THE draw for the preliminary round of the William Hill World Darts Championship has been made, following the completion of the field for the sport's greatest tournament.
With 72 players set to contest this year's £1.5 million tournament at London's Alexandra Palace from December 17-January 3, the preliminary round sees eight ties take place involving the International Qualifiers from around the world.
This year sees preliminary round games held over the best of three sets following the continued growth of the sport worldwide, with the final name to be confirmed following Monday's PDPA Qualifier.
The winner of the PDPA Qualifier will enter the first round directly, with the runner-up set to face Denmark's Per Laursen in the preliminary round.
Finland's Kim Viljanen, who joined Laursen in qualifying from the Scandinavian Darts Corporation's circuit, has drawn Dutch debutant Sven Groen, who won a PDC Unicorn Development Tour event in October.
Veteran star Paul Lim, the Singapore star who hit a nine-darter in 1990, will play in his 21st World Championship against Russian debutant Aleksandr Oreshkin.
New Zealand number one Rob Szabo faces Austrian debutant Michael Rasztovits, while South African newcomer Warrick Scheffer meets Greek qualifier John Michael.
Ireland's Mick McGowan makes his World Championship return against Chinese debutant Qiang Sun, while Japan's Keita Ono drew Philippines qualifier Alex Tagarao and Thailand's Thanawat Gaweenuntawong meets German newcomer Rene Eidams.
The first round draw for the William Hill World Darts Championship will be made at 10.30am on Monday November 30, live on Sky Sports News in the UK. Stay tuned to www.pdc.tv and www.twitter.com/OfficialPDC for the draw as it happens.
William Hill World Darts Championship
Preliminary Round
Michael Rasztovits (Austria) v Rob Szabo (New Zealand)
Keita Ono (Japan) v Alex Tagarao (Philippines)
Warrick Scheffer (South Africa) v John Michael (Greece)
Qiang Sun (China) v Mick McGowan (Ireland)
Aleksandr Oreshkin (Russia) v Paul Lim (Singapore)
Kim Viljanen (Finland) v Sven Groen (Netherlands)
PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up v Per Laursen (Denmark)
Thanawat Gaweenuntawong (Thailand) v Rene Eidams (Germany)