The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsWorld Champion Gary Anderson will begin the defence of his Players Championship finals title with a high-profile clash with Phil Taylor in a repeat of the 2015 World Championship final.
The pair played out a highly-entertaining World Championship final that went down to the thirteenth and final set, which Anderson won without reply, hitting D12 for his first World title.
The seeds have been devised by ProTour rankings, and Anderson will begin as the number twelve seed and Taylor seed number twenty-one. Number one seed Michael van Gerwen faces a first round clash with young star Keegan Brown, whilst number two seed Michael Smith faces our columnist Jamie Caven.
Three time 2015 Players Championship winner Peter Wright will appear as the number three seed and will play Steve Beaton in the opening round. World Grand Prix winner Robert Thornton will come up against Jamie Lewis in the first round, whilst Adrian Lewis plays the unique throw of John Henderson.
First Round Draw & Tournament Bracket
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Keegan Brown (32)
Justin Pipe (16) v Vincent van der Voort (17)
Dave Chisnall (8) v Joe Murnan (25)
Robert Thornton (9) v Jamie Lewis (24)
Kim Huybrechts (5) v Daryl Gurney (28)
Gary Anderson (12) v Phil Taylor (21)
James Wade (4) v Mark Webster (29)
Benito van de Pas (13) v Stephen Bunting (20)
Michael Smith (2) v Jamie Caven (31)
Mensur Suljovic (15) v Mervyn King (18)
Ian White (7) v Raymond van Barneveld (26)
Jelle Klaasen (10) v Gerwyn Price (23)
Adrian Lewis (6) v John Henderson (27)
Terry Jenkins (11) v Alan Norris (22)
Peter Wright (3) v Steve Beaton (30)
Brendan Dolan (14) v Simon Whitlock (19)
