Dutch test for Ana

Anastasia Dobromyslova will play her first match at the World Darts Championship against Dutchman Remco van Eijden.

Women's champ facing Dutch qualifier for first round place

Anastasia Dobromyslova will play her first match at the World Darts Championship against Dutchman Remco van Eijden. The Russian is the women's world champion, but will be taking on the men this time at Alexandra Palace after joining the PDC full-time. Becoming the second female to take part in the World Darts Championship, Dobromyslova has taken on the men twice, in the UK Open and at the Grand Slam of Darts, although she is yet to register a win. The women's world number one bagged a place in the preliminary round after the withdrawal of an Indian qualifier, and she now faces van Eijden for a place in the first round proper. It is a tough draw for Dobromyslova, with van Eijden having previous televised experience in the Lakeside Championship and World Darts Trophy.

Draw

Elsewhere in the preliminary round draw, China's Shi Yongsheng, who defeated Indian Ashfaque Sayed in the preliminary round last year, will meet Austria's Hannes Schnier. US Open semi-finalists David Fatum goes up against Irish Matchplay winner Shane O'Connor, while Finnish Pro-Dart Champion Marko Kantele faces Philippines champion Lourence Ilagan. South African Open winner this year, Charles Losper, meets the Caribbean & South American Masters champion Sudesh Fitzgerald. The final game sees two former qualifiers, New Zealand's Warren French and Japan's Akihiro Nagakawa, come head-to-head. The preliminary round matches will be played across the opening six sessions of the World Darts Championship. The draw for the preliminary round of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was made on Monday morning by PDPA Board members Peter Manley and Chris Mason with PDC Tournament Director Tommy Cox. Preliminary Round Draw: Hannes Schnier (Austria) v Shi Yongsheng (China)
David Fatum (USA) v Shane O'Connor (Ireland)
Warren French (New Zealand) v Akihiro Nagakawa (Japan)
Marko Kantele (Finland) v Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
Charles Losper (South Africa) v Sudesh Fitzgerald (Guyana)
Remco van Eijden (Holland) v Anastasia Dobromyslova (Russia)