Gary Anderson begins World Darts Championship defence on Thursday night
Thursday 17 December 2015 23:05, UK
Gary Anderson will begin his World Darts Championship defence on Thursday night in front of a packed Alexandra Palace crowd, as the sport's biggest event kicks off live on Sky Sports.
The Flying Scotsman enjoyed the greatest night of his career by defeating Phil Taylor 7-6 in last year's thrilling final to lift the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy and with it, assume the title of world champion.
The 44-year-old plays last on the opening night against either Andy Boulton or Per Laursen, who will throw the first arrows of this year's championship in their preliminary round clash to decide who gets a chance at the champ.
Live World Darts Championship
Anderson, who is also reigning Premier League champion, has admitted to being nervous about heading back to the oche in front of a sell-out 3,000 crowd.
"I don't know what to expect!" said Anderson.
"Phil Taylor's had it 15 or 16 times but I probably won't know until I go to walk on. My worst moment is walking up to the walk-on; once I get on stage, I'm fine.
"I'm really nervous, especially ahead of the first round. You just want to win and get through and you can relax and enjoy Christmas then.
"It's the World Championship, this is what we all aim for and I've enjoyed being the world champion this year. I'm going to look forward to it and we'll see what the outcome is."
Thursday's opening night also features fourth seed Peter Wright, the 2014 World Championship runner-up, taking on former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown in a mouth-watering first-round match-up.
The first-round ties continue when Wales' Jamie Lewis and Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney meet.
Lewis reached his first major quarter-final at the World Grand Prix in October and has broken into the world's top 32, while Gurney was a semi-finalist in a major for the first time at last month's Players Championship Finals.
Thursday December 17 - 7pm, Sky Sports Darts
Andy Boulton v Per Laursen (P)
Jamie Lewis v Daryl Gurney
Peter Wright v Keegan Brown
Gary Anderson v Boulton/Laursen
(P) denotes Preliminary Round
Preliminary Round - Best of three sets, best of five legs per set.
First Round - Best of five sets, best of five legs per set, with a tie-break in the fifth set (if required).
You can watch the PDC World Darts Championship live on Sky Sports between December 17-January 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.
