There were no complaints from Phil Taylor on the draw for the 2012 Ladbrokes World Championship, as he chases down a 16th World Championship crown.
‘The Power’ will face a qualifier in the 1st Round – either Haruki Muramatsu of Japan or Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson, who is actually a former competitor in the World’s Strongest Man competition.
“It is a good draw, but I will still prepare the same as I would for any opponent and treat them with respect,” he said.
Taylor, who is heading off to Tenerife for a week’s sun, added: “If I don’t win the World Championship, I will give myself a big kick up the backside. I desperately want the title back and I will do everything I can to make sure that happens.”
But Taylor could face a really tough 2nd Round against either Mark Dudbridge or Dave Chisnall and remember the Unicorn star is in the same quarter of the draw as Raymond van Barneveld, Paul Nicholson and Andy Hamilton.
Nicholson, who is seeded 9th, won’t have it all his own way against Austrian Mensur Suljovic who has caused a few World Championship shocks over the years,
Barney kicks-off against World Championship debutant James Richardson, while Hamilton plays Spain’s No.1 Antonio Alcinas.
So, onto the other Team Unicorn stars…..Gary Anderson, who is seeded to meet Taylor in the semi-finals, plays Germany’s top player Jyhan Artut in a tough opener.
James Wade – the No.3 seed – plays either Denmark’s Per Laursen or Petri Korte of Finland, while there are a couple of cracking all Unicorn 1st Round clashes on the cards.
Kevin Painter has been drawn to face Arron Monk, while Terry Jenkins and Joe Cullen will do battle again in a repeat of last year’s Ally Pally clash, which ‘The Bull’ won narrowly…..first though, Cullen has to get past Serbia’s Oliver Ferenc in the preliminary round.
Colin Osborne will feature in one of THE ties of the 1st Round against Michael van Gerwen, while Jamie Caven won’t have it all his own way against Dutchman Roland Scholten.
And Wes Newton, who reached the quarter-finals last year, will play Belgian debutant Kurt van de Rijk.
Unicorn’s South African youngster Devon Petersen will play Steve Brown, if he can win his preliminary round match against Portugal’s Jose de Sousa.
Other highlights of the draw see World Champion Adrian Lewis playing Nigel Heydon, an all Welsh clash between Mark Webster and Richie Burnett and that showdown between Dudbridge and Chisnall for the right to play Taylor in round two!
The action gets under way on December 15 at the Alexandra Palace, with every dart ‘live’ on Sky Sports HD.
The draw was made by Rod Harrington and Keith Deller.
The draw in full (brackets):
Phil Taylor (1) v Haruki Muramatsu/Dennis Nilsson
Mark Dudbridge (32) v Dave Chisnall
Vincent van der Voort (16) v Mark Hylton
Andy Hamilton (17) v Antonio Alcinas
Raymond van Barneveld (8) v James Richardson
Brendan Dolan (25) v Kim Huybrechts
Paul Nicholson (9) v Mensur Suljovic
Alan Tabern (24) v Dietmar Burger/Christian Perez
Simon Whitlock (5) v Dennis Smith
Steve Beaton (28) v Magnus Caris
Mervyn King (12) v Geoff Kime
Colin Osborne (21) v Michael van Gerwen
Gary Anderson (4) v Jyhan Artut
Steve Brown (29) v Devon Petersen/Jose de Sousa
Colin Lloyd (13) v Darin Young
Andy Smith (20) v Scott Rand
Adrian Lewis (2) v Nigel Heydon
Robert Thornton (31) v Ian White
Wayne Jones (15) v Paul Barham/Scott McKenzie
Jamie Caven (18) v Roland Scholten
Wes Newton (7) v Kurt van de Rijk
Justin Pipe (26) v Sean Reed
Terry Jenkins (10) v Joe Cullen/Oliver Ferenc
Co Stompe (23) v Michael Smith
Mark Webster (6) v Richie Burnett
John Part (27) v John Henderson
Mark Walsh (11) v Connie Finnan/Warren French
Kevin Painter (22) v Arron Monk
James Wade (3) v Per Laursen/Petri Korte
Peter Wright (30) v Jelle Klaasen
Ronnie Baxter (14) v Steve Farmer
Denis Ovens (19) v Kevin Munch/Lee Choo Feng
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC