Luke Littler faces a potential showdown against Fallon Sherrock at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, while Luke Humphries will begin his title defence against Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito.
Humphries returns as defending champion after last year’s 7-4 victory over Littler, with the pair the two pre-tournament favourites when it gets under way at the Alexandra Palace on December 15 – live on Sky Sports.
The world No 1 has already defended his Players Championship Finals title in 2024, adding to the Betfred World Matchplay success and three runner-up finishes in PDC majors this year, while Littler has won Premier League and the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts during a remarkable debut season.
Highlights of the 2024 World Darts Championship final between World No 1 Luke Humphries and teenage sensation Littler
They are among the 96 players competing to win the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy and £500,000 top prize, with Littler – the fourth seed – and top seed Humphries in the same half of the draw and on course for a potential semi-final showdown.
The top 32 players from the PDC Order of Merit following Sunday’s Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals enter at the second-round stage, with the first round seeing 32 players from the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers playing one of the International Qualifiers.
Humphries looks to become a back-to-back world champion at Alexandra Palace this Christmas, live on Sky Sports
Littler has been handed a blockbuster draw against Suffolk’s Ryan Meikle or Sherrock, who was dubbed ‘Queen of the Palace’ during her run to the third round in 2020 and returns to make her fifth appearance in six years.
Full draw to follow…
The schedule of play is set to be confirmed later this week.
When will the World Darts Championship take place?
The tournament gets under way at the Alexandra Palace on Sunday December 15, with three first-round matches and one second-round match on the opening evening.
There will be live darts over each of the following eight days, including seven afternoon sessions, with the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day before returning with the third round and a double session on December 27.
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The third and fourth rounds will be completed by December 30 before a night off on New Year’s Eve, with the quarter-finals held across two sessions on New Year’s Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.
The full day-by-day schedule for this year’s tournament can be found here.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.