THE schedule of play for the first and second rounds of the 2020/21 William Hill World Darts Championship has been confirmed, with reigning champion Peter Wright to compete on the opening night on Tuesday December 15.

The pre-Christmas period in the sport's greatest tournament will see the first and second rounds played across nine days from December 15-23.

The schedule of play has now been confirmed for the pre-Christmas period, which will see the three St Helens darters Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting all competing on the last day before the Christmas break.

Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final being held from January 1-3.

Tickets for the William Hill World Darts Championship are now on general sale from seetickets.com/darts, with up to 1,000 fans per session able to attend under specific regulations.

In the afternoon session of Wednesday December 23 Stephen Bunting will play the winner of Andy Boulton v Deta Hedman.

In the evening session Dave Chisnall will play the winners of Keegan Brown v Ryan Meikle, while Michael Smith takes on either Jason Lowe or Dmitriy Gorbunov.