PHIL TAYLOR will begin the defence of his Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship title against Gary Mawson or Juanito Gionson on Thursday December 16.
Taylor - the 15-time World Champion - drew the winner of the preliminary round clash between American number two Mawson and Philippines national champion Gionson for his opener in this year's £1 million event at Alexandra Palace in London.
Taylor will compete on the opening night of the event on December 16, with the world's biggest tournament coming to a climax on Monday January 3 2011, when the two finalists compete for the £200,000 first prize.
World number two James Wade drew Spanish debutant Antonio Alcinas, while five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, the number three seed, will play Steve Hine.
Simon Whitlock, the Australian who has moved up to fourth in the PDC Order of Merit since reaching last year's final at Alexandra Palace, plays Wales' Steve Evans, and 2010 semi-finalist Mark Webster drew Steve Maish.
The 72-player event features the PDC's top 32 alonside 40 qualifiers who have won their place through the series of 37 Players Championships held around this year or international knockouts.
Holland's Roland Scholten won the West Europe Qualifier and plays Finland's Veijo Viinikka, with the winner going on to face number eight seed Ronnie Baxter.
John Part, the three-time World Champion who took the 2008 title at Alexandra Palace, could face Taylor in round two should he overcome Per Laursen or Boris Krcmar.
Adrian Lewis drew Tony Eccles, Terry Jenkins faces debutant Joe Cullen, Colin Lloyd faces Germany's Andree Welge and Mervyn King comes up against either Magnus Caris or Dietmar Burger.
Debutants Steve Farmer, Nigel Heydon and Mark Hylton will take on Paul Nicholson, Robert Thornton and Steve Beaton respectively, while PDPA Qualifier Alex Roy drew 2005 finalist Mark Dudbridge in another tasty encounter.
The first round will be played from December 16-23, with the last 32 returning after Christmas to compete in the remainder of the event.
The schedule of play will be confirmed in due course at www.pdc.tv.
Tickets for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship are still available from www.seetickets.com/darts or via 0871 220 0260.
Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship
Preliminary Round Draw
Magnus Caris (Sweden) v Dietmar Burger (Austria)
Devon Petersen (South Africa) v Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
Gary Mawson (USA) v Juanito Gionson (Philippines)
Michael Mansell (Northern Ireland) v Preston Ridd (New Zealand)
Roland Scholten (Netherlands) v Veijo Viinikka (Finland)
Jyhan Artut (Germany) v Scott Mackenzie (Hong Kong)
Per Laursen (Denmark) v Boris Krcmar (Croatia)
Matt Padgett (England) v Morihiro Hashimoto (Japan)
First Round Draw Bracket
Phil Taylor (1) v Mawson/Gionson
John Part (32) v Laursen/Krcmar
Paul Nicholson (16) v Steve Farmer
Co Stompe (17) v Peter Wright
Ronnie Baxter (8) v Scholten/Viinikka
Mark Webster (25) v Steve Maish
Colin Lloyd (9) v Andree Welge
Steve Beaton (24) v Mark Hylton
Adrian Lewis (5) v Tony Eccles
Mark Dudbridge (28) v Alex Roy
Andy Hamilton (12) v Dennis Smith
Robert Thornton (21) v Nigel Heydon
Simon Whitlock (4) v Steve Evans
Denis Ovens (29) v Artut/Mackenzie
Wayne Jones (13) v Kirk Shepherd (who replaced Rob Modra on Dec 14)
Vincent van der Voort (20 v Mansell/Ridd
James Wade (2) v Antonio Alcinas
Michael van Gerwen (31) v Mensur Suljovic
Wes Newton (15) v Darin Young
Kevin Painter (18) v Brendan Dolan
Terry Jenkins (7) v Joe Cullen
Jelle Klaasen (26) v Steve Brown
Mark Walsh (10) v Justin Pipe
Alan Tabern (23) v Richie Burnett
Mervyn King (6) v Caris/Burger
Andy Smith (27) v Shane Tichowitsch
Gary Anderson (11) v Padgett/Hashimoto
Dennis Priestley (22) v Bernd Roith
Raymond van Barneveld (3) v Steve Hine
Barrie Bates (30) v Kevin McDine
Colin Osborne (14) v Chris Thompson
Jamie Caven (19) v Petersen/Madhoo
Tickets for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship are available through www.seetickets.com/darts or via 0871 220 0260 (calls cost 10p per minute from a BT landline)
Overseas Bookings
Fans booking tickets from outside the UK can call 0044 115 912 9000.
Ticket Limits
Tickets for table seats will be limited to six per person per session.
Group Bookings
Group Bookings will be able to be made for tiered seating for all sessions apart from the semi-finals and final. The Group Booking number is 0844 412 4650 (calls to this number cost 5p per minute from a BT landline).
Family Enclosure/Disabled Spectators
Tickets for a dedicated Family Enclosure will be available. Any customers bringing children under the age of 16 are strongly recommended to use this section and to specify this when ordering tickets.
An area is also reserved for disabled spectators - please also specify your requirements when booking.
Hospitality Packages
Hospitality packages are now only available for January 1 - click here for information
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