko Komula.
Saturday's evening session will see three former World Championship finalists in action, with 2011 star Gary Anderson taking on the 2005 runner-up Mark Dudbridge, before Andy Hamilton - who lost to Adrian Lewis in the 2012 final - plays either Julio Barbero or Andree Welge.
2012 UK Open champion Robert Thornton opens Saturday's evening session against German teenager Max Hopp, while Paul Nicholson takes on Stuart Kellett in the other tie.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld is in action on Sunday December 15 as he faces Jamie Lewis, with former World Grand Prix finalists Dave Chisnall and Brendan Dolan also on stage before Jamie Caven meets ex-Lakeside Champion Jelle Klaasen.
Monday's play sees the eagerly-awaited clash between Belgian brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts, while former Lakeside Champion Steve Beaton meets either South African Devon Petersen or Malaysia's Mohammed Latif Sapup, with Ronnie Baxter taking on Ricky Evans and Mervyn King meeting Darin Young.
World number two Michael van Gerwen begins his bid to reach the final for a second successive year on Tuesday December 17 when he plays the winner of the preliminary round contest between Zoran Lerchbacher and Ben Ward.
2010 World Championship finalist Simon Whitlock is also in action on Tuesday as he plays Ross Smith, while former World Matchplay winner Colin Lloyd plays Oceanic Masters champion Beau Anderson and Vincent van der Voort takes on Matt Clark.
Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis opens his challenge for a third Alexandra Palace title on Wednesday December 18 against experienced Dennis Smith, while World Youth Champion Michael Smith is also in action as he plays Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto or Singapore's Paul Lim.
Wednesday also sees Justin Pipe, a two-time major semi-finalist in 2013, face former World Youth Champion Arron Monk, while Andy Smith takes on Steve Brown.
The first round concludes on Thursday December 19, when three-time Ally Pally semi-finalist James Wade takes on Darren Webster and 2004 World Championship finalist Kevin Painter plays Germany's Tomas Seyler.
World number eight Wes Newton taking on either Gino Vos or Ting Chi Royden Lam, and Mark Webster, a former Lakeside Champion and two-time Alexandra Palace semi-finalist, plays Austria's Mensur Suljovic.
The second round sees 15 of the 16 ties take place before the Christmas break, with one game kicking off the post-Christmas action on Friday December 27 when the tournament resumes.
The third round is held on December 27 and 28, when the first two quarter-finals will be held.
The second pair of quarter-finals will be held on Sunday December 29, with the semi-finals on Monday December 30 and the final taking place on Wednesday January 1, as the winner of the record £250,000 first prize is crowned.
Sky Sports' live HD coverage of the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship will be accompanied by 3D broadcasts for the semi-finals and final, while the tournament will also be broadcast live on RTL7 in the Netherlands, Sport1 in Germany, Fox Sports in Australia, Sky New Zealand, OSN across the Middle East and, for the first time, on Fox Sport Italy.
Online coverage will also see full live streaming through www.LIVEPDC.TV for International Pass Subscribers outside of the UK, Ireland and Holland.
The PDC have seen record interest in the tournament since tickets went on sale in June, with over 40,000 tickets sold ahead of the event and only a limited number of sessions still having tickets available on general sale.
Tickets through SeeTickets are only available for the following sessions:
Sunday December 15
Monday December 16
Tuesday December 17
Wednesday December 18
To purchase tickets through SeeTickets, call 0844 871 8807 or visit http://pdc.seetickets.com.
Hospitality Packages are only available for the following sessions:
Sunday December 15
Sunday December 22 - afternoon and evening sessions
To purchase tickets, call the PDC Head Office on 08712 501 180.
Tickets for sold-out sessions may also be available through www.viagogo.co.uk, the official ticket exchange of the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship, while Hotel & Ticket Break packages are also available through Thomas Cook Sport at www.thomascooksport.com.
Ladbrokes World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
First Round
Friday December 13 (7pm)
John Part v Mareno Michels
Rob Szabo v Ian Moss (P)
Peter Wright v Joe Cullen
Phil Taylor v Szabo/Moss
Richie Burnett v Dean Winstanley
Saturday December 14
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Mark Walsh v Jarkko Komula
Colin McGarry v Per Laursen (P)
Wayne Jones v Kevin McDine
Terry Jenkins v McGarry/Laursen
Ian White v Kyle Anderson
Evening Session (7pm)
Julio Barbero v Andree Welge (P)
Robert Thornton v Max Hopp
Gary Anderson v Mark Dudbridge
Andy Hamilton v Barbero/Welge
Paul Nicholson v Stuart Kellett
* Order of first two games changed at request of Sky Sports, whose first hour's coverage is interactive via Red Button
Sunday December 15 (7pm)
Dave Chisnall v John Henderson
Dennis Lindskjold v Colin Osborne (P)
Raymond van Barneveld v Jamie Lewis
Brendan Dolan v Lindskjold/Osborne
Jamie Caven v Jelle Klaasen
* Colin Osborne replaces Edward Santos, who withdrew on December 8 due to travel problems.
Monday December 16 (7pm)
Ronnie Baxter v Ricky Evans
Devon Petersen v Mohammed Latif Sapup (P)
Kim Huybrechts v Ronny Huybrechts
Steve Beaton v Petersen/Sapup
Mervyn King v Darin Young
Tuesday December 17 (7pm)
Colin Lloyd v Beau Anderson
Zoran Lerchbacher v Ben Ward (P)
Vincent van der Voort v Matt Clark
Michael van Gerwen v Lerchbacher/Ward
Simon Whitlock v Ross Smith
Wednesday December 18 (7pm)
Andy Smith v Steve Brown
Morihiro Hashimoto v Paul Lim (P)
Justin Pipe v Arron Monk
Michael Smith v Hashimoto/Lim
Adrian Lewis v Dennis Smith
Thursday December 19 (7pm)
Mark Webster v Mensur Suljovic
Gino Vos v Royden Lam (P)
James Wade v Darren Webster
Wes Newton v Vos/Lam
Kevin Painter v Tomas Seyler
Second Round
Friday December 20 (7pm)
Wright/Cullen v Jenkins/McGarry/Laursen
van Barneveld/J Lewis v Caven/Klaasen
Taylor/Szabo/Moss v M Smith/Hashimoto/Lim
Saturday December 21 (7pm)
Hamilton/Barbero/Welge v Burnett/Winstanley
Thornton/Hopp v Lloyd/B Anderson
K Huybrechts/R Huybrechts v White/K Anderson
Sunday December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Dolan/Lindskjold/Osborne v G Anderson/Dudbridge
Painter/Seyler v Nicholson/Kellett
Whitlock/R Smith v Walsh/Komula
Evening Session (7pm)
Newton/Vos/Lam v Part/Michels
Chisnall/Henderson v M Webster/Suljovic
van Gerwen/Lerchbacher/Ward v W Jones/McDine
Monday December 23 (7pm)
Wade/D Webster v A Smith/Brown
King/Young v Baxter/Evans
A Lewis/D Smith v van der Voort/Clark
Friday December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
Pipe/Monk v Beaton/Petersen/Sapup
Third Round
Newton/Vos/Lam/Part/Michels v Thornton/Hopp/Lloyd/B Anderson
Hamilton/Barbero/Welge/Burnett/Winstanley v K Huybrechts/R Huybrechts/White/K Anderson
Evening Session (7pm)
Whitlock/R Smith/Walsh/Komula v Painter/Seyler/Nicholson/Kellett
Taylor Szabo/Moss/M Smith/Hashimoto/Lim v Wright/Cullen/Jenkins/McGarry/Laursen
Chisnall/Henderson/M Webster/Suljovic v van Barneveld/J Lewis/Caven/Klaasen
Saturday December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
A Lewis/D Smith/van der Voort/Clark v King/Young/Baxter/Evans
Wade/D Webster/A Smith/Brown v Pipe/Monk/Beaton/Petersen/Sapup
van Gerwen/Lerchbacher/Ward/Jones/McDine v Dolan/Lindskjold/Osborne/G Anderson/Dudbridge
Evening Session (7pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Sunday December 29 (7pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Monday December 30 (7pm)
Semi-Finals
Wednesday January 1 (8pm)
Final
Format
Preliminary Round Best of seven legs
First Round Best of five sets
Second Round Best of seven sets
Third Round Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals Best of 11 sets
Final Best of 13 sets
All sets are the best of five legs. For all matches using the Sets format, there will be a tie-break in the deciding set only, where the final set must be won by two clear legs until the score in that set reaches 5-5, when a sudden-death leg would be played.