PHIL TAYLOR will face Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the 2008 Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship.
The 13-time World Champion will face one of the top young talents in the sport at Alexandra Palace after being drawn against teenage Dutchman van Gerwen.
The draw, made live on Sky Sports News on Monday, saw current World Champion Raymond van Barneveld drawn against either Japan's Akihiro Nakagawa or Barbados' Anthony Forde to open the defence of his title.
Dutch stars Vincent van der Voort and 2006 Lakeside Champion Jelle Klaasen meet in another high-profile First Round clash, while Irish duo Mick McGowan and Jason Barry also face off.
Bristol-born pair Chris Mason and debutant Steve Brown also come head-to-head.
The first round sees the top 32 players from the PDC Order of Merit drawn against the PDPA Qualifiers and International Representatives.
The field of International Representatives has been expanded to 20 players this year, with eight initially competing in a Preliminary Round.
The Preliminary Round draw has been made ahead of the full tournament draw to be made on Monday, with PDPA Board member Alan Warriner-Little pulling the numbers out of the velvet bag.
The four best-of-nine leg matches will be played on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 December, and includes Japanese debutant Akihiro Nakagawa taking on Barbados' Anthony Forde, the Caribbean & South American Masters winner.
Two representatives of new countries to appear in the World Championship, Philippines' Rizal 'Jojo' Barellano and Miloslav Navratil, will clash.
New Zealand National Champion Alan Bolton takes on Dutchman Erwin Extercatte, while returning Chinese champion Shi Yongsheng takes on Indian number one Ashfaque Sayed.
Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship
Preliminary Round Draw
Akihiro Nakagawa (Japan) v Anthony Forde (Barbados)
Rizal Barellano (Philippines) v Miloslav Navtratil (Czech Republic)
Alan Bolton (New Zealand) v Erwin Extercatte (Holland)
Ashfaque Sayed (India) v Shi Yongsheng (China)
First Round Draw (bracket order to appear shortly)
Phil Taylor (1) v Michael van Gerwen
Adrian Gray (32) v Mark Walsh
Andy Jenkins (16) v Barellano/Navratil
Alan Tabern (17) v Per Laursen
Roland Scholten (8) v Matt Clark
Mervyn King (25) v German Qualifier 2
Wayne Mardle (9) v Ray Carver
Wes Newton (24) v Jamie Caven
Peter Manley (5) v Toon Greebe
Alan Warriner-Little (28) v Sayed/Yongsheng
Colin Lloyd (12) v Jan van der Rassel
Denis Ovens (21) v Colin Monk
Terry Jenkins (4) v Kirk Shepherd
Mick McGowan (29) v Jason Barry
Barrie Bates (13) v Gerry Convery
Colin Osborne (20) v Bolton/Extercatte
Raymond van Barneveld (2) v Nakagawa/Forde
Bob Anderson (31) v Jason Clark
Kevin Painter (15) v Gary Mawson
Chris Mason (18) v Steve Brown
Adrian Lewis (7) v Dave Askew
Vincent van der Voort (26) v Jelle Klaasen
Dennis Priestley (10) v Steve Maish
Wayne Jones (23) v Tony Eccles
Andy Hamilton (6) v Leroy Kwaidjk
Alex Roy (27) v Warren Parry
John Part (11) v Charles Losper
Andy Smith (22) v German Qualifier 1
James Wade (3) v Steve MacArthur
Steve Beaton (30) v Steve Evans
Ronnie Baxter (14) v Dan Olson
Mark Dudbridge (19) v Steve Hine
The schedule of play will be announced in due course