PDC World Darts Championship 2016: Dates, Draw, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Gary Anderson returns to London's Alexandra Palace on Thursday to defend his title at the 2016 PDC World Darts Championship.
The Scot defeated Phil Taylor 7-6 in a dramatic finale last year to claim the prestigious trophy for the first time, and he'll no doubt be hoping to replicate his success. But to do so, he'll have get past the likes of Michael van Gerwen and The Power once more.
Here's the full draw for the first round starting on December 17, along with viewing information and a closer look at whether Anderson can claim the £300,000 grand prize on January 3:
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| Michael van Gerwen (1) | vs. | Thanawat Gaweenuntawong/Rene Eidams |
| John Henderson (32) | vs. | Darren Webster |
| Raymond van Barneveld (16) | vs. | Dirk van Duijvenbode |
| Stephen Bunting (17) | vs. | Jyhan Artut |
| Michael Smith (8) | vs. | Jeffrey de Zwaan |
| Steve Beaton (25) | vs. | Koha Kokiri |
| Ian White (9) | vs. | Dimitri Van den Bergh |
| Benito van de Pas (24) | vs. | Max Hopp |
| Adrian Lewis (5) | vs. | Jan Dekker |
| Andrew Gilding (28) | vs. | Gerwyn Price |
| Kim Huybrechts (12) | vs. | David Pallett |
| Mensur Suljovic (21) | vs. | Jermaine Wattimena |
| Peter Wright (4) | vs. | Keegan Brown |
| Dean Winstanley (29) | vs. | Ronny Huybrechts |
| Dave Chisnall (13) | vs. | Rowby-John Rodriguez |
| Justin Pipe (20) | vs. | Christian Kist |
| Gary Anderson (2) | vs. | Andy Boulton/Per Laursen |
| Jamie Lewis (31) | vs. | Daryl Gurney |
| Vincent van der Voort (15) | vs. | Loz Ryder |
| Brendan Dolan (18) | vs. | Kyle Anderson |
| James Wade (7) | vs. | Warrick Scheffer/John Michael |
| Wes Newton (26) | vs. | Cristo Reyes |
| Simon Whitlock (10) | vs. | Ricky Evans |
| Jamie Caven (23) | vs. | Michael Rasztovits/Rob Szabo |
| Robert Thornton (6) | vs. | Alan Norris |
| Andy Hamilton (27) | vs. | Joe Murnan |
| Terry Jenkins (11) | vs. | Darin Young |
| Mark Webster (22) | vs. | Qiang Sun/Mick McGowan |
| Phil Taylor (3) | vs. | Keita Ono/Alex Tagarao |
| Kevin Painter (30) | vs. | Kim Viljanen/Sven Groen |
| Mervyn King (14) | vs. | Aleksandr Oreshkin/Paul Lim |
| Jelle Klaasen (19) | vs. | Joe Cullen |
Every day of the tournament will be televised by Sky Sports Darts, while it can also be streamed live via Sky Go and PDC.tv.
Anderson Targeting Successive Wins
Having won it for the first time in 2015, the 44-year-old is now in a unique and unfamiliar position as he gears up to do it all again, and he admits he's unsure how he'll manage the occasion of defending his title.
He told Sky Sports' Sian Parry: "To be honest, I can't tell you, I won't know until I get there! I won't know how to handle it until the night comes."
Anderson is anticipating a tough opening-round fixture, though, regardless of whether he faces Andy Boulton or Per Laursen.
Per PDC.tv, he said: "It's a hard game to prepare for because you don't know until the night who you're going to play, but Per Laursen's been around for years, and Andy Boulton did really well to come through the PDPA Qualifier, so I know it's going to be tough."
Nevertheless, he believes his form to be more important than his mental handling of the occasion, per PDC Darts:
In his most recent major outing, the Flying Scotsman made it all the way to the final of the European Championship but was beaten in a stunning finale by Van Gerwen, who fought back from 10-7 down:
The 26-year-old, rightly seeded first for the tournament, is without exception the player to beat after a phenomenal year of darts.
Mighty Mike has won almost every title available to him this year, including the Masters, the World Matchplay, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals, among others.
The Dutchman is delighted with his current form but admitted he's not thinking about the title just yet, per PDC.tv:
"I've had a brilliant year and this last month has been amazing for me, but I'm already looking forward to the World Championship. I'm going to have a little break to rest and then I'll be preparing for Ally Pally.
"
I know people will be expecting a lot of me in the World Championship, but I've just got to prepare for one game at a time and that's what I'll do.
Along with Van Gerwen and Anderson, one would expect The Power to be contesting the business end of the tournament also.
Taylor missed out on what would have been his 17th world title when he lost to Anderson last year, and after being pipped by Van Gerwen to the Grand Slam 16-13, The Power will be eager to return to his winning ways.
The 55-year-old's unrivalled experience of seeing out finals will naturally serve as a great asset provided he gets there—of the 96 finals he's contested, he's won a staggering 83.
Any one of the trio or indeed several other players could well take the title, though, so all that's left is to sit back and enjoy some mouthwatering and explosive darts as the best in the world duke it out once again.
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