Preliminary Round Draw revealed for PDC World Championship

The Preliminary Round Draw has been done for next month's PDC World Championship at the Alexandra Palace and this has thrown up some good ties for those who will go into that round. The main one has to be Jeff Smith vs Luke Humphries, Smith is a former runner up at the Lakeside and was invited to this tournament due to his ranking over in Canada and is known to be making the switch again next year and he will be taking on the winner of the Development Tour this year, Luke Humphries. Humphries has had a brilliant year and will be wanting to make an impression before his tour card begins next year. Can the Silencer silence the young gun?? The PDPA Runner Up from today's qualifier in Wigan will take on Alan Ljubic who won through a qualifier that included Krzysztof Ratajski who instead will go into the first round after qualifying as the highest player on the Order of Merit from Eastern Europe. Xiao Chen Zong the World China Qualifier winner will play Bernie Smith, this year's Oceanic Masters champion. Kenny Neyens a rising star in World Darts will take on the third place in the PDPA Qualifier which would of been Josh Payne had he won the World Youth title. Seigo Asada who makes his debut after previous appearances at the Lakeside will face Gordon Mathers, the DPA Order of Merit winner. An intriguing tie between Kai Fan Leung and the veteran Paul Lim will also take place. The American Championship winner from the US Masters, Willard Bruguier will face New Zealands' rising star Cody Harris who like Corey Cadby will attempt Q-School after the World Championship. Finally the veteran Aleksandr Oreshkin will take on Germany's Kevin Munch in a return to the stage for the first time since 2012 in terms of Alexandra Palace but pushed James Wade all the way in the German Darts Masters.

Photo: Stefan Straßenburg/PDC Europe

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