William Hill World Darts Championship Draw 2015: Fixtures, Dates, Live Stream
Phil “The Power” Taylor will be looking to begin 2015 with a flourish as he goes in search of his 16th world crown in the William Hill World Darts Championship.
The man from Stoke-on-Trent will once again be the star attraction at the Alexandra Palace, but he'll have competition aplenty as the finest players in the world step up to the oche. Taylor gets his campaign underway with a first-round match against Jyan Artut, confirmed in Tuesday's draw.
Top seed and reigning champion Mighty Michael van Gerwen looks the most likely threat to The Power, while two-time champion and third seed Adrian Lewis will provide a challenge as well. They begin their tournaments with ties against Joe Cullen and Dave Pallet respectively.
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But one of the most fascinating facets of this fine competition is the opening rounds, which have famously yielded huge shocks in years gone by; last year, seven of the 32 seeded players were dumped out in the opening round. Here’s a look at the draw for this year's championship, where you can catch the action and a closer look at what's in store.
| Michael van Gerwen (1) | vs. | Joe Cullen |
| Stuart Kellett (32) | vs. | Kim Viljanen or Sascha Stein |
| Terry Jenkins (16) | vs. | John Webber |
| Justin Pipe (17) | vs. | Lawrence Ryder |
| Dave Chisnall (8) | vs. | Ryan de Vreede |
| Paul Nicholson (25) | vs. | Benito van de Pas |
| Robert Thornton (9) | vs. | Andrew Gilding |
| Ronnie Baxter (24) | vs. | Scott Mackenzie or Daryl Gurney |
| Peter Wright (5) | vs. | Gerwyn Price |
| Andy Smith (28) | vs. | Ronny Huybrechts |
| Andy Hamilton (12) | vs. | Dave Richardson |
| Steve Beaton (21) | vs. | Kyle Anderson |
| Gary Anderson (4) | vs. | Mark McGrath or Scott Kirchner |
| Jelle Klaasen (29) | vs. | Christian Kist |
| Wes Newton (13) | vs. | Christian Perez or Cristo Perez |
| Kevin Painter (20) | vs. | Boris Kolstov or Haruki Muramatsu |
| Phil Taylor (2) | vs. | Jyhan Artut |
| Mark Webster (31) | vs. | Ron Meulenkamp |
| Ian White (15) | vs. | Jani Haavisto or John Michael |
| Kim Huybrechts (18) | vs. | Mickey Mansell |
| Simon Whitlock (7) | vs. | Darren Webster |
| Dean Winstanley (26) | vs. | Wayne Jones |
| Mervyn King (10) | vs. | Max Hopp |
| Vincent van der Voort (23) | vs. | John Henderson |
| James Wade (6) | vs. | Jamie Lewis |
| Stephen Bunting (27) | vs. | Jermaine Wattimena or Robert Marijanovic |
| Brendan Dolan (11) | vs. | Nolan Arendse or Alex Hon |
| Michael Smith (22) | vs. | Mensur Suljovic |
| Adrian Lewis (3) | vs. | Dave Pallett |
| John Part (30) | vs. | Keegan Brown |
| Raymond van Barneveld (14) | vs. | Rowby-John Rodriguez |
| Jamie Caven (19) | vs. | Jason Hogg |
| Dates | December 18 2014 - January 4 2015 |
| TV Info | Live on Sky Sports HD |
| Live Stream | Sky Go App, LivePDC.tv |
The Contenders
Two players the darting world will have an eye on are Van Gerwen and Taylor. The pair have put on some fascinating battles down the years and, with both men looking in fine form on the cusp of this one, it’d be a major surprise if they weren’t to lock horns once again in the final on Jan. 4 2015.
In a question and answer session with Sky Sports Darts ahead of the draw, the reigning world champion admitted he relishes the battles with the 16-time world title winner:
While the two harbour a fierce rivalry on stage, away from the oche they seem like pretty good pals, as we can see here courtesy of Taylor’s Twitter account:
Van Gerwen faces Cullen in the first round, and although anything other than a comfortable win for the Dutchman would be a big surprise, Cullen actually came out on top the last time the pair met; a 6-4 victory at the PDPA Players Championship Ireland earlier in the year.
Mighty Mike has won four major titles in 2014, crowning a fine year that began with his maiden World Championship. If he can go on to lift another title at the Alexandra Palace, Van Gerwen would cement his status as one of the greats of the sport.
Taylor is a man who’s looking in exceptional touch on the cusp of this one, though. The Power won the Grand Slam of Darts in his last outing, beating Dave “Chizzy” Chisnall in an enthralling final. After a shock second round exit to Michael Smith in Round 2 of last season’s World Championship, he'll be keen to make amends with a strong performance.
This year Taylor gets his title tilt underway with a clash with against Artut. The pair have only ever met once before and it was The Power who came out on top in a PDPA Players Championship duel in Reading back in 2012. Artut, a 38-year-old German player, has only ever progressed beyond Round 1 of the competition once in his career.
Enticing Clashes To Come
The most eye-catching tie of the first round will see three-time world champion John Part taking on the World Youth Champion, Keegan Brown.
Veteran player Part last won the world title in 2008 and, while he juggles his playing commitments with commentary duties these days, the Canadian still has sufficient class to preserve a seeding of 30 for this tournament. But having drawn Brown, his tournament could be over at the first opportunity.
Indeed, a host of big names from the darts stratosphere think that Brown will have too much for his 48-year-old opponent, per Boylesports:
Brown is the reigning World Youth Champion and has enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2014. He made it to the quarter-final of the Grand Slam of Darts—his best ever finish at a major event—and will surely relish the challenge of playing in what’ll be his first ever Darts World Championship. If he can handle the pressure, he has an excellent chance of staging an upset.
With the bracket settled, 2011 and 2012 champion Lewis looks as though he’s set for a very difficult run to the final. Should he overcome Pallet in Round 1, the man from Stoke will meet the winner of the Part versus Brown match in Round 2. Then, there’s the possibility of a meeting with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last-16.
Lewis is an excellent player and he will feel as though he has a fine chance of lifting the title. But when you compare his likely run to the final to that of Taylor and Van Gerwen, it’s going very difficult for the double world champion to notch his third win in five years at the Alexandra Palace.
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