The 2012 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship will be the 19th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation

Professional Darts Corporation

The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...

 since it separated from the British Darts Organisation

British Darts Organisation

The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....

.

Adrian Lewis

Adrian Lewis

Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...

 is the defending champion having won the 2011 tournament

2011 PDC World Darts Championship

The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation.Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the 2010 tournament...

.

The event will take place from 15 December 2011 until 2 January 2012 – albeit with two breaks in between for Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and New Year

New Year

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....

. The tournament will be held for the fifth time at London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

.

With Dennis Priestley missing out on qualification, Phil Taylor becomes the sole player to appear in every PDC World Championship. For the first time players from Malaysia, Portugal and Serbia qualified.

Format and qualifiers

The televised stages features 72 players. The top 32 players in the PDC Order of Merit

PDC order of merit

The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation . Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.-Previous world...

 on 28 November 2011 are seeded for the tournament. They will be joined by the 16 highest non qualified players in the Players Championship Order of Merit from events played on the PDC Pro Tour

PDC Pro Tour

The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation . They comprise Professional Dart Players Association Players Championships and UK Open Regional Finals.-Players Championships:...

.

1-16   Phil Taylor   Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation who is the reigning PDC World Darts Champion...   James Wade James Wade James Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation . He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007...   Gary Anderson Gary Anderson (darts player) Gary Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player from Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation, and a former BDO and WDF world number one. His nickname is The Flying Scotsman...   Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...   Mark Webster Mark Webster (darts player) Mark Webster is a left-handed Welsh darts player who lives in Denbigh. Known as Webby, he plays in Professional Darts Corporation events, having previously won the 2008 BDO World Championship. Mark became a full time professional in 2009, having previously been a fully qualified Gas registered...   Wes Newton Wes Newton Wesley "Wes" Newton is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments.-Darts career:...   Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...   Paul Nicholson Paul Nicholson (darts player) Paul Nicholson is a British born darts player, who holds Australian nationality. He aims to project the image of the 'bad boy of darts'- 2008-2009 :...   Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins is an English professional darts player who is nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the nickname "Tucker" for his matches...   Mark Walsh   Mervyn King   Colin Lloyd Colin Lloyd Colin Lloyd , nicknamed Jaws, is an English professional darts player on the Professional Darts Corporation circuit. He is a former world number one ranked player and he has won two major television titles in the PDC - the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay...   Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...   Wayne Jones Wayne Jones (darts player) Wayne Alan Jones is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments. He uses the nickname The Wanderer for his matches....   Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort is a professional darts player.-Playing style:Vincent is well known for his spasmodic style and machine-gun speed of play which has gained him a reputation in both the BDO and the PDC for being one of the more erratic throwers in the darting world...

17-32   Andy Hamilton Andy Hamilton (darts player) Andy Hamilton is a full time professional English darts player widely known for his "aggressive" style of play. He is nicknamed The Hammer and is currently ranked 12th on the PDC Order of Merit....   Jamie Caven Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven is an English darts player. He uses the nickname Jabba for his matches and is sponsored by Unicorn....   Denis Ovens Denis Ovens Denis Ovens is an English darts player currently ranked number 29 in the PDC Order of Merit. He is nicknamed The Heat and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to convert his form from the circuit to...   Andy Smith Andy Smith (darts player) Andrew Smith is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He uses the nickname Pieman for his matches...   Colin Osborne Colin Osborne Colin Osborne is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.-Darts career:Osborne has won two PDC Pro Tour events and he also managed to hit two perfect nine dart finishes in 2005...   Kevin Painter Kevin Painter Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...   Co Stompé Co Stompé Jacobus Wilhelm "Co" Stompé , is a Dutch professional darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. Stompé is nicknamed The Matchstick because of his almost bald head and very thin appearance making him look like a matchstick...   Alan Tabern Alan Tabern Alan Tabern is an English darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, where he is also known as "The Saint" and "Tabby"...   Brendan Dolan Brendan Dolan Brendan Dolan is a Irish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.After two early exits in the 2003 and 2004 UK Open, his first major run came in the 2004 World Grand Prix where he qualified through the All Ireland qualifiers, winning one of four places...   Justin Pipe Justin Pipe Justin Pipe is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Pipe first emerged at the 2008 UK Open as a pub qualifier. He defeated Geoff Wylie and Lionel Sams before losing 3-9 to James Wade in the third round...   John Part John Part John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...   Steve Beaton Steve Beaton Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...   Steve Brown   Peter Wright Peter Wright (darts player) Peter Wright is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments. He currently resides in Lowestoft and uses the nickname Snakebite for his matches. He represents Scotland due to Scottish grandparentage.He is known for having a mo-hawk hairstyle which changes colour...   Robert Thornton Robert Thornton (darts player) Robert Thornton is a Scottish darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events after his switch from the BDO in May 2008. He won the prestigious Winmau World Masters in November 2007.-BDO career:...   Mark Dudbridge Mark Dudbridge Mark Daniel Dudbridge is an English professional darts player.-Darts career:He started playing in his very early teens, citing Dennis Priestley as one of his heroes...

Pro Tour   Dave Chisnall Dave Chisnall Dave Chisnall is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.- Personal Life :In September 2011 his girlfriend Michaela gave birth to his first daughter...   Mark Hylton Mark Hylton (darts player) Mark Hylton is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Hylton has played darts for over 30 years. He has played super league for many years and earned over 80 caps for Staffordshire....   Scott Rand Scott Rand Scott Rand is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Rand joined the PDC in April 2010, and within a month qualified for the UK Open. He defeated Andy Murray and Jyhan Artut before losing to Anthony Broughton in the last 96.In May 2011, he reached the...   Richie Burnett Richie Burnett Richie Burnett is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.-BDO career:...   Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...   John Henderson John Henderson (darts player) John Henderson is a Scottish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.-Darts career:Henderson briefly played in the Professional Darts Corporation, playing one tournament in Scotland and then the 2003 UK Open where he lost in the first round having won his Preliminary match...   Nigel Heydon Nigel Heydon Nigel Heydon is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Heydon qualified for the 2007 UK Open as an amateur qualifier, losing in the first round to John Burton. He also reached the last 40 of the 2009 World Masters....   Roland Scholten Roland Scholten Roland Scholten is a Dutch professional darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and formerly for the British Darts Organisation. He is nicknamed Tripod or The Flying Dutchman and uses Hey Ya by Outkast as his walk-on. He is currently ranked 45th in the PDC...   Steve Farmer Steve Farmer (darts player) Steve Farmer is an English darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation.Farmer's first big run came in the 2006 Winmau World Masters, reaching the semi-finals with wins over Tony Eccles, Michael Rosenauer and John Walton before losing 6-0 in sets to Martin Adams. He then reached...   Magnus Caris Magnus Caris Magnus Caris is a Swedish darts player.Caris made seven BDO World Darts Championship appearances, his first coming in 1988, losing in the first round to Rick Ney of the United States...   James Richardson James Richardson (darts player) James Richardson is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Richardson joined the PDC Pro Tour in 2011, after winning a tour card on the first day of Q School. He reached his first Pro Tour final in Gladbeck on October 23, 2011, losing 2–6 to Colin Osborne....   Dennis Smith Dennis Smith (darts player) Dennis Smith is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. He is a stalwart on the PDC circuit, having been playing on the circuit since 1994 but has yet to capture a major title to add to his collection of Open wins...   Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands...   Michael Smith Michael Smith (darts player) Michael Smith is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Smith reached the last 32 of the 2010 UK Open, knocking out Peter Manley and Matt Clark before losing to Mervyn King...   Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts Kim Huybrechts is a Belgian darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Huybrechts reached the last 16 of the 2009 Winmau World Masters, losing 1-3 to Steve West on his televised debut....   Ian White Ian White (darts player) Ian White is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.In 1997, White reached the final of the PDC's revived News of the World Darts Championship...

These 48 players are joined by two PDPA qualifiers (to be determined at a PDPA Qualifying event to be held in Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

 on November 28, 2011), the winner of the PDC Youth Tour Order of Merit, and 21 international players: the 4 highest names in the European Order of Merit not already qualified, and 17 further international qualifiers to be determined by the PDC and PDPA.

Some of the international players, such as the 4 from the European Order of Merit, and the top American and Australian players are entered straight into the first round, while others, having won qualifying events in their countries, are entered into the preliminary round.

European Order of Merit   Antonio Alcinas Antonio Alcinas Antonio Alcinas Estelrich is a Spanish darts player, playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.Alcinas started competing in PDC Europe events in 2010. After reaching the Quarter Finals of a Players Championship in Haarlem in June 2010, he qualified for the European Championship via the PDC...   Mensur Suljovic Mensur Suljovic Mensur Suljović is a Serbian-born Austrian darts player. He plays for the Professional Darts Corporation and previously played for the British Darts Organisation. He was also one of the top players in the German Darts Corporation where he won three events in 2007...   Jyhan Artut Jyhan Artut Jyhan Artut is a German darts player.Artut defeated Wayne Mardle 3-0 in the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship in the first round. He was beaten 4-1 by Robert Thornton in the second round. He won the German Championship in 2009 and 2010...   Kurt van de Rijk

International Qualifiers   Dietmar Burger Dietmar Burger Dietmar "Didi" Burger is an Austrian darts player.Burger won the Czech Open back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 and then won the Finnish Open in 2007, an event previously won by some of the game's biggest names, such as Phil Taylor, John Lowe, Andy Fordham and Raymond van Barneveld.In 2008, Burger began...   Oliver Ferenc   Connie Finnan   Warren French Warren French Warren French is a New Zealand darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches.French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world champion Tony David. He played in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 3-1 in the first round to James...   Geoff Kime   Petri Korte   Per Laursen Per Laursen Per Laursen is a Danish darts player. He reached the final of the WDF World Cup in 2005 and won the Welsh Open earlier that year - performances which enabled him to qualify for the BDO World Darts Championship for the first time in 2006....   Lee Choon Peng   Scott MacKenzie Scott MacKenzie (darts player) Scott MacKenzie is a darts player from Hong Kong. He has represented Hong Kong on numerous occasions , including captaining the Hong Kong team at the 2008 Asia Pacific Cup in New Zealand...   Kevin Münch   Haruki Muramatsu Haruki Muramatsu is a Japanese darts player.Muramatsu qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship. He defeated Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk 4-1 in the preliminary round, but lost 3-0 to Ronnie Baxter in the first round....   Dennis Nilsson   José Oliveira de Sousa   Christian Perez Christian Perez (darts player) Christian Perez is a Filipino darts player.In October 2009, Perez reached the final of the Shanghai International Darts Open, losing 10-4 to John Part. He later qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship where he defeated Denmark's Per Laursen 4-3 in the preliminary round...   Devon Petersen Devon Petersen Devon Petersen is a South African darts player.He qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship as the South African champion. He beat Guyana's Norman Madhoo 4-2 in the preliminary round with big checkouts including a 136 and a 146. In beating Madhoo, he earned a place in the first round...   Sean Reed   Darin Young Darin Young Darin Young is an American darts player who plays for the Professional Darts Corporation. He uses the nickname Big Daddy....

PDPA Qualifiers   Joe Cullen Joe Cullen (darts player) Joe Cullen is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.He first came to prominence in 2008 when he qualified for the UK Open. He defeated Mark Stapleton and Dennis Smith before Chris Mason defeated him in the last 64. Following his performances at Bolton,...   Arron Monk Arron Monk Arron Monk is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He is the son of fellow professional darts player and former World Masters winner Colin Monk...

PDC Youth Tour Qualifier   Paul Barham

In case a palyed has to withdraw from the competition the first reserve player that will take his spot is the third place finisher in the PDPA qualifier, Chris Thompson. It is the first time a match for third place was held at the qualifier.

Prize money

The 2012 World Championship features a prize fund of £1,000,000 – the same as in the previous two years.

The prize money is allocated as follows:

Winner (1): £200,000

Runner-Up (1): £100,000

Semi-finals (2): £50,000

Quarter-finals (4): £25,000

Third Round losers (8): £15,000

Second Round losers (16): £10,000

First Round losers (32): £6,000

Preliminary Round losers (8): £3,500

Nine darter: to be confirmed

Preliminary round

The format is best of 7 legs. One match is played each day with the winner playing his first round match within the day. The draw for the preliminary round was held on 28 November 2011.

Player 1	Score	Player 2
Connie Finnan	–	Warren French Warren French Warren French is a New Zealand darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches.French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world champion Tony David. He played in the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 3-1 in the first round to James...
Haruki Muramatsu Haruki Muramatsu is a Japanese darts player.Muramatsu qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship. He defeated Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk 4-1 in the preliminary round, but lost 3-0 to Ronnie Baxter in the first round....	–	Dennis Nilsson
Devon Petersen Devon Petersen Devon Petersen is a South African darts player.He qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship as the South African champion. He beat Guyana's Norman Madhoo 4-2 in the preliminary round with big checkouts including a 136 and a 146. In beating Madhoo, he earned a place in the first round...	–	José Oliveira de Sousa
Joe Cullen Joe Cullen (darts player) Joe Cullen is an English darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation events.He first came to prominence in 2008 when he qualified for the UK Open. He defeated Mark Stapleton and Dennis Smith before Chris Mason defeated him in the last 64. Following his performances at Bolton,...	–	Oliver Ferenc
Kevin Münch	–	Lee Choon Peng
Paul Barham	–	Scott MacKenzie Scott MacKenzie (darts player) Scott MacKenzie is a darts player from Hong Kong. He has represented Hong Kong on numerous occasions , including captaining the Hong Kong team at the 2008 Asia Pacific Cup in New Zealand...
Per Laursen Per Laursen Per Laursen is a Danish darts player. He reached the final of the WDF World Cup in 2005 and won the Welsh Open earlier that year - performances which enabled him to qualify for the BDO World Darts Championship for the first time in 2006....	–	Petri Korte
Dietmar Burger Dietmar Burger Dietmar "Didi" Burger is an Austrian darts player.Burger won the Czech Open back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 and then won the Finnish Open in 2007, an event previously won by some of the game's biggest names, such as Phil Taylor, John Lowe, Andy Fordham and Raymond van Barneveld.In 2008, Burger began...	–	Christian Perez Christian Perez (darts player) Christian Perez is a Filipino darts player.In October 2009, Perez reached the final of the Shanghai International Darts Open, losing 10-4 to John Part. He later qualified for the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship where he defeated Denmark's Per Laursen 4-3 in the preliminary round...

Last 64

The winner of the eight Preliminary Round matches will join 56 other players in the First Round.

External links

• The official site of the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship
• dartsdatabase.co.uk – Current rankings and qualifiers
• 2012 PDC World Darts Championship at Sky Sports