St Helens trio learn opponents in opening round of William Hill Darts World Championships

Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Stephen Bunting are all seeded in the top 16 to give the town a bumper entry in the prestigious tournament again.

Unfortunately Eddie Dootson and Alan Tabern were knocked out in the qualifying tournament in Wigan today.

World number seven Dave Chisnall takes on Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez.

Smith, the number 11 seed from Clock Face, drew quick-throwing Ricky Evans while Windle-based darter Bunting faces Darren Webster.

Champion Gary Anderson will meet Mark Frost in the first round, after the Stoke thrower - who sports the festive nickname "Frosty The Throw Man" - won through Monday's last-chance PDPA Qualifier in Wigan.

"It's a really tough draw," said Anderson.

"Mark's been around the circuit for a lot of years and is a good player, so I know I'll have to be ready for him but I can't wait to get back to Ally Pally.

"It's a couple of weeks until the tournament starts now and I'll be putting in the work on the board because it would be special if I can win the title for a third time. I'd love to do it again."

World number one Michael van Gerwen begins his bid to win back the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy against either Canada's Ross Snook or Finland's Kim Viljanen, who meet in the preliminary round.

Legendary 16-time World Champion Phil Taylor will also face a preliminary round winner, with Widnesian PDPA Qualifier John Bowles or Oceanic Masters winner David Platt set to take on the Stoke great.

Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis, the fifth seed, drew Sweden's Magnus Caris, while 2007 winner Raymond van Barneveld takes on debutant Robbie Green.

World number three Peter Wright, the 2014 runner-up, will play either Dutch qualifier Jerry Hendriks or New Zealand's Warren Parry in the first round, number six seed and James Wade drew Belgium's Ronny Huybrechts.

European Championship finalist Mensur Suljovic, the number eight seed, drew Dutch left-hander Ron Meulenkamp, world number nine Robert Thornton drew Zoran Lerchbacher or Simon Stevenson and world number ten Jelle Klaasen plays fellow countryman Jeffrey de Graaf.

Belgium's Kim Huybrechts takes on debutant James Wilson and Ian White plays either qualifier Kevin Simm or Philippines' Gilbert Ulang.

Dutch ace Benito van de Pas plays either Malaysia's Tengku Shah or Japan's Masumi Chino and Australia's Simon Whitlock, the 2010 runner-up, will take on either Russia's Boris Koltsov or German qualifier Dragutin Horvat.

Nine-time TV finalist Terry Jenkins drew emerging Kent youngster Josh Payne, an all-Welsh first round tie sees Gerwyn Price play debutant Jonny Clayton, while Dutch star Vincent van der Voort drew Germany's former World Youth Champion Max Hopp.

Number 21 seed Alan Norris will play Greek star John Michael, Mervyn King drew Steve West, Steve Beaton takes on South Africa's Devon Petersen and Justin Pipe plays youngster Chris Dobey.

Northern Irish duo Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney both drew Dutch opposition in the form of former Lakeside Champion Christian Kist and Jermaine Wattimena respectively, while two-time semi-finalist Mark Webster plays Joe Murnan.

Jamie Caven drew 2004 finalist Kevin Painter and Joe Cullen faces either China's Qiang Sun or Australia's Corey Cadby, who won Sunday's World Youth Championship title.

Wales' Jamie Lewis takes on Irish number one Mick McGowan, Scotland's John Henderson plays Andrew Gilding and Spain's Cristo Reyes - the number 32 seed - drew Belgian youngster Dimitri Van den Bergh.

Following Monday's draw, world number one van Gerwen has been made the 8/11 pre-tournament favourite with sponsors William Hill, with Anderson the 13/2 second favourite.

Taylor is the 9/1 third favourite as he bids for his 17th World Championship triumph, with Wright 16/1, Lewis 33/1 and both Chisnall and Wade 35/1 chances as they target their first TV title.

* The William Hill World Darts Championship will take place at Alexandra Palace, London from December 15-January 2.

William Hill World Darts Championship.

Preliminary Round Draw. Jerry Hendriks (Netherlands) v Warren Parry (New Zealand), Zoran Lerchbacher (Austria) v PDPA Qualifier 3, Tengku Shah (Malaysia) v Masumi Chino (Japan), PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up v Gilbert Ulang (Philippines), Qiang Sun (China) v Corey Cadby (Australia),John Bowles v David Platt (Australia), Ross Snook (Canada) v Kim Viljanen (Finland), Boris Koltsov (Russia) v Dragutin Horvat (Germany).

First Round Draw.

1. Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) V Ross Snook/Kim Viljanen.

32. Cristo Reyes (Spain) V Dimitri Van den Bergh.

16. Stephen Bunting (England) V Darren Webster.

17. Simon Whitlock (Australia) V Boris Koltsov/Dragutin Horvat.

8. Mensur Suljovic (Austria) V Ron Meulenkamp.

25. Mark Webster (Wales) V Joe Murnan.

9. Robert Thornton (Scotland) V Zoran Lerchbacher/Simon Stevenson.

24. Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland) V Jermaine Wattimena.

5. Adrian Lewis (England) V Magnus Caris.

28. Joe Cullen (England) V Qiang Sun/Corey Cadby.

12. Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands) V Robbie Green.

21. Alan Norris (England) V John Michael.

4. Phil Taylor (England) V John Bowles/David Platt.

29. Jamie Caven (England) V Kevin Painter.

13. Kim Huybrechts (Belgium) V James Wilson .

20. Vincent van der Voort (Netherlands) V Max Hopp

2. Gary Anderson (Scotland) V Mark Frost.

31. John Henderson (Scotland) V Andrew Gilding.

15. Benito van de Pas (Netherlands) V Tengku Shah/Masumi Chino.

18. Terry Jenkins (England) V Josh Payne.

7. Dave Chisnall (England) V Rowby-John Rodriguez.

26. Justin Pipe (England) V Chris Dobey.

10. Jelle Klaasen (Netherlands) V Jeffrey de Graaf.

23. Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland) V Christian Kist.

6. James Wade (England) V Ronny Huybrechts.

27. Steve Beaton (England) V Devon Petersen.

11. Michael Smith (England) V Ricky Evans.

22. Mervyn King (England) V Steve West.

3. Peter Wright (Scotland) V Jerry Hendriks/Warren Parry.

30. Jamie Lewis (Wales) V Mick McGowan.

14. Ian White (England) V Kevin Simm/Gilbert Ulang.

19. Gerwyn Price (Wales) Jonny Clayton.

PDPA Qualifier Results

Monday November 28, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan

First Round

Keegan Brown (1) Bye.

Jim Walker 5- 4 Sam Head.

Lee Moffat 5-2 Roger Scrivens.

Mark Lawrence 5-3 Darren Brown.

Mark Frost (16) 5-1 Adam Hunt.

Brett Claydon 5-2 Darron Brown.

Colin Fowler 5 -3 Sean Johnson.

Peter Hudson 5-3 Kevin Lane.

Wayne Jones (8) Bye.

Matt Dennant 5-3 Arron Monk.

Kirk Shepherd 5-4 Nick Fullwell.

Ritchie Edhouse 5-1 Michael Blake.

Andy Jenkins (9) Bye.

Jason Lovett 5-4 Darren Mawer.

Lee Shewan 5-1 Jack Todd.

Ian Lever 5-0 Gareth Illidge.

Dirk van Duijvenbode (5) Bye.

Simon Stevenson 5-3 Richie Corner.

Ricky Williams 5 -2 Gary Stone.

Ryan Palmer 5-1 Alan Wilkinson.

James Richardson (12) Bye.

Kevin Dowling 5-3 Mark Hylton.

Kurt Parry 5-3 Mark Forman.

Mark Walsh 5-1 Nigel Boeg.

Wes Newton (4) Bye.

Barrie Bates 5-1 Steve Evans.

Matt Edgar 5-1 David Evans.

Eddie Dootson 5-0 Fabian Herz.

Paul Nicholson (13) 5-2 Johnny Haines.

Michael Barnard 5-2 Terry Temple.

Stuart Stubbs 5-1 Terry Creed.

Scott Taylor 5-4 Brian Woods.

Andy Hamilton (2) Bye.

Scott Dale 5-2 Robert Owen.

James Hubbard 5-1 Billy Holmes.

John Bowles 5-3 Michael Power.

Darren Johnson (15) 5 -1 James Young.

Martyn Turner 5- 1 Dave Ladley.

Mick Todd 5-3 Alan Tabern.

Yordi Meeuwisse 5 -3 Callum Loose.

Ronnie Baxter (7) Bye.

Matt Clark 5-3 Mark Barilli.

Jay Foreman 5-4 Lee Palfreyman.

Jamie Bain 5-2 Martin Thomas.

Stuart Kellett (10) Bye.

Nigel Heydon 5- 1 Ted Evetts.

Nigel Daniels 5-2 Jason Wilson.

Luke Woodhouse 5-1 Joey Palfreyman.

Andy Boulton (6) Bye.

Dennis Smith 5-4 Steve Hine.

Nathan Derry 5-2 Josh Richardson.

Chris Quantock 5-1 Ryan Harrington.

Andy Smith (11) Bye.

Jonathon Worsley 5- 2 Ian Withers.

Ross Smith 5-1 Kevin Garcia.

Kelvin Hart 5-4 Jamie Robinson.

David Pallett (3) Bye.

Paul Milford 5-4 Tony Newell.

Harry Robinson 5-4 Curtis Hammond.

Coni Singh Nagi 5-0 Ian Moss.

Nathan Aspinall (14) 5-0 Richard Baillie.

Prakash Jiwa 5-2 Ryan Meikle.

Kevin Simm 5-1 Simon Preston.

Steve McNally 5-4 Jason Marriott.

Second Round.

Keegan Brown (1) 5-4 Jim Walker.

Darren Brown 5-1 Lee Moffatt.

Mark Frost (16) 5-1 Brett Claydon.

Peter Hudson 5-1 Colin Fowler.

Matt Dennant 5-2 Wayne Jones (8).

Richie Edhouse 5-3 Kirk Shepherd.

Andy Jenkins (9) 5-1 Jason Lovett.

Ian Lever 5-4 Lee Shewan.

Simon Stevenson 5-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode (5).

Ricky Williams 5-4 Ryan Palmer.

James Richardson (12) 5-3 Kevin Dowling.

Kurt Parry 5-1 Mark Walsh.

Barrie Bates 5-2 Wes Newton (4).

Matt Edgar 5-2 Eddie Dootson.

Michael Barnard 5-2 Paul Nicholson (13).

Scott Taylor 5-2 Stuart Stubbs.

Andy Hamilton (2) 5-4 Scott Dale.

John Bowles 5-0 James Hubbard.

Darren Johnson (15) 5-3 Martyn Turner.

Mick Todd 5-4 Yordi Meeuwisse.

Ronnie Baxter (7) 5-0 Matt Clark.

Jamie Bain 5-2 Jay Forman.

Stuart Kellett (10) 5-1 Nigel Heydon.

Nigel Daniels 5-4 Luke Woodhouse.

Andy Boulton (6) 5-1 Dennis Smith.

Nathan Derry 5-4 Chris Quantock.

Jonathan Worsley 5 -2 Andy Smith (11).

Ross Smith 5-3 Kelvin Hart.

Paul Milford 5-4 David Pallett (3).

Harry Robinson 5-4 Coni Singh Nagi.

Prakash Jiwa 5-4 Nathan Aspinall (14).

Kevin Simm 5-4 Steve McNally.

Third Round.

Keegan Brown (1) 5-0 Darren Brown.

Mark Frost (16) 5-3 Peter Hudson.

Ritchie Edhouse 5-4 Matt Dennant.

Andy Jenkins (9) 5-3 Ian Lever.

Simon Stevenson 5-3 Ricky Williams.

Kurt Parry 5-4 James Richardson (12).

Barrie Bates 5-3 Matt Edgar.

Scott Taylor 5-2 Michael Barnard.

John Bowles 5-3 Andy Hamilton (2).

Darren Johnson (15) 5-2 Mick Todd.

Ronnie Baxter (7) 5-3 Jamie Bain.

Stuart Kellett (10) 5-3 Nigel Daniels.

Andy Boulton (6) 5-2 Nathan Derry.

Ross Smith 5-3 Jonathon Worsley.

Paul Milford 5-4 Harry Robinson.

Kevin Simm 5-3 Prakash Jiwa .

Fourth Round.

Mark Frost (16) 5-4 Keegan Brown (1).

Ritchie Edhouse 5-2 Andy Jenkins (9).

Simon Stevenson 5-4 Kurt Parry.

Scott Taylor 5-4 Barrie Bates.

John Bowles 5-3 Darren Johnson (15).

Stuart Kellett 5-3 Ronnie Baxter (7).

Ross Smith 5-3 Andy Boulton (6).

Kevin Simm 5-2 Paul Milford.

Quarter-Finals

Mark Frost (16) 5-3 Ritchie Edhouse - Mark Frost qualifies.

Simon Stevenson 5-2 Scott Taylor - Simon Stevenson qualifies.

John Bowles 5-3 Stuart Kellett - John Bowles qualifies.

Kevin Simm 5-2 Ross Smith - Kevin Simm qualifies.

Semi-Finals: Mark Frost 5-4 Simon Stevenson.

Kevin Simm 5-0 John Bowles.

Final: Mark Frost 5-2 Kevin Simm.

PDPA Qualifier Winner: Mark Frost

PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up: Kevin Simm

PDPA Qualifier 3: Simon Stevenson

PDPA Qualifier 4: John Bowles