Luke Humphries will begin the defence of his Paddy Power World Darts Championship title against either Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito, after the draw for the sport’s flagship event was made in London on Monday.
Humphries stormed to his maiden World Championship crown with a 7-4 victory over Luke Littler in January, winning five consecutive sets to defeat the teenage sensation in a record-breaking final at Alexandra Palace.
The world number one will face either French trailblazer Tricole or Australian qualifier Comito on his return to the capital, as he bids to emulate Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in becoming only the fourth player to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy.
The draw, which was conducted live on Sky Sports News by Wayne Mardle, Mark Webster and Emma Paton, sees the top 32 players from the PDC Order of Merit seeded through to round two.
Meanwhile, the first round action will see the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers up against the International Representatives, as they battle for the right to take on the seeded stars.
Last year’s runner-up Littler could take on Fallon Sherrock in a blockbuster second round showdown, with the Milton Keynes star kicking off her fifth World Championship campaign against Suffolk star Ryan Meikle.
Three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen has been pitted against debutant James Hurrell or Canadian veteran Jim Long, while 2023 World Champion Michael Smith will play the winner of the all-Dutch affair between Kevin Doets and Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
2018 World Champion Rob Cross will play last year’s semi-finalist Scott Williams or German prospect Niko Springer in round two, as 2021 winner Gerwyn Price goes up against 2012 quarter-finalist Kim Huybrechts or Irish ace Keane Barry.
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson opens his challenge against Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting, who will become the first player from the Bahamas to compete in the sport’s showpiece event.
Anderson’s fellow Scot Peter Wright - also a two-time World Championship winner - will be aiming to return to winning ways on the big stage when he takes on Wesley Plaisier or Ryusei Azemoto - both of whom are making their debuts this year.
Scottish star Cameron Menzies and CDC Continental Cup champion Leonard Gates will go head-to-head for the right to meet former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall - a two-time semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace.
2007 champion Raymond van Barneveld will enter the tournament at the second round stage, as Nick Kenny and Stowe Buntz lock horns for the right to take on the Dutch icon.
Luke Woodhouse or Lourence llagan will await World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker in round two, while European Champion Ritchie Edhouse gets his campaign underway against Ian White or Sandro Eric Sosing.
Ten-time TV title winner James Wade faces European Championship runner-up Jermaine Wattimena or Swiss star Stefan Bellmont, with emerging Dutchman Wessel Nijman handed a potential clash against Joe Cullen, if he overcomes South Africa’s Cameron Carolissen in round one.
The 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship will take place at London's Alexandra Palace from December 15-January 3, and the schedule of play will be confirmed in due course.
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).
2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Draw Bracket - Second Round Onwards
(1) Luke Humphries v Thibault Tricole/Joe Comito
(32) Raymond van Barneveld v Nick Kenny/Stowe Buntz
(16) James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena/Stefan Bellmont
(17) Peter Wright v Wesley Plaisier/Ryusei Azemoto
(8) Stephen Bunting v Alan Soutar/Kai Gotthardt
(25) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma/Christian Kist
(9) Damon Heta v Connor Scutt/Ben Robb
(24) Mike De Decker v Luke Woodhouse/Lourence Ilagan
(4) Luke Littler v Ryan Meikle/Fallon Sherrock
(29) Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White/Sandro Eric Sosing
(13) Danny Noppert v Ryan Joyce/Darius Labanauskas
(20) Ryan Searle v Mensur Suljovic/Matt Campbell
(5) Rob Cross v Scott Williams/Niko Springer
(28) Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko/Xiaochen Zong
(12) Nathan Aspinall v Cameron Menzies/Leonard Gates
(21) Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman/Nitin Kumar
(2) Michael Smith v Kevin Doets/Noa-Lynn van Leuven
(31) Krzysztof Ratajski v Richard Veenstra/Alexis Toylo
(15) Chris Dobey v Stephen Burton/Alexander Merkx
(18) Josh Rock v Karel Sedlacek/Rhys Griffin
(7) Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell/Tomoya Goto
(26) Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel/Jeffrey De Zwaan
(10) Gerwyn Price v Kim Huybrechts/Keane Barry
(23) Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman/Cameron Carolissen
(3) Michael van Gerwen v James Hurrell/Jim Long
(30) Brendan Dolan v Chris Landman/Lok Yin Lee
(14) Gary Anderson v Jeffrey de Graaf/Rashad Sweeting
(19) Ross Smith v Jim Williams/Paolo Nebrida
(6) Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans/Gordon Mathers
(27) Gabriel Clemens v Niels Zonneveld/Robert Owen
(11) Dimitri Van den Bergh v William O'Connor/Dylan Slevin
(22) Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz/Romeo Grbavac