ST HELENS darters Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting have been handed opponents from across Europe in the 2016 William Hill World Darts Championship.

The town trio are all seeded in the £1.5million tournament which will see 72 players doing battle at London’s Alexandra Palace from December 17 to January 3, live on the Sky Sports Darts channel.

Clock Face-based thrower Smith carries some fine form into this major tournament and will be looking for a good showing to help boost his claims for a Premier League spot.

The number eight seed is the highest ranked of the St Helens bunch heading to Ally Pally and takes on debutant Jeffrey De Zwaan in the opening round.

De Zwann is a 19-year-old from the Netherlands who has impressed in his first year on the circuit.

Meanwhile Chisnall, seeded 13 faces Austrian youngster Rowby-John Rodriguez.

Chisnall should be confident of progressing far in the competition and he looked in good form before losing a ding-dong battle with eventual winner Michael van Gerwen at the Players Championship in Minehead at the weekend.

Windle-based Bunting is seeded 17 and takes on Germany’s Jyhan Artut in the opening round.

The tournament will be held across 15 days at London’s Alexandra Palace, with 66,000 fans set to see the battle to claim the Sid Waddell Trophy.

The final is on Sunday, January 3.