Meath's Keane Barry will be the first of eight Irish players in action at the PDC World Darts Championship after the schedule for the Alexandra Palace showpiece event was confirmed.
Barry, ranked 41st in the PDC order of merit, will play Reynaldo Rivera of the Philippines in round one on Saturday, 16 December with the winner to face second seed Michael van Gerwen, the three-time champion, in round two.
There is a World Championship debut for Tipperary’s Dylan Slevin, who faces Germany’s Florian Hempel on 17 December. Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh awaits the victor.
Republic of Ireland 2019 World Cup finalists Steve Lennon, from Carlow, and Willie O'Connor, from Limerick, face Owen Bates and Bhav Patel respectively in the afternoon session on Wednesday, 20 December.
Tyrone man Mickey Mansell can set up an all-Irish round-two clash with Fermanagh’s Brendan Dolan, the 28th seed, if he can overcome China’s Xiaochen Zong on 21 December.
Two-time major winner Daryl Gurney (below) starts his campaign two days later. The Derry native, seeded 27, will play the winner of Steve Beaton and Wessel Nijman.
Grand Slam quarter-finalist Josh Rock, the 23rd seed from Antrim, will face off against either Luke Woodhouse or Berry van Peer.
Elsewhere, world champion Michael Smith begins his defence on the opening night, 15 December, against Kevin Doets or American Stowe Buntz, who made a sensational debut at the Grand Slam earlier this month, reaching the quarter-finals.
World number three Luke Humphries - who has won three of the sport's last four TV ranking titles - will headline the action on Sunday, 17 December, when he takes on either Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing.
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Gerwyn Price begins his bid to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time on Monday, 18 December, on a night which will also see World Youth Championship finalist Gian van Veen make his World Championship debut.
Former Masters champion Joe Cullen will also feature on day three of the £2.5m event, as Fallon Sherrock goes head-to-head with quickfire Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena on her Alexandra Palace return.
The final takes place on Wednesday, 3 January.
2023/24 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Friday 15 December (1900)
Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz (Round 1)
Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R1)
Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Michael Smith v Doets/Buntz (Round 2)
Saturday 16 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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 17 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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 18 December (1900)
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 19 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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 20 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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 21 December
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
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)
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 22 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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 23 December
Afternoon Session (1230)
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)
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)
Round 3 starts on 27 December
Additional reporting: PDC
