TERRY Jenkins will begin his pursuit of the £250,000 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship winner’s prize on Saturday, December 14 at Alexandra Palace.

Ledbury’s former World Championship semi-finalist will face the winner of the match between pre-qualifiers Colin McGarry or Per Laursen in the opening round.

The showpiece event of the darts calendar’s first round is split across eight sessions in the opening seven days, with one preliminary round contest accompanied by four games from the first round at the north London venue.

Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, who won his 16th World Championship title on New Year's Day when he came from 4-2 down to claim a famous 7-4 victory against Michael van Gerwen, will begin his defence of the Sid Waddell Trophy the day before Jenkins.

Taylor will be up against either New Zealand's Rob Szabo or PDPA Qualifier Ian Moss, who will play their preliminary round tie earlier in the night.

The second round sees 15 of the 16 ties take place before the Christmas break, with one game kicking off the post- Christmas action on Friday, December 27 when the tournament resumes.

The third round is held on December 27 and 28, when the first two quarter-finals will be also to be held.

The second pair of quarterfinals will be held on Sunday, December 29, with the semifinals on Monday, December 30 and the final taking place on Wednesday January 1.