William Hill World Darts Championship Draw

ANDERSON OUT TO AVOID FROST-BITE IN WILLIAM HILL WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP

 

GARY ANDERSON will begin his bid to claim a William Hill World Darts Championship hat-trick against Mark Frost on December 15, following the draw for the sport's biggest tournament on Monday.

Scottish superstar Anderson has claimed back-to-back World Championship victories in the past two years, landing a brilliant nine-dart finish in the 2016 semi-finals against Jelle Klaasen on his way to retaining the title at Alexandra Palace.

The number two seed will meet Mark Frost in the first round, after the Stoke thrower - who sports the festive nickname "Frosty The Throw Man" - won through Monday's last-chance PDPA Qualifier in Wigan.

"It's a really tough draw," said Anderson. "Mark's been around the circuit for a lot of years and is a good player, so I know I'll have to be ready for him but I can't wait to get back to Ally Pally.

"It's a couple of weeks until the tournament starts now and I'll be putting in the work on the board because it would be special if I can win the title for a third time.  I'd love to do it again."

World number one Michael van Gerwen begins his bid to win back the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy against either Canada's Ross Snook or Finland's Kim Viljanen, who meet in the preliminary round.

Legendary 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor will also face a preliminary round winner, with PDPA Qualifier John Bowles or Oceanic Masters winner David Platt set to take on the Stoke great.

Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis, the fifth seed, drew Sweden's Magnus Caris, while 2007 winner Raymond van Barneveld takes on debutant Robbie Green.

World number three Peter Wright, the 2014 runner-up, will play either Dutch qualifier Jerry Hendriks or New Zealand's Warren Parry in the first round, number six seed James Wade drew Belgium's Ronny Huybrechts and world number seven Dave Chisnall takes on Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez.

European Championship finalist Mensur Suljovic, the number eight seed, drew Dutch left-hander Ron Meulenkamp, world number nine Robert Thornton drew Zoran Lerchbacher or Simon Stevenson and world number ten Jelle Klaasen plays fellow countryman Jeffrey de Graaf.

Former World Youth Champion Michael Smith, the number 11 seed, drew quick-throwing Ricky Evans, Belgium's Kim Huybrechts takes on debutant James Wilson and Ian White plays either qualifier Kevin Simm or Philippines' Gilbert Ulang.

Dutch ace Benito van de Pas plays either Malaysia's Tengku Shah or Japan's Masumi Chino, Stephen Bunting meets Darren Webster and Australia's Simon Whitlock, the 2010 runner-up, will take on either Russia's Boris Koltsov or German qualifier Dragutin Horvat.

Nine-time TV finalist Terry Jenkins drew emerging Kent youngster Josh Payne, an all-Welsh first round tie sees Gerwyn Price play debutant Jonny Clayton, while Dutch star Vincent van der Voort drew Germany's former World Youth Champion Max Hopp.

Number 21 seed Alan Norris will play Greek star John Michael, Mervyn King drew Steve West, Steve Beaton takes on South Africa's Devon Petersen and Justin Pipe plays youngster Chris Dobey.

Northern Irish duo Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney both drew Dutch opposition in the form of former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist and Jermaine Wattimena respectively, while two-time semi-finalist Mark Webster plays Joe Murnan.

Jamie Caven drew 2004 finalist Kevin Painter and Joe Cullen faces either China's Qiang Sun or Australia's Corey Cadby, who won Sunday's World Youth Championship title.

Wales' Jamie Lewis takes on Irish number one Mick McGowan, Scotland's John Henderson plays Andrew Gilding and Spain's Cristo Reyes - the number 32 seed - drew Belgian youngster Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Following Monday's draw, world number one van Gerwen has been made the 8/11 pre-tournament favourite with sponsors William Hill, with Anderson the 13/2 second favourite.

Taylor is the 9/1 third favourite as he bids for his 17th World Championship triumph, with Wright 16/1, Lewis 33/1 and both Chisnall and Wade 35/1 chances as they target their first TV title.

Full odds are available at www.williamhill.com. Odds correct at time of writing, subject to fluctuation.

* The William Hill World Darts Championship will take place at Alexandra Palace, London from December 15-January 2, and will be shown live on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel as part of a festive season which includes Premier League football, EFL and Test match cricket.

2016/2017 William Hill World Darts Championship

Draw Bracket

Preliminary Round Draw
Jerry Hendriks (Netherlands) v Warren Parry (New Zealand)
Zoran Lerchbacher (Austria) v PDPA Qualifier 3
Tengku Shah (Malaysia) v Masumi Chino (Japan)
PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up v Gilbert Ulang (Philippines)
Qiang Sun (China) v Corey Cadby (Australia)
PDPA Qualifier 4 v David Platt (Australia)
Ross Snook (Canada) v Kim Viljanen (Finland)
Boris Koltsov (Russia) v Dragutin Horvat (Germany)

Draw Numbers
Seeded Players 
1 Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
2 Gary Anderson (Scotland)
3 Peter Wright (Scotland)
4 Phil Taylor (England)
5 Adrian Lewis (England)
6 James Wade (England)
7 Dave Chisnall (England)
8 Mensur Suljovic (Austria)
9 Robert Thornton (Scotland)
10 Jelle Klaasen (Netherlands)
11 Michael Smith (England)
12 Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands)
13 Kim Huybrechts (Belgium)
14 Ian White (England)
15 Benito van de Pas (Netherlands)
16 Stephen Bunting (England)
17 Simon Whitlock (Australia)
18 Terry Jenkins (England)
19 Gerwyn Price (Wales)
20 Vincent van der Voort (Netherlands)
21 Alan Norris (England)
22 Mervyn King (England)
23 Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland)
24 Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland)
25 Mark Webster (Wales)
26 Justin Pipe (England)
27 Steve Beaton (England)
28 Joe Cullen (England)
29 Jamie Caven (England)
30 Jamie Lewis (Wales)
31 John Henderson (Scotland)
32 Cristo Reyes (Spain)

Unseeded Players 
33 James Wilson (England)
34 Steve West (England)
35 Chris Dobey (England)
36 Robbie Green (England)
37 Josh Payne (England)
38 Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands)
39 Ronny Huybrechts (Belgium)
40 Joe Murnan (England)
41 Darren Webster (England)
42 Devon Petersen (South Africa)
43 Rowby-John Rodriguez (Austria)
44 Christian Kist (Netherlands)
45 Jonny Clayton (Wales)
46 Ricky Evans (England)
47 Andrew Gilding (England)
48 Kevin Painter (England)
49 Jeffrey de Graaf (Netherlands)
50 Max Hopp (Germany)
51 Dimitri Van den Bergh (Belgium)
52 Ron Meulenkamp (Netherlands)
53 PDPA Qualifier Winner
54 Mick McGowan (Ireland)
55 Magnus Caris (Sweden)
56 John Michael (Greece)
57 Jerry Hendriks (Netherlands) or Warren Parry (New Zealand)
58 Zoran Lerchbacher (Austria) or PDPA Qualifier 3
59 Tengku Shah (Malaysia) or Masumi Chino (Japan)
60 PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up or Gilbert Ulang (Philippines)
61 Qiang Sun (China) or Corey Cadby (Australia)
62 PDPA Qualifier 4 or David Platt (Australia)
63 Ross Snook (Canada) or Kim Viljanen (Finland)
64 Boris Koltsov (Russia) or Dragutin Horvat (Germany)

Full William Hill Odds
8/11 Michael van Gerwen
13/2 Gary Anderson
9/1 Phil Taylor
16/1 Peter Wright
33/1 Adrian Lewis
35/1 Dave Chisnall
35/1 James Wade
40/1 Raymond van Barneveld
66/1 Jelle Klaasen
80/1 Mensur Suljovic
100/1 Kim Huybrechts
125/1 Michael Smith
125/1 Simon Whitlock
150/1 Benito van de Pas
150/1 Ian White
150/1 Stephen Bunting
200/1 Alan Norris
200/1 Corey Cadby
200/1 Daryl Gurney
200/1 Robert Thornton
250/1 James Wilson
300/1 Chris Dobey
300/1 Gerwyn Price
300/1 Joe Cullen
300/1 Terry Jenkins
300/1 Vincent van der Voort
400/1 Mark Webster
500/1 Andrew Gilding
500/1 Darren Webster
500/1 Jermaine Wattimena
500/1 Max Hopp
500/1 Mervyn King
500/1 Robbie Green
500/1 Rowby-John Rodriguez
500/1 Simon Stevenson
500/1 Steve West
750/1 Cristo Reyes
750/1 Dragutin Horvat
750/1 John Bowles
750/1 Jonny Clayton
750/1 Justin Pipe
750/1 Kevin Painter
750/1 Mark Frost
750/1 Steve Beaton
1000/1 Boris Koltsov
1000/1 Brendan Dolan
1000/1 Christian Kist
1000/1 David Platt
1000/1 Devon Peterson
1000/1 Dimitri van den Bergh
1000/1 Gilbert Ulang
1000/1 Jamie Caven
1000/1 Jamie Lewis
1000/1 Jeffrey de Graaf
1000/1 Jerry Hendriks
1000/1 Joe Murnan
1000/1 John Henderson
1000/1 John Michael
1000/1 Josh Payne
1000/1 Kevin Simm
1000/1 Kim Viljanen
1000/1 Magnus Caris
1000/1 Masumi Chino
1000/1 Mick McGowan
1000/1 Qiang Sun
1000/1 Ricky Evans
1000/1 Ron Meulenkamp
1000/1 Ronny Huybrechts
1000/1 Ross Snook
1000/1 Tengku Shah
1000/1 Warren Parry
1000/1 Zoran Lerchbacher
1/2 Odds Place 1,2