Monday 30 November 2015 15:42, UK
Gary Anderson will open the defence of his William Hill World Darts Championship title against Denmark's Per Laursen or the runner-up from the PDPA qualifying event.
A total of 72 players will converge on Alexandra Palace in London from December 17, with 71 of them determined to take the PDC crown Anderson won in the first week of 2015.
Anderson is second seed for this year's tournament behind Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen, the 2014 champion, who will start his campaign against Thanawat Gaweenuntawong of Thailand or Germany's Rene Eidams,
The defending champion told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm never happy with a first round draw. Per I know quite well, he has been on the circuit for a long, long time. And now I'll be keeping a close eye on the qualifier as well.
"It's been a busy year, a great year. I've been all over the world and it's been absolutely fantastic. Now these next two weeks I'll be on the practice board trying to get this [the trophy] back.
"Michael is getting a bit greedy, he's winning everything now. He's playing well and he is going to take some beating. We've still got Phil (Taylor), and Adrian (Lewis) is coming on to his game, but Michael is the favourite."
Van Gerwen agrees with Anderson about his position as favourite, as he added: "I think I am playing better than I ever did in my life. The hard work is paying off and I am delighted to be in this form. I just hope it can continue to the World Championship because that is the main one.
"I don't know anything about them (Gaweenuntawong and Eidams) but that can be dangerous because you don't know how they play I need to make sure I am 200 per cent focused and play really well in that game.
"I'm going to do everything I can to try and get this title back and I cannot afford to make any mistakes, like I did last year."
Third seed Taylor, who will be looking to add to his 14 PDC titles, starts off against either Japan's Keita Ono or Alex Tagarao from the Philippines.
Peter Wright faces one of the tougher first round draws, having been paired against England's Keegan Brown, who gave 2011 and 2012 champion Adrian Lewis a scare or two in last year's second round.
Lewis faces Dutchman Jan Dekker and there is a potentially tasty all-Netherlands clash between 2007 champion Raymond van Barneveld and first-time entrant Dirk van Duijvenbode.
William Hill World Championship first round draw:
Wes Newton (Eng) v Cristo Reyes (Esp)
John Henderson (Sco) v Darren Webster (Eng)
Mervyn King (Eng) v Aleksandr Oreshkin (Rus)/Paul Lim (Sin)
Peter Wright (Sco) v Keegan Brown (Eng)
Vincent van der Voort (Ned) v Laurence Ryder (Aus)
Kevin Painter (Eng) v Kim Viljanen (Fin)/Sven Groen (Ned)
James Wade (Eng) v Warrick Scheffer (Rsa)/John Michael (Gre)
Stephen Bunting (Eng) v Jyhan Artut (Ger)
Robert Thornton (Sco) v Alan Norris (Eng)
Mark Webster (Wal) v Qiang Sun (Chi)/Mick McGowan (Irl)
Jamie Caven (Eng) v Michael Rasztovits (Aut)/Rob Szabo (NZ)
Gary Anderson (Sco) v PDPA Qualifier runner-up/Per Laursen (Den)
Benito van de Pas (Ned) v Max Hopp (Ger)
Jelle Klaasen (Ned) v Joe Cullen (Eng)
Jamie Lewis (Wal) v Daryl Gurney (NIr)
Ian White (Eng) v Dimitri van den Bergh (Bel)
Phil Taylor (Eng) v Keita Ono (Jpn)/Alex Tagarao (Phi)
Simon Whitlock (Aus) v PDPA Qualifier winner
Dave Chisnall (Eng) v Rowby-John Rodriguez (Aut)
Brendan Dolan (NIr) v Kyle Anderson (Aus)
Justin Pipe (Eng) v Christian Kist (Ned)
Michael Smith (Eng) v Jeffrey de Zwaan (Ned)
Adrian Lewis (Eng) v Jan Dekker (Ned)
Michael van Gerwen (Ned) v Thanawat Gaweenuntawong (Tha)/Rene Eidams (Ger)
Raymond van Barneveld (Ned) v Dirk van Duijvenbode (Ned)
Kim Huybrechts (Bel) v David Pallett (Eng)
Dean Winstanley (Eng) v Ronny Huybrechts (Bel)
Steve Beaton (Eng) v Koha Kokiri (Nzl)
Andrew Gilding (Eng) v Gerwyn Price (Wal)
Terry Jenkins (Eng) v Darin Young (USA)
Mensur Suljovic (Aut) v Jermaine Wattimena (Ned)
Andy Hamilton (Eng) v Joe Murnan (Eng)
Watch the PDC World Championship live on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel, which will replace Sky Sports F1 from 6.00am on Monday December 14.
All live sessions will also be simulcast on Sky Sports 1, 2 or 3. Non-subscribers can also enjoy daily, weekly or monthly access to Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports other six channels contract-free with NOW TV.
Live coverage of the 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship will be presented by Dave Clark who will be joined in the studio by three-time World Champion John Part, Wayne Mardle and former World Champions Eric Bristow and Rod Harrington.
Sky Sports will offer unrivalled live coverage of the 2016 William Hill Darts World Championship across TV, online and via mobile and tablet devices with Sky Go.
