Peter Wright will begin his Cazoo World Darts Championship title defence on the opening night of the 2022/23 event, with the schedule of play for the first and second rounds now confirmed.
The pre-Christmas period in the sport’s showpiece event will feature a festive feast of darts at Alexandra Palace, as the first and second rounds are played across nine days from December 15-23.
The tournament’s opening night will see reigning champion Wright begin his bid for a third Sid Waddell Trophy against either Northern Ireland’s Mickey Mansell or New Zealand’s Ben Robb, who will open proceedings on Thursday December 15.
Thursday’s action will see also see UK Open semi-finalist Keane Barry face South African debutant Grant Sampson, while quick-fire Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena plays emerging star Nathan Rafferty.
The first double session of this year’s World Championship will take place on Friday December 16, as two-time runner-up Michael Smith takes on either Wattimena or Rafferty in his opener.
Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis faces Sweden’s Daniel Larsson in the afternoon session, before eight-time PDC Women’s Series winner Beau Greaves makes her highly-anticipated Ally Pally bow against William O’Connor in Friday’s evening session.
Belgian number one Dimitri Van den Bergh and World Youth Champion Josh Rock headline the action on Saturday December 17, while former finalist Simon Whitlock, Daryl Gurney and Lisa Ashton also feature.
Two-time semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall gets his campaign underway on Sunday December 18, on a day which includes a potential second round showdown between World Cup winner Damon Heta and Stoke star Lewis.
World number one Gerwyn Price is set to begin his bid for a second World Championship crown on Monday December 19, with the Welshman up against Luke Woodhouse or Ukrainian debutant Vladyslav Omelchenko in round two.
Monday’s play will also see Steve Beaton mark his 32nd consecutive World Championship appearance with a tie against Dutch youngster Danny van Trijp, while former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa meets Whitlock or PDC Asian Champion Christian Perez.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld enters the fray on Tuesday December 20, and the Dutch legend will begin his 30th World Championship campaign against Ryan Meikle or four-time Women’s World Champion Ashton.
Women’s World Matchplay winner Fallon Sherrock also opens her challenge on a blockbuster Tuesday night, as she takes on Ricky Evans for the right to play Joe Cullen in the second round.
The first round draws to a close on Wednesday December 21, on a day when three-time champion Michael van Gerwen begins his bid to end a stunning year by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time since 2019.
St Helens duo Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting will also be in action, while Germany’s number one Gabriel Clemens plays O’Connor or Greaves in round two, after last year’s quarter-finalist Callan Rydz features in the afternoon session.
Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson headlines a star-studded double session on Thursday December 22, which also includes ten-time TV title winner James Wade and fifth seed Luke Humphries.
The second round will conclude across two sessions on Friday December 23, when 2018 World Champion Rob Cross, seventh seed Jonny Clayton and Masters champion Cullen are among the high-profile names 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 taking place from January 1-3.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Thursday December 15 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mickey Mansell v Ben Robb (R1)
Keane Barry v Grant Sampson (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena v Nathan Rafferty (R1)
Peter Wright v Mansell/Robb (R2)
Friday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Alan Soutar v Mal Cuming (R1)
Boris Krcmar v Toru Suzuki (R1)
Adrian Lewis v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Kim Huybrechts v Barry/Sampson (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
William O‘Connor v Beau Greaves (R1)
Keegan Brown v Florian Hempel (R1)
Michael Smith v Wattimena/Rafferty (R2)
Saturday December 17
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Martin Lukeman v Nobuhiro Yamamoto (R1)
Simon Whitlock v Christian Perez (R1)
Adam Gawlas v Richie Burnett (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Soutar/Cuming (R2)
Evening Session (2000 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Meikle v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Diogo Portela (R1)
Josh Rock v Jose Justicia (R1)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Rodriguez/Ilagan (R2)
Sunday December 18
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Madars Razma v Prakash Jiwa (R1)
Karel Sedlacek v Raymond Smith (R1)
Luke Woodhouse v Vladyslav Omelchenko (R1)
Damon Heta v Lewis/Larsson (R2)
Evening Session (2000 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mike De Decker v Jeff Smith (R1)
Scott Williams v Ryan Joyce (R1)
Matt Campbell v Danny Baggish (R1)
Nathan Aspinall v Krcmar/Suzuki (R2)
Monday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Andrew Gilding v Robert Owen (R1)
Danny Jansen v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Niels Zonneveld v Lewy Williams (R1)
Jose de Sousa v Whitlock/Perez (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Geert Nentjes v Leonard Gates (R1)
Ritchie Edhouse v David Cameron (R1)
Steve Beaton v Danny van Trijp (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Woodhouse/Omelchenko (R2)
Tuesday December 20 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jim Williams v Sebastian Bialecki (R1)
Jamie Hughes v Jimmy Hendriks (R1)
Ricky Evans v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Meikle/Ashton (R2)
Wednesday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
John O’Shea v Darius Labanauskas (R1)
Martijn Kleermaker v Xicheng Han (R1)
Callan Rydz v Rock/Justicia (R2)
Dave Chisnall v Gilding/Owen (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Mervyn King v Campbell/Baggish (R2)
Gabriel Clemens v O‘Connor/Greaves (R2)
Michael van Gerwen v Zonneveld/L Williams (R2)
Stephen Bunting v Nentjes/Gates (R2)
Thursday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jansen/Nebrida (R2)
Ryan Searle v Gawlas/Burnett (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v De Decker/J Smith (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Sedlacek/R Smith (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Gary Anderson v Razma/Jiwa (R2)
James Wade v J Williams/Bialecki (R2)
Luke Humphries v Brown/Hempel (R2)
Vincent van der Voort v Menzies/Portela (R2)
Friday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan v Hughes/Hendriks (R2)
Chris Dobey v Kleermaker/Han (R2)
Ross Smith v O’Shea/Labanauskas (R2)
Rob Cross v S Williams/Joyce (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Martin Schindler v Lukeman/Yamamoto (R2)
Danny Noppert v Edhouse/Cameron (R2)
Jonny Clayton v Beaton/Van Trijp (R2)
Joe Cullen v Evans/Sherrock (R2)
Tuesday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Wednesday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Thursday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Friday December 30
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Sunday January 1
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Monday January 2 (1930 GMT)
2x Semi-Finals
Tuesday 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 2-2 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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