2021 PDC World Darts Championship schedule: Tuesday December 15, including defending champion Wright

The PDC World Championship is back to try and round off 2020 in style.

2020 has still managed to wreak its unique havoc, of course - the promised land of fans coming back has turned out to be a mirage, so it would seem. Day One is an exception, so we get a glimpse of what might have been (or could still be). Whatever happens, we've got over a fortnight of top class World Championship drama to savour.

Only one person will get to make their First Round bow in front of fans - Amit Gilitwala makes a timely debut and raises the curtain on the World Championship. Nitin Kumar has been India's representative since the world's second-most populous nation was guaranteed a seat at the Ally Pally table, but this time it's the Indian Darts Federation number one Gilitwala having a shot at a big name.

Said big name is Steve West, who drops out of the seeds for this year's event after an underwhelming 2020. The Essex thrower is capable of bursts of brilliance, like his run to the quarter-finals of the European Championship six weeks ago, but hasn't maintained form over the long haul.

If he can win this opening game, 'Simply' West has a shot at revenge over the man who knocked him out of the World Championship, Peter Wright, and potentially winning multiple matches at one World Championship for the first time, all in one night.

Steve Beaton is eternal. The Bronzed Adonis will grace a World Championship stage for the 30th time on Tuesday night; he had played in 11 of them before Keane Barry was even born. One concern is that his PDC World Championship record makes for grim reading, but last year he pushed through to the fourth round for just the second time, and in a section of the draw featuring a mix of the out-of-form and the inexperienced, perhaps the veteran can stay alive in this competition.

Alternatively, the ever-popular Diogo Portela could grab his first Ally Pally win against a potentially vulnerable opponent. Against Peter Wright, Ron Meulenkamp and Josh Payne, Braziliant has shown signs of the high quality darts his floor opponents are used to, but couldn't get over the line. Should he do so here, the South American star could have a crack at Premier League champion Glen Durrant.

Keane Barry will be in many a World Championship, but not one weirder than this. Still, the leading light in Ireland's conveyer belt of top tungsten talent will have somewhat of the normal Ally Pally experience. He got a big dose of it last year, and the 0-3 scoreline against Vincent van der Voort doesn't do justice to what was a strong performance. Unless you're Rob Cross, a player tends to grow into the biggest tournament of them all, so we may see him take the next step here.

Jeff Smith is another player who could do real damage if he gets going. The former Lakeside finalist has played well on the Pro Tour, and has suffered some rotten luck at times in facing opponents (mostly just Stephen Bunting) at the top of their game. He'll be expecting Barry to throw everything at him. But there's nothing the Silencer can't handle at this point.

That leaves us with the final tie of the night, and a return for West or Gilitwala. Up against them is the champion of the world. Peter Wright may have felt that a World Championship title was going to be beyond him. A lot of his critics did. But now he's done it, why not add one or two more?

Snakebite's form has fluctuated this year, with more stage titles balanced out by some dodgy showings, such as at the Grand Slam. He has passed £1 million in career earnings - another £500,000 wouldn't go amiss. A defending champion hasn't lost on opening night since John Part 12 years ago. Step one for Wright is to make sure he doesn't join the ignominious few whose defence has crumbled immediately. After that, we'll see how far that defence can go.

18:10 Steve West v Amit Gilitwala (R1)

19:10 Steve Beaton v Diogo Portela (R1)

20:10 Jeff Smith v Keane Barry (R1)

21:10 Peter Wright v West/Gilitwala (R2)