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The World Darts Championship returns in December as 96 international stars head to Alexandra Palace to compete for the Sid Waddell Trophy and claim the title of World Champion.
England’s Michael Smith is the current champion having defeated Michael van Gerwen 7-4 in the 2022/23 showpiece back in January this year. Those two players are seeded one and two respectively and will enter the competition in the second round as the tournament draw takes place today.
Fallon Sherrock has qualified for the tournament yet again and will learn who she faces in the opening round while the likes of Simon Whitlock and Luke Littler will be keen to discover their opponents. The draw will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News with Dennis Priestley and Phil Taylor on conducting duty.
The top 32 seeded players have protected status and join the tournament in the second round while the first round sees the 32 qualified Pro Tour players take on the international qualifiers.
Follow the World Darts Championship draw live below:
World Darts Championship draw
The World Darts Championship is the highest-profile tournament on the PDC circuit. It was founded in 1994 following the World Darts Council’s split from the BDO.
The Worlds traditionally starts in mid-December, with the final being played in the New Year. Officially, it is the first PDC tournament of the calendar year.
What is the tournament prize money?
As well as the Sid Waddell Trophy, there is £2.5m in prize money on offer for the World Darts Championship with the champion netting £500,000.
The runner-up earns a cool £200,000 while semi-finalist will pocket £100,000 each and those that reach the quarter-finals winning £50,000.
Fourth round and third round losers earn themselves £35,000 and £25,000 respectively while there is £15,000 on offer for the 32 players knocked out in the second round and the 32 first round losers will take away £7,500.
Who is in the draw?
International Qualifiers
- Luke Littler (England)
- Wessel Nijman (Netherlands)
- Berry van Peer (Netherlands)
- Owen Bates (England)
- Fallon Sherrock (England)
- Mikuru Suzuki (Japan)
- Marko Kantele (Finland)
- Jeffrey de Graaf (Sweden)
- Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
- Sandro Eric Sosing (Philippines)
- Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
- Tomoya Goto (Japan)
- Paolo Nebrida (Philippines)
- Reynaldo Rivera (Philippines)
- Man Lok Leung (Hong Kong)
- Darren Penhall (Australia)
- Ben Robb (New Zealand)
- Haupai Puha (New Zealand)
- Alex Spellman (USA)
- David Cameron (Canada)
- Stowe Buntz (USA)
- Thibault Tricole (France)
- Krzysztof Kciuk (Poland)
- Dragutin Horvat (Germany)
- Simon Adams (South Africa)
- Xiaochen Zong (China)
- Norman Madhoo (Guyana)
- Bhav Patel (India)
- Florian Hempel (Germany)
- Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (Austria)
- Darren Webster (England)
- Boris Krcmar (Croatia)
Who is in the draw?
ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers
- Ricardo Pietreczko (Germany)
- Gian van Veen (Netherlands)
- Ryan Joyce (England)
- Luke Woodhouse (England)
- Mike De Decker (Belgium)
- Ian White (England)
- Jim Williams (Wales)
- Mario Vandenbogaerde (Belgium)
- Radek Szaganski (Poland)
- Richard Veenstra (Netherlands)
- Steve Beaton (England)
- Keane Barry (Ireland)
- Simon Whitlock (Australia)
- Kevin Doets (Netherlands)
- Matt Campbell (Canada)
- Connor Scutt (England)
- Martin Lukeman (England)
- Mickey Mansell (Northern Ireland)
- Dylan Slevin (Ireland)
- Steve Lennon (Ireland)
- William O’Connor (Ireland)
- Scott Williams (England)
- Christian Kist (Netherlands)
- Ricky Evans (England)
- Cameron Menzies (Scotland)
- Lee Evans (England)
- Ritchie Edhouse (England)
- Jermaine Wattimena (Netherlands)
- Jules van Dongen (USA)
- Jamie Hughes (England)
- Niels Zonneveld (Netherlands)
- Keegan Brown (England)
Who is in the draw?
Top 32 seeded players
World Darts Championship draw
The World Darts Championship will be held from December 15, 2023 to January 3, 2024 at Alexandra Palace in London. The draw for the tournament will air on Sky Sports News from 4.30pm and can be streamed live on the Sky Sports website.
World Darts Championship draw
Good afternoon darts fans. Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s draw for the World Darts Championship 2023/24 as the 96 players involved in the tournament learn their fates.
There are 32 seeded players, based on the world rankings among other factors, who have protected status meaning they will enter the competition in the second round.
Meanwhile, the first round will be played between 32 Pro Tour players and 32 international qualifiers. The draw takes place at 4.30pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports News.
We’ll have all the updates from the draw so stick with us.
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