The schedule for the 2020/21 William Hill World Darts Championship has been released.

As expected, defending champion Peter Wright headlines the opening evening. He will play the winner of the first match of the tournament, Steve West v Amit Gilitwala.

Other matches on the first night include:

• Steve Beaton v Diogo Portela
• Jeff Smith v Keane Barry

Elsewhere, the schedule for the World Darts Championship sees Michael van Gerwen get his campaign underway on Saturday 18 December. The world number one will face either Ryan Murray or Lourence Ilagan, who play each other in round one on Thursday 17 December.

Gerwyn Price will have to wait until Monday 21 December to start his run for the Sid Waddell Trophy. He won the last set play event, the BoyleSports World Grand Prix, in October.

Fourth seed Michael Smith’s second round match, against either Jason Lowe or Dmitriy Gorbunov, will be the last match played prior to the Christmas break on Wednesday 23 December.

The rest of the World Darts Championship schedule will be released after Christmas.

In a change from previous World Championship rules, there will be no tie breaks in matches. Should any deciding set reach two legs all, the fifth leg will be the final leg. This is to to reduce the possibility of sessions over running.

World Darts Championship Schedule

Tuesday December 15 (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve West 3-0 Amit Gilitwala (R1)
Diogo Portela 3-0 Steve Beaton (R1)
Jeff Smith 3-1 Keane Barry (R1)
Peter Wright 3-1 Steve West (R2)

Wednesday December 16
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Joyce 3-2 Karel Sedlacek (R1)
Ross Smith 3-0 David Evans (R1)
William O’Connor 3-0 Niels Zonneveld (R1)
Chris Dobey 3-2 Jeff Smith (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Max Hopp 3-0 Gordon Mathers (R1)
Callan Rydz 3-1 James Bailey (R1)
Adam Hunt 3-2 Lisa Ashton (R1)
Glen Durrant 3-0 Diogo Portela (R2)

Thursday December 17
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Madars Razma 3-0 Toru Suzuki (R1)
Edward Foulkes 3-0 Mike De Decker (R1)
Ryan Murray 3-1 Lourence Ilagan (R1)
Daryl Gurney 3-2 William O’Connor (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jamie Lewis 3-2 Luke Woodhouse (R1)
Ron Meulenkamp 3-1 Boris Krcmar (R1)
Ryan Searle 3-2 Danny Lauby (R1)
Jose de Sousa 3-1 Ross Smith (R2)

Friday December 18
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mickey Mansell 3-0 Haupai Puha (R1)
Darius Labanauskas 3-0 Chengan Liu (R1)
Wayne Jones 3-2 Ciaran Teehan (R1)
Adam Hunt 3-0 Jamie Hughes (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-2 Bradley Brooks (R1)
John Henderson 3-2 Marko Kantele (R1)
Paul Lim 3-2 Luke Humphries (R1)
James Wade 3-0 Callan Rydz (R2)

Saturday December 19
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon 3-1 Daniel Larsson (R1)
Scott Waites 3-2 Matt Campbell (R1)
Kim Huybrechts 3-0 Di Zhuang (R1)
Mervyn King 3-1 Max Hopp (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Nico Kurz 3-1 Andy Hamilton(R1)
Andy Boulton 3-1 Deta Hedman (R1)
Danny Baggish 3-2 Damon Heta (R1)
Michael van Gerwen 3-1 Ryan Murray (R2)

Sunday December 20
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Nick Kenny 3-2 Derk Telnekes (R1)
Jason Lowe 3-1 Dmitriy Gorbunov (R1)
Matthew Edgar 3-0 Maik Kuivenhoven (R1)
Vincent van der Voort v Ron Meulenkamp (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Cameron Carolissen WALKOVER Martijn Kleermaker (R1)
Keegan Brown 3-0 Ryan Meikle (R1)
Ryan Searle 3-0 Jeffrey de Zwaan (R2)
Jonny Clayton 3-1 John Henderson(R2)

Monday December 21 (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski 3-0 Ryan Joyce (R2)
Kim Huybrechts 3-1 Ian White (R2)
Gerwyn Price 3-2 Jamie Lewis (R2)
Gabriel Clemens 3-1 Nico Kurz (R2)

Tuesday December 22
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
4x Second Round
Brendan Dolan 3-1 Edward Foulkes (R2)
Joe Cullen 3-0 Wayne Jones (R2)
Simon Whitlock 3-2 Darius Labanauskas (R2)
Danny Baggish 3-1 Adrian Lewis(R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Danny Noppert 3-1 Cameron Carolissen (R2)
Devon Petersen 3-1 Steve Lennon(R2)
Dirk Van Duijvenbode 3-2 Rob Cross (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-0 Paul Lim (R2)

Wednesday December 23
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
4x Second Round
Ricky Evans 3-1 Mickey Mansell (R2)
Gary Anderson 3-1 Madars Razma (R2)
Stephen Bunting 3-2 Andy Boulton (R2)
Mensur Suljovic 3-1 Matthew Edgar (R2)

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
4x Second Round
Dave Chisnall 3-1 Keegan Brown (R2)
Jermaine Wattimena 3-1 Nick Kenny (R2)
Nathan Aspinall 3-2 Scott Waites (R2)
Jason Lowe 3-1 Michael Smith (R2)

Sunday December 27
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Krzysztof Ratajski 4-0 Simon Whitlock
Ryan Searle 4-2 Kim Huybrechts
Dimitri Van den Bergh 4-0 Jermaine Wattimena

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Third Round
Joe Cullen 4-3 Jonny Clayton
Gabriel Clemens 4-3 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 4-0 Ricky Evans

Monday December 28
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Mervyn King 4-0 Jose de Sousa
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-0 Adam Hunt
Vincent van der Voort 4-2 Nathan Aspinall

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Third Round
Gary Anderson 4-3 Mensur Suljovic
Gerwyn Price 4-3 Brendan Dolan
Glen Durrant 4-2 Danny Baggish

Tuesday December 29
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
3x Third Round
Stephen Bunting 4-3 James Wade
Daryl Gurney 4-1 Chris Dobey
Devon Petersen 4-0 Jason Lowe

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
1x Third Round
Dave Chisnall 4-2 Danny Noppert

2x Fourth Round
Krzysztof Ratajski 4-3 Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen 4-3 Joe Cullen

Wednesday December 30
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
Daryl Gurney 4-2 Vincent van der Voort
Stephen Bunting 4-3 Ryan Searle
Gary Anderson 4-0 Devon Petersen

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-3 Glen Durrant
Gerwyn Price 4-1 Mervyn King
Dave Chisnall 4-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Friday January 1
Afternoon Session (1200 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 5-3 Krzysztof Ratajski
Gary Anderson 5-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Evening Session (1800 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney
Michael van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall

Saturday January 2 (1800 GMT)
Semi-Finals

Sunday January 3 (1930 GMT)
Final