The schedule of play for the first and second rounds of the 2020/21 William Hill World Darts Championship has been confirmed, with reigning champion Peter Wright to compete on the opening night on Tuesday December 15.
The pre-Christmas period in the sport's greatest tournament will see the first and second rounds played across nine days from December 15-23.
The schedule of play has now been confirmed for the pre-Christmas period, which will include Wright's clash with Steve West or Amit Gilitwala on the opening night.
An exciting first session will also see Steve Beaton compete in his record 30th successive World Championship as he plays Brazi'ls Diogo Portela, while Canada's Jeff Smith takes on Irish prospect Keane Barry.
The second day of action on Wednesday December 16 will feature a double session, including seeded stars Glen Durrant and Chris Dobey, as well as Adam Hunt's tie with four-time Women's World Champion Lisa Ashton.
Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa and Daryl Gurney are the seeded stars competing on Thursday December 17, while Friday's double session will feature James Wade, Jamie Hughes and the first round tie between Luke Humphries and Paul Lim.
World number one Michael van Gerwen opens his challenge to win a fourth World Championship on Saturday December 19, on a day while will also feature Women's Series Qualifier Deta Hedman's tie with Andy Boulton and Scott Waites' Alexandra Palace debut.
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson takes to the stage on Sunday December 20, with Dutch stars Vincent van der Voort and Jeffrey de Zwaan also in action as the first round concludes.
Third seed Gerwyn Price opens his challenge to improve on his semi-final run 12 months ago on Monday December 21, with Ian White, Krzysztof Ratajski and Gabriel Clemens also competing.
A double session of second round action on Tuesday December 22 will feature World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh and former World Champions Adrian Lewis and Rob Cross.
The second round will conclude across two sessions on Wednesday December 23, when top ten stars Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Dave Chisnall are amongst the stars in action.
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final being held from January 1-3.
Tickets for the William Hill World Darts Championship are now on General Sale from SeeTickets, with up to 1,000 fans able to attend per session under specific regulations.
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All fans are required to read the FAQ at this link detailing the specific regulations the event is being staged under.
In a change from previous World Championship rules to reduce the possibility of sessions over-running, there will be no tie-break in any match. Should any deciding set reach two-all, the fifth leg would be the final leg.
Global coverage will be headlined by coverage on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel, while the PDC's international broadcast partners will include RTL7 in the Netherlands, DAZN in various territories, Fox Sports in Australia, Sky Sport in New Zealand, PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers and at matchroom.live.
PLAYERS SHOULD NOT MAKE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS UNTIL THEY RECEIVE FURTHER INFORMATION FROM THE PDC IN RELATION TO TESTING
Schedule of Play is subject to change at the discretion of the promoter.
2020/21 William Hill World Darts Championship
Session Schedule
Tuesday December 15 (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve West v Amit Gilitwala (R1)
Steve Beaton v Diogo Portela (R1)
Jeff Smith v Keane Barry (R1)
Peter Wright v West/Gilitwala (R2)
Wednesday December 16
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Joyce v Karel Sedlacek (R1)
Ross Smith v David Evans (R1)
William O’Connor v Niels Zonneveld (R1)
Chris Dobey v J Smith/Barry (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Max Hopp v Gordon Mathers (R1)
Callan Rydz v James Bailey (R1)
Adam Hunt v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Glen Durrant v Beaton/Portela (R2)
Thursday December 17
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Madars Razma v Toru Suzuki (R1)
Mike De Decker v Edward Foulkes (R1)
Ryan Murray v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
Daryl Gurney v O’Connor/Zonneveld (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Luke Woodhouse v Jamie Lewis (R1)
Ron Meulenkamp v Boris Krcmar (R1)
Ryan Searle v Danny Lauby (R1)
Jose de Sousa v R Smith/D Evans (R2)
Friday December 18
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mickey Mansell v Haupai Puha (R1)
Darius Labanauskas v Chengan Liu (R1)
Wayne Jones v Ciaran Teehan (R1)
Jamie Hughes v Hunt/Ashton (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Bradley Brooks (R1)
John Henderson v Marko Kantele (R1)
Luke Humphries v Paul Lim (R1)
James Wade v Rydz/Bailey (R2)
Saturday December 19
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Scott Waites v Matt Campbell (R1)
Kim Huybrechts v Di Zhuang (R1)
Mervyn King v Hopp/Mathers (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Andy Hamilton v Nico Kurz (R1)
Andy Boulton v Deta Hedman (R1)
Damon Heta v Danny Baggish (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Murray/Ilagan (R2)
Sunday December 20
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Derk Telnekes v Nick Kenny (R1)
Jason Lowe v Dmitriy Gorbunov (R1)
Maik Kuivenhoven v Matthew Edgar (R1)
Vincent van der Voort v Meulenkamp/Krcmar (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Martijn Kleermaker v Cameron Carolissen (R1)
Keegan Brown v Ryan Meikle (R1)
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Searle/Lauby (R2)
Gary Anderson v Razma/Suzuki (R2)
Monday December 21 (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski v Joyce/Sedlacek (R2)
Ian White v Huybrechts/Zhuang (R2)
Gerwyn Price v Woodhouse/J Lewis (R2)
Gabriel Clemens v Hamilton/Kurz (R2)
Tuesday December 22
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan v De Decker/Foulkes (R2)
Joe Cullen v Jones/Teehan (R2)
Simon Whitlock v Labanauskas/Liu (R2)
Adrian Lewis v Heta/Baggish (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Danny Noppert v Kleermaker/Carolissen (R2)
Devon Petersen v Lennon/Larsson (R2)
Rob Cross v Van Duijvenbode/Brooks (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Humphries/Lim (R2)
Wednesday December 23
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
4x Second Round
Ricky Evans v Mansell/Puha (R2)
Jonny Clayton v Henderson/Kantele (R2)
Stephen Bunting v Boulton/Hedman (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v Kuivenhoven/Edgar (R2)
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Dave Chisnall v Brown/Meikle (R2)
Jermaine Wattimena v Telnekes/Kenny (R2)
Nathan Aspinall v Waites/Campbell (R2)
Michael Smith v Lowe/Gorbunov (R2)
Sunday December 27
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Third Round
Monday December 28
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Third Round
Tuesday December 29
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Wednesday December 30
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Friday January 1
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1800 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday January 2 (1800 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Sunday January 3 (1930 GMT)
Final
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
There will be no tie-break in any match. Should any deciding set reach two-all, the fifth leg would be the final leg.