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PDC world champion Gary Anderson will start the defence of his title against Denmark's Per Laursen or Andy Boulton.

The 44-year-old Scot beat 16-time world champion Phil Taylor 7-6 in a thrilling final in January.

Taylor will play Japan's Keita Ono or Filipino Alex Tagarao in the first round, while world number one Michael van Gerwen has been drawn against Thanawat Gaweenuntawong or Rene Eidams.

A field of 72 players will compete for £1.5m in prize money from 17 December.

Boulton, ranked 73 in the world, was runner-up in Monday's PDPA Qualifier in Coventry meaning he will face Laursen in the preliminary round at Alexandra Palace.

Ricky Evans, who beat Boulton in the final at the Ricoh Arena, goes straight into the first round to play Australian Simon Whitlock.

Paul Lim, the first player to hit a nine-dart finish in the BDO World Championships - in 1990, will play Russia's Aleksandr Oreshkin in the preliminary round with the winner facing Mervyn King.

Elsewhere, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld meets fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode, world number four Peter Wright will play former world youth champion Keegan Brown and Adrian Lewis, champion in 2011 and 2012, will take on Jan Dekker.

The final takes place on 3 January.

First-round draw in full:

Wes Newton v Cristo Reyes

John Henderson v Darren Webster

Mervyn King v Aleksandr Oreshkin/Paul Lim

Peter Wright v Keegan Brown

Vincent van der Voort v Loz Ryder

Kevin Painter v Kim Viljanen/Sven Groen

James Wade v Warrick Scheffer/John Michael

Stephen Bunting v Jyhan Artut

Robert Thornton v Alan Norris

Mark Webster v Qiang Sun/Mick McGowan

Jamie Caven v Michael Rasztovits/Rob Szabo

Gary Anderson v Andy Boulton/Per Laursen

Benito van de Pas v Max Hopp

Jelle Klaasen v Joe Cullen

Jamie Lewis v Daryl Gurney

Ian White v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Phil Taylor v Keita Ono/Alex Taragao

Simon Whitlock v Ricky Evans

Dave Chisnall v Rowby-John Rodriguez

Brendan Dolan v Kyle Anderson

Justin Pipe v Christian Kist

Michael Smith v Jeffrey De Zwaan

Adrian Lewis v Jan Dekker

Michael van Gerwen v Thanawat Gaweenuntawong/Rene Eidams

Raymond van Barneveld v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Kim Huybrechts v David Pallett

Dean Winstanley v Ronny Huybrechts

Steve Beaton v Koha Kokiri

Andrew Gilding v Gerwyn Price

Terry Jenkins v Darin Young

Mensur Suljovic v Jermaine Wattimena

Andy Hamilton v Joe Murnan