Michael Smith will kick off the defence of his Paddy Power World Darts Championship title against Kevin Doets or Stowe Buntz in round two.
Darts legends Dennis Priestley and Phil Taylor conducted the draw on Sky Sports News and paired last year’s losing finalist, Michael van Gerwen, with the winner of Keane Barry and Reynaldo Rivera’s meeting in the first round.
Luke Humphries is challenging MVG for favouritism in our outright betting and the emerging force is set to face Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing in round two.
Paddy Power World Darts Championship odds can be found on the Paddy Power website and Paddy Power app, otherwise live coverage of the draw including full details of the first round and second round pairings is below.
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17:00 – Paddy Power World Darts Championship Second-Round Draw
Michael Smith v Kevin Doets or Stowe Buntz
Madars Razman v Mike De Decker or Dragutin Horvat
Ross Smith v Niels Zonneveld or Darren Webster
Chris Dobey v William O’Connor or Bhav Patel
Rob Cross v Mario Vandenbogaerde or Thibault Tricole
Jose De Sousa v Richie Edhouse or Jeffrey De Graaf
Jonny Clayton v Steve Lennon or Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes or David Cameron
Peter Wright v Jim Williams or Norman Madhoo
Raymond van Barneveld v Radek Szaganski or Marko Kantele
James Wade v Matt Campbell or Lourence Ilagan
Andrew Gilding v Christian Kist or Luke Littler
Gerwyn Price v Connor Scutt r Krzystof Kcuik
Brendan Dolan v Mickey Mansell or Xiaochen Zong
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Keegan Brown or Boris Krcmar
Gary Anderson v Simon Whitlock or Paolo Nebrida
Michael van Gerwen v Keane Barry or Reynaldo Rivera
Kim Huybrechts v Richard Veenstra or Ben Robb
Dimitri van den Bergh v Dylan Slevin or Florian Hempel
Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce or Alex Spellman
Danny Noppert v Scott Williams or Haruki Muramatsu
Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena or Fallon Sherrock
Damon Heta v Martin Lukeman or Haupai Puha
Josh Rock v Luke Woodhouse or Berry van Peer
Luke Humphries v Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing
Callan Rydz v Ricardo Pietreczko or Mikuru Suzuki
Joe Cullen v Jules van Dongen or Darren Penhall
Ryan Searle v Ian White or Tomoya Goto
Nathan Aspinall v Ricky Evans or Simon Adams
Daryl Gurney v Steve Beaton or Wessel Nijman
Davie Chisnall v Cameron Menzies or Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens v Gian van Veen or Man Lok Leung
16:45 – Paddy Power World Darts Championship First-Round Draw
Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz
Mike De Decker v Dragutin Horvat
Niels Zonneveld v Darren Webster
William O’Connor v Bhav Patel
Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole
Richie Edhouse v Jeffrey De Graaf
Steve Lennon v Owen Bates
Jamie Hughes v David Cameron
Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo
Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele
Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan
Christian Kist v Luke Littler
Connor Scutt v Krzystof Kcuik
Mickey Mansell v Xiaochen Zong
Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar
Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida
Michael van Gerwen v Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera
Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb
Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel
Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman
Scott Williams v Haruki Muramatsu
Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock
Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha
Luke Woodhouse v Berry van Peer
Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing
Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki
Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall
Ian White v Tomoya Goto
Ricky Evans v Simon Adams
Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman
Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung
16:30 – Here We Go!
The stage is set to and the balls are set to be plucked from the pot. Dennis Priestly and Phil Taylor are on standby to conduct the ceremony, while Sky Sports analyst Wayne Mardle says he has to calm down because he’s so excited.
So are we, Wayne. So are we.
16:15 – Paddy Power World Darts Championship odds
A bit of a battle is brewing for favouritism in our outright betting for the Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
Michael van Gerwen is the most famous name in the game and has collected the Sid Waddell Trophy on three previous occasions, but the Dutchman has been joined at the head of the market by Luke Humphries, who is the form player heading into the tournament after victories in the World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals.
2021 winner Gerwyn Price, defending champion Michael Smith and two-time Ally Pally king Gary Anderson are also prominent in the betting.
15:45 – The Irish Takeover
Our fearless leader wants to make his mark on the Paddy Power World Darts Championship – and if you catch any of the action you’ll be able to tell that the Irish are in town!
As well as turning the Ally Pally green for the massive sporting occasion, we’ve unveiled a brand new dartboard featuring a green treble 20 – replacing the traditional red.
The boards have been produced by Winmau – the PDC’s official equipment supplier – and will sit at the centre of a stage illuminated by an electrifying green backdrop, representing the event’s world-famous live atmosphere.
It’s good to be green.
☘️ The Irish are coming to Ally Pally!
🎯 So we're turning the treble 20 GREEN for the first ever Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
To celebrate, we're giving away 5 of the new official Winmau matchboards – complete with the new treble 20! 👇
Simply RT this to enter! pic.twitter.com/6VM2zB92bp
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) November 27, 2023
15:15 – The Players
A total of 96 players will take part in the Paddy Power World Darts Championship. The 32 leading players on the PDC Order of Merit get a bye to round two, which leaves the 32 ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers and 32 International Qualifiers to go to war in round one.
PDC Order of Merit Top 32
1 Michael Smith (England)
2 Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
3 Luke Humphries (England)
4 Peter Wright (Scotland)
5 Gerwyn Price (Wales)
6 Nathan Aspinall (England)
7 Danny Noppert (Netherlands)
8 Rob Cross (England)
9 Jonny Clayton (Wales)
10 Damon Heta (Australia)
11 Dave Chisnall (England)
12 Dirk van Duijvenbode (Netherlands)
13 James Wade (England)
14 Joe Cullen (England)
15 Dimitri Van den Bergh (Belgium)
16 Ross Smith (England)
17 Chris Dobey (England)
18 Stephen Bunting (England)
19 Ryan Searle (England)
20 Andrew Gilding (England)
21 Gary Anderson (Scotland)
22 Gabriel Clemens (Germany)
23 Josh Rock (Northern Ireland)
24 Krzysztof Ratajski (Poland)
25 Jose de Sousa (Portugal)
26 Martin Schindler (Germany)
27 Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland)
28 Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland)
29 Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands)
30 Callan Rydz (England)
31 Kim Huybrechts (Belgium)
32 Madars Razma (Latvia)
ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers
Ricardo Pietreczko (Germany)
Gian van Veen (Netherlands)
Ryan Joyce (England)
Luke Woodhouse (England)
Mike De Decker (Belgium)
Ian White (England)
Jim Williams (Wales)
Mario Vandenbogaerde (Belgium)
Radek Szaganski (Poland)
Richard Veenstra (Netherlands)
Steve Beaton (England)
Keane Barry (Ireland)
Simon Whitlock (Australia)
Kevin Doets (Netherlands)
Matt Campbell (Canada)
Connor Scutt (England)
Martin Lukeman (England)
Mickey Mansell (Northern Ireland)
Dylan Slevin (Ireland)
Steve Lennon (Ireland)
William O’Connor (Ireland)
Scott Williams (England)
Christian Kist (Netherlands)
Ricky Evans (England)
Cameron Menzies (Scotland)
Lee Evans (England)
Ritchie Edhouse (England)
Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands)
Jules van Dongen (USA)
Jamie Hughes (England)
Niels Zonneveld (Netherlands)
Keegan Brown (England)
International Qualifiers
Luke Littler (England)
Wessel Nijman (Netherlands)
Berry van Peer (Netherlands)
Owen Bates (England)
Fallon Sherrock (England)
Mikuru Suzuki (Japan)
Marko Kantele (Finland)
Jeffrey de Graaf (Sweden)
Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
Sandro Eric Sosing (Philippines)
Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
Tomoya Goto (Japan)
Paolo Nebrida (Philippines)
Reynaldo Rivera (Philippines)
Man Lok Leung (Hong Kong)
Darren Penhall (Australia)
Ben Robb (New Zealand)
Haupai Puha (New Zealand)
Alex Spellman (USA)
David Cameron (Canada)
Stowe Buntz (USA)
Thibault Tricole (France)
Krzysztof Kciuk (Poland)
Dragutin Horvat (Germany)
Simon Adams (South Africa)
Xiaochen Zong (China)
Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
Bhav Patel (India)
Plus: 4x PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifiers
14:30 – Re-e-wind
Cast your mind back to the start of the year and you’ll remember Michael Smith faced Michael van Gerwen in a humdinger of a finale at Ally Pally. ‘Bully Boy’ emerged victorious to capture the Sid Waddell Trophy – and the £500,000 top prize – for the first time in his career.
Smith and Van Gerwen will be among the star names to watch out for in the draw – and the qualifiers will probably be hoping to avoid them in round two!
14:00 – Hello!
Well, hello there. The mercury has dropped, mince pies are starting to be consumed and Christmas adverts are all over the telly box which means one thing… the Paddy Power World Darts Championship is nearly here!
The near three weeks of fun begins at the legendary Alexandra Palace in London on Friday, December 15 and runs through to the grand final on Wednesday, January 3.
We’re still more than a fortnight until the first arrow is thrown in anger but the draw is crucial as those taking part discover their initial opponents.
Stay tuned for the latest updates as legendary pair Dennis Priestly and Phil Taylor conduct the draw from 4:30pm.
Read More on the Paddy Power World Darts Championship
- Check out darts betting tips and previews at Paddy Power News
- When is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Dates and Schedule
- Paddy Power World Darts Championship odds: Who are the favourites to win?
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