Gerwyn Price will begin his William Hill World Darts Championship title defence on the opening night of the 2021/22 event, with the schedule of play for the first and second rounds confirmed.
The pre-Christmas period in the sport’s biggest tournament will see the first and second rounds played across nine days from December 15-23 as fans are welcomed back to London’s Alexandra Palace.
The opening night on Wednesday December 15 will see world number one Price face the winner of Ritchie Edhouse v Lihao Wen, which will be the first game to grace the iconic Ally Pally stage.
An eagerly-anticipated first session will also see two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis up against Canada’s Matt Campbell, while speedster Ricky Evans takes on India’s Nitin Kumar.
Thursday December 16 will see the first double session, as two-time winner Gary Anderson plays either Lewis – in a possible rematch of two previous finals – or Campbell, and Lisa Ashton meets Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp.
World number two Peter Wright will begin his quest for a second Ally Pally title in three years against either Ryan Meikle or 16-year-old German Fabian Schmutzler on Friday December 17, which will also see 67-year-old legend Paul Lim in action.
Saturday December 18 will see Michael van Gerwen open his challenge to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a fourth time against Chas Barstow or John Norman Jnr.
Fallon Sherrock will face Steve Beaton on Sunday December 19 as she returns to the stage where she famously became the first woman to win at the PDC’s World Championship two years ago.
A blockbuster Sunday evening session will also see the most successful player of 2021 Jonny Clayton in action against Keane Barry or Royden Lam and the all-German tie between Florian Hempel and Martin Schindler.
Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld will make his Alexandra Palace return on Monday December 20 against Lourence Ilagan, before three-time semi-finalist James Wade begins his campaign.
Tuesday December 21 will see the first round draw to a close, while 2018/19 runner-up Michael Smith and two-time quarter-finalist Dimitri Van den Bergh will be in second round action.
A double session of second round action on Wednesday December 22 will feature former runner-up Simon Whitlock, two-time semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall and two-time quarter-finalist Luke Humphries
The second round will conclude across two sessions on Thursday December 23, when former champion Rob Cross and world number seven Jose de Sousa are among the stars in action.
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final being held from January 1-3.
Tickets for some sessions remain available through SeeTickets. Hospitality Packages are available through this link, and Hotel & Ticket Breaks are available through Sportsbreaks.com.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).
2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Wednesday December 15 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ritchie Edhouse v Lihao Wen (R1)
Ricky Evans v Nitin Kumar (R1)
Adrian Lewis v Matt Campbell (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Edhouse/Wen (R2)
Thursday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon v Madars Razma (R1)
Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman (R1)
Chas Barstow v John Norman Jnr (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Evans/Kumar (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
William O’Connor v Danny Lauby (R1)
Ryan Meikle v Fabian Schmutzler (R1)
Ron Meulenkamp v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Gary Anderson v Lewis/Campbell (R2)
Friday December 17
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Joyce v Roman Benecky (R1)
Keane Barry v Royden Lam (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena v Boris Koltsov (R1)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Lennon/Razma (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Joe Murnan v Paul Lim (R1)
William Borland v Bradley Brooks (R1)
Ross Smith v Jeff Smith (R1)
Peter Wright v Meikle/Schmutzler (R2)
Saturday December 18
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jamie Hughes v Raymond Smith (R1)
Callan Rydz v Yuki Yamada (R1)
Darius Labanauskas v Charles Losper (R1)
Ian White v Mitchell/Landman (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Adam Hunt v Boris Krcmar (R1)
Ted Evetts v Jim Williams (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Nick Kenny (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Barstow/Norman Jnr (R2)
Sunday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Maik Kuivenhoven v Ky Smith (R1)
Jason Heaver v Juan Francisco Rodriguez (R1)
Alan Soutar v Diogo Portela (R1)
Stephen Bunting v Ross Smith/J Smith (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Martijn Kleermaker v John Michael (R1)
Florian Hempel v Martin Schindler (R1)
Steve Beaton v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Jonny Clayton v Barry/Lam (R2)
Monday December 20 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Luke Woodhouse v James Wilson (R1)
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez v Ben Robb (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
James Wade v Kuivenhoven/K Smith (R2)
Tuesday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Lewy Williams v Toyokazu Shibata (R1)
Jason Lowe v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Mervyn King v Joyce/Benecky (R2)
Dave Chisnall v Labanauskas/Losper (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Vincent van der Voort v Hunt/Krcmar (R2)
Michael Smith v Meulenkamp/Ashton (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Hempel/Schindler (R2)
Devon Petersen v Hughes/Raymond Smith (R2)
Wednesday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Ryan Searle v Borland/Brooks (R2)
Glen Durrant v O’Connor/Lauby (R2)
Luke Humphries v Rowby-John Rodriguez/Kenny (R2)
Joe Cullen v Evetts/J Williams (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Nathan Aspinall v Murnan/Lim (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Wattimena/Koltsov (R2)
Kim Huybrechts v Beaton/Sherrock (R2)
Simon Whitlock v Kleermaker/Michael (R2)
Thursday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Damon Heta v Woodhouse/Wilson (R2)
Brendan Dolan v Rydz/Yamada (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v Soutar/Portela (R2)
Jose de Sousa v Lowe/Larsson (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Danny Noppert v Heaver/Jose Francisco Rodriguez (R2)
Gabriel Clemens v L Williams/Shibata (R2)
Rob Cross v Van Barneveld/Ilagan (R2)
Chris Dobey v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez/Robb (R2)
Monday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Tuesday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Wednesday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Thursday December 30
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Saturday January 1
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Sunday January 2 (1930 GMT)
2x Semi-Finals
Monday January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final
*Schedule subject to change
Format
First Round – Best of five sets
Second Round – Best of five sets
Third Round – Best of seven sets
Fourth Round – Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals – Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals – Best of 11 sets
Final – Best of 13 sets
Tie-Breaks
First Round matches will not have a tie-break; if the fifth set reaches two-all in legs, then the fifth leg will be sudden-death.
From the Second Round onwards, there will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played.
There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.
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