PDC World Championship: Defending champion Michael van Gerwen to face Joe Cullen in first round
Tuesday 2 December 2014 16:03, UK
Michael van Gerwen will begin his World Championship defence against Bradford youngster Joe Cullen.
The world No 1, who defeated Peter Wright in last year’s decider, was beaten by Cullen when they met at the Players Championship in Dublin last October.
"He’s a tough player," said Van Gerwen. "I can’t look ahead of him because in patches he can play really well.
"I played him once this year and lost so I won’t underestimate him. I’m going to practice really hard, make sure I don’t make any mistakes, and beat him."
Phil Taylor, the 16-time world champion, meets German qualifier Jyhan Artut, while three-time winner John Part faces a difficult match against 2014 World Youth Champion Keegan Brown.
Raymond van Barneveld has also been handed a tricky tie against Rowby-John Rodriguez, who is one of 24 debutants in the first-round draw.
Last year’s runner-up, Peter Wright, has been drawn against debutant Gerwyn Price, and there is a meeting of former Lakeside champions as 29th seed Jelle Klaasen meets fellow Dutchman Christian Kist.
Reigning BDO champion Stephen Bunting will make his Alexandra Palace bow against the winner of the preliminary round clash between Jermaine Wattimena and Robert Marijanovic.
Gary Anderson, who defeated Adrian Lewis in last weekend’s Players Championship Finals, will play Mark McGrath or Scott Kirchner, with Lewis drawn against debutant Dave Pallett.
The World Darts Championship is live on Sky Sports Darts from December 18.
First round draw (seeds in brackets)
Kim Huybrechts (18) v Mickey Mansell
Dave Chisnall (8) v Ryan de Vreede
Raymond van Barneveld (14) v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dean Winstanley (26) v Wayne Jones
Mark Webster (31) v Ron Meulenkamp
John Part (30) v Keegan Brown
Paul Nicholson (25) v Benito van de Pas
Jamie Caven (19) v Jason Hogg
Andy Smith (28) v Ronny Huybrechts
Jelle Klaasen (29) v Christian Kist
Andy Hamilton (12) v Dave Richardson
Adrian Lewis (3) v Dave Pallett
Gary Anderson (4) v Mark McGrath or Scott Kirchner
Terry Jenkins (16) v John Weber
Vincent van der Voort (23) v John Henderson
Robert Thornton (9) v Andrew Gilding
Simon Whitlock (7) v Darren Webster
Peter Wright (5) v Gerwyn Price
James Wade (6) v Jamie Lewis
Justin Pipe (17) v Lawrence Ryder
Steve Beaton (21) v Kyle Anderson
Stuart Kellett (32) v Kim Viljanen or Sascha Stein
Michael Smith (22) v Mensur Suljovic
Brendan Dolan (11) v Nolan Arendse or Alex Hon
Stephen Bunting (27) v Jermaine Wattimena or Robert Marijanovic
Phil Taylor (2) v Jyhan Artut
Mervyn King (10) v Max Hopp
Wes Newton (13) v Cristian Perez or Cristo Reyes
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Joe Cullen
Ronnie Baxter (24) v Scott Mackenzie or Daryl Gurney
Ian White (15) v Jani Haavisto or John Michael
Kevin Painter (20) v Boris Koltsov or Haruki Muramatsu
