The draw for the WDF World Championship was made, and Open number one seed Mitchell Lawrie was paired with Harry Lane or Declan Bailey in round two at Lakeside.
Lawrie, who was defeated by Jimmy van Schie on debut in the final in 2025, has won six open titles this season to soar to the top of the rankings, and he will start as a strong favourite for Frimley Green.
van Schie of course gained a PDC Tour Card at Q School at the start of the year, so the Dutchman will not defend his title in Surrey.
15-year-old Lawrie’s youth rival Kaya Baysal is also in the open field, and the 16-year-old will begin his maiden campaign against either Stefan Schroder or Pat Scurfield.
The second seed for the tournament is Jenson Walker, and ‘The Interceptor’, a winner of eight ranking titles this term, awaits the winner of of Mark Cleaver and Blake Hatchett.
2022 WDF World Champion Neil Duff is the only former winner in the field, and he has a tough first assignment against either Lewis Gurney, a winner in Turkey, or Ron Meulenkamp of the Netherlands.
Matt Edgar secured his spot as a winner in Hungary, and he starts as the sixth seed, where a tricky second round tie awaits against Haupai Puha or Tomoya Goto.
Last-chance qualifiers Jitse van der Wal and Paul Lewis start against Sean Fisher and Anthony Brown respectively in round one.
Should van der Wal win, his reward would be a meeting with Scotland’s Ross Montgomery, and Lewis could face Brian Raman if he is victorious in round one.
Jeff Smith, a finalist in 2016, must get past David Davies, with the winner to take on Corne Groeneveld.
The tournament gets underway from Friday 27th November.
Open WDF Lakeside World Championship
First Round
Harry Lane (ENG) v Declan Bailey (AUS)
Alex Williams (WAL) v Dmitrii Rogov (ISR)
Stefan Schroder (NED) v Pat Scurfield (ENG)
Daniel Zapata (CAT) v Jack Drayton (ENG)
Ben Townley (ENG) v Shane Sakchekapo (CAN)
Franko Giuliani (AUT) v Joey Lynaugh (USA)
Petri Rasmus (FIN) v Ryusei Azemoto (JPN)
Liam Maendl-Lawrance (GER) v Berry Pater (NED)
Mark Cleaver (NZL) v Blake Hatchett (AUS)
Lewis Gurney (ENG) v Ron Meulenkamp (NED)
Carsten Hoffmann (GER) v Dennis Nilsson (SWE)
Sean Fisher (WAL) v Jitse Van der Wal (NED)
Matt Clark (ENG) v Terry Tan (MLY)
Anthony Brown (ENG) v Paul Lewis (ENG)
Haupai Puha (NZL) v Tomoya Goto (JPN)
Jeff Smith (CAN) v David Davies (WAL)
Second Round
(1) Mitchell Lawrie (SCO) v Lane/Bailey
(16) Scott Robertson (SCO) v Williams/Rogov
(8) Kaya Baysal (TUR) v Schroder/Scurfield
(9) Mursel Yavuz (TUR) v Zapata/Drayton
(4) Leonard Gates (USA) v Townley/Sakchekapo
(13) Chris Lim (USA) v Giuliani/Lynaugh
(5) James Beeton (ENG) v Rasmus/Azemoto
(12) Jarno Bottenberg (NED) v Maendl-Lawrance/Pater
(2) Jenson Walker (ENG) v Cleaver/Hatchett
(15) Neil Duff (NI) v Gurney/Meulenkamp
(7) Moreno Blom (NED) v Hoffmann/Nilsson
(10) Ross Montgomery (SCO) v Fisher/Van der Wal
(3) Paul Krohne (GER) v Clark/Tan
(14) Brian Raman (BEL) v Brown/Lewis
(6) Matthew Edgar (ENG) v Puha/Goto
(11) Corne Groeneveld (NED) v Smith/Davies
