The 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship gets underway at London’s Alexandra Palace tonight (Thursday 15th), with reigning champion Peter Wright kicking off his title defence.
This year marks the 30th staging of the PDC World Championship, as 96 players from around the world compete for £2.5 million in prize money and the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy.
The tournament, which runs from this evening through to the final on January 3rd, will see 22 debutants and 28 countries represented.
Wright will begin his bid for a third World Championship crown in four years against either Northern Ireland’s Mickey Mansell or New Zealand’s number one Ben Robb in tonight’s headline act.
The pre-Christmas period at this year's World Championship will feature nine days of first and second round action from December 15-23.
The top 32 players from the PDC Order of Merit will enter the tournament in the second round, with the ProTour Order of Merit qualifiers taking on the International representatives in round one.
The second round will then conclude across two sessions on Friday December 23, with 2018 World Champion Rob Cross, seventh seed Jonny Clayton and Masters champion Joe Cullen among the high-profile names in action.
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place from January 1-3.
Alongside the £500,000 top prize for the champion, players will be competing to win a special £50,000 bonus on offer from PDC partner Selco, for the first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in this year's event.
Should a player achieve that feat - which would be a World Championship first - a further £50,000 would be shared between one lucky fan who registered via www.selcobw.com/info/100kdarts and Selco's nominated charity, Cancer Research UK.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
Schedule of Play
Thursday December 15 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mickey Mansell v Ben Robb (R1)
Keane Barry v Grant Sampson (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena v Nathan Rafferty (R1)
Peter Wright v Mansell/Robb (R2)
Friday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Alan Soutar v Mal Cuming (R1)
Boris Krcmar v Toru Suzuki (R1)
Adrian Lewis v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Kim Huybrechts v Barry/Sampson (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
William O‘Connor v Beau Greaves (R1)
Keegan Brown v Florian Hempel (R1)
Michael Smith v Wattimena/Rafferty (R2)
Saturday December 17
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Martin Lukeman v Nobuhiro Yamamoto (R1)
Simon Whitlock v Christian Perez (R1)
Adam Gawlas v Richie Burnett (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Soutar/Cuming (R2)
Evening Session (2000 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Meikle v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Diogo Portela (R1)
Josh Rock v Jose Justicia (R1)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Rodriguez/Ilagan (R2)
Sunday December 18
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Madars Razma v Prakash Jiwa (R1)
Karel Sedlacek v Raymond Smith (R1)
Luke Woodhouse v Vladyslav Omelchenko (R1)
Damon Heta v Lewis/Larsson (R2)
Evening Session (2000 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mike De Decker v Jeff Smith (R1)
Scott Williams v Ryan Joyce (R1)
Matt Campbell v Danny Baggish (R1)
Nathan Aspinall v Krcmar/Suzuki (R2)
Monday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Andrew Gilding v Robert Owen (R1)
Danny Jansen v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Niels Zonneveld v Lewy Williams (R1)
Jose de Sousa v Whitlock/Perez (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Geert Nentjes v Leonard Gates (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse v David Cameron (R1)
Steve Beaton v Danny van Trijp (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Woodhouse/Omelchenko (R2)
Tuesday December 20 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jim Williams v Sebastian Bialecki (R1)
Jamie Hughes v Jimmy Hendriks (R1)
Ricky Evans v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Meikle/Ashton (R2)
Wednesday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
John O’Shea v Darius Labanauskas (R1)
Martijn Kleermaker v Xicheng Han (R1)
Callan Rydz v Rock/Justicia (R2)
Dave Chisnall v Gilding/Owen (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Mervyn King v Campbell/Baggish
Gabriel Clemens v O‘Connor/Greaves
Michael van Gerwen v Zonneveld/L Williams
Stephen Bunting v Nentjes/Gates
Thursday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jansen/Nebrida
Ryan Searle v Gawlas/Burnett
Mensur Suljovic v De Decker/J Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Sedlacek/R Smith
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Gary Anderson v Razma/Jiwa
James Wade v J Williams/Bialecki
Luke Humphries v Brown/Hempel
Vincent van der Voort v Menzies/Portela
Friday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan v Hughes/Hendriks
Chris Dobey v Kleermaker/Han
Ross Smith v O’Shea/Labanauskas
Rob Cross v S Williams/Joyce
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Martin Schindler v Lukeman/Yamamoto
Danny Noppert v Edhouse/Cameron
Jonny Clayton v Beaton/Van Trijp
Joe Cullen v Evans/Sherrock
Tuesday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Van den Bergh/Rodriguez/Ilagan v Ratajski/Jansen/Nebrida
Aspinall/Krcmar/T Suzuki v Rydz/Rock/Justicia
Clayton/Beaton/Van Trijp v Dolan/Hughes/Hendriks
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Wade/J Williams/Bialecki v Clemens/O'Connor/Greaves
Price/Woodhouse/Omelchenko v Van Barneveld/Meikle/Ashton
Wright/Mansell/Robb v Huybrechts/Barry/Sampson
Wednesday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Searle/Gawlas/Burnett v De Sousa/Whitlock/Perez
Noppert/Edhouse/Cameron v Gurney/Soutar/Cuming
Anderson/Razma/Jiwa v Dobey/Kleermaker/Han
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Cullen/Evans/Sherrock v Heta/Lewis/Larsson
Van Gerwen/Zonneveld/L Williams v Suljovic/De Decker/J Smith
M Smith/Wattimena/Rafferty v Schindler/Lukeman/Yamamoto
Thursday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Van Duijvenbode/Sedlacek/Ray Smith v Ross Smith/O'Shea/Labanauskas
Cross/S Williams/Joyce v King/Campbell/Baggish
Chisnall/Gilding/Owen v Bunting/Nentjes/Gates
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Humphries/K Brown/Hempel v Van der Voort/Menzies/Portela
Fourth Round games on December 29-30 TBC
Schedule of play subject to change. Any amendments will be advised at pdc.tv and through the OfficialPDC social media channels.
Format
First Round - Best of five sets
Second Round - Best of five sets
Third Round - Best of seven sets
Fourth Round - Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 11 sets
Final - Best of 13 sets
Tie-Breaks
First Round matches will not have a tie-break; if the fifth set reaches two-all in legs, then the fifth leg will be sudden-death.
From the second round onwards, there will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played.
There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.
Prize Fund
Winner - £500,000
Runner-Up - £200,000
Semi-Finalists - £100,000
Quarter-Finalists - £50,000
Fourth Round - £35,000
Third Round - £25,000
Second Round - £15,000
First Round - £7,500
Total - £2,500,000
Nine-Dart Bonus
A £100,000 prize is on offer from PDC partner Selco for the first player to hit two nine-dart finishes in the event, which would be split as £50,000 to the player, £25,000 to Selco’s charity partner (Cancer Research UK) and £25,000 to a fan who registers via www.selcobw.com/info/100kdarts.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
