ST HELENS darter Michael Smith will begin his Paddy Power World Darts Championship title defence on the opening night of the 2023/24 tournament, with the schedule of play for the first and second rounds now confirmed.

The pre-Christmas period in the sport's flagship event will feature a festive feast of darts at London's Alexandra Palace, as the first and second rounds are played across nine days from December 15-23.

The tournament’s opening night will see world number one Smith begin his title defence against Dutchman Kevin Doets or Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist Stowe Buntz, who will kick off this year's showpiece on Friday December 15.

2021 semi-finalist Dave Chisnall takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon (December 16) when he faces Cameron Menzies or Rusty-Jake Rodriguez.

The second round will conclude across two sessions on Saturday December 23, including  2021 semi-finalist Stephen Bunting against Ryan Joyce or Alex Spellman.

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 taking place from January 1-3.

2023/24 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

Schedule of Play.

Friday December 15 (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz (R1).

Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R1).

Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida (R1).

Michael Smith v Doets/Buntz (R2).

Saturday December 16.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1).

Connor Scutt v Krzysztof Kciuk (R1).

Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall (R1).

Dave Chisnall v Menzies/Rodriguez (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Jamie Hughes v David Cameron (R1).

Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera (R1).

Scott Williams v Haruki Muramatsu (R1).

Gary Anderson v Whitlock/Nebrida (R2).

Sunday December 17.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Ricky Evans v Simon Adams (R1).

Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo (R1).

Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan (R1).

Joe Cullen v Van Dongen/Penhall (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel (R1).

Niels Zonneveld v Darren Webster (R1).

Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock (R1).

Luke Humphries v Evans/Eric Sosing (R2).

Monday December 18 (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole (R1).

Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung (R1).

Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha (R1).

Gerwyn Price v Scutt/Kciuk (R2).

Tuesday December 19.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Ian White v Tomoya Goto (R1).

Ritchie Edhouse v Jeffrey de Graaf (R1).

Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar (R1).

James Wade v Campbell/Ilagan (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman (R1).

Mike De Decker v Dragutin Horvat (R1).

Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki (R1).

Michael van Gerwen v Barry/Rivera (R2).

Wednesday December 20.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele (R1).

Steve Lennon v Owen Bates (R1).

William O'Connor v Bhav Patel (R1).

Ross Smith v Zonneveld/Webster (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

3x First Round, 1x Second Round.

Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman (R1).

Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb (R1) Christian Kist v Luke Littler (R1).

Peter Wright v J Williams/Madhoo (R2).

Thursday December 21.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

2x First Round, 2x Second Round.

Mickey Mansell v Xiaochen Zong (R1).

Luke Woodhouse v Berry van Peer (R1).

Madars Razma v De Decker/Horvat (R2).

Rob Cross v Vandenbogaerde/Tricole (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

4x Second Round.

Andrew Gilding v Kist/Littler (R2).

Danny Noppert v S Williams/Muramatsu (R2).

Gabriel Clemens v Van Veen/Leung (R2).

Damon Heta v Lukeman/Puha (R2).

Friday December 22.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

4x Second Round.

Brendan Dolan v Mansell/Zong (R2).

Jose de Sousa v Edhouse/De Graaf (R2).

Krzysztof Ratajski v Hughes/Cameron (R2).

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Brown/Krcmar (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

4x Second Round.

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Slevin/Hempel (R2).

Martin Schindler v Wattimena/Sherrock (R2).

Raymond van Barneveld v Szaganski/Kantele (R2).

Chris Dobey v O’Connor/Patel (R2).

Saturday December 23.

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT).

4x Second Round.

Kim Huybrechts v Veenstra/Robb (R2).

Callan Rydz v Pietreczko/Suzuki (R2).

Jonny Clayton v Lennon/Bates (R2).

Daryl Gurney v Beaton/Nijman (R2).

Evening Session (1900 GMT).

4x Second Round.

Ryan Searle v White/Goto (R2).

Josh Rock v Woodhouse/Van Peer (R2).

Stephen Bunting v Joyce/Spellman (R2).

Nathan Aspinall v Evans/Adams (R2).