Chris Dobey seeded at 2020 PDC World Darts Championship

Bedlington’s Chris Dobey will begin his campaign at the 2020 William Hill World Darts Championship in the second round, after being seeded 22nd.

The 29-year-old will face the winner of the first round match between the Netherlands’ Ron Meulenkamp and New Zealand’s Ben Robb.

In last year’s tournament, Dobey was unseeded and reached the fourth round with wins against Boris Koltsov, Steve Beaton and Vincent van der Voort.

There, he lost 4-3 to two-time PDC World Champion Gary Anderson in a high-level contest – in which he had a three dart average of 100.83.

The top 32 from the PDC Order of Merit are seeded and will begin the competition in the second round.

The tournament will be held at Alexandra Palace in London from December 13, 2019 to January 1, 2020.

It is the 27th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, since it separated from the British Darts Organisation in 1993.

Michael van Gerwen is the defending champion, after defeating Michael Smith 7-3 in the final of the 2019 edition.

Last week, Dobey reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, where he lost 11-8 to Gerwyn Price.

Here is Dobey’s potential route to the World Championship final:

Second round: Ron Meulenkamp / Ben Robb

Third round: Mensur Suljovic (11)

Fourth round: Daryl Gurney (6) / Glen Durrant (27)

Quarter-finals: Gerwyn Price (3) / Simon Whitlock (14)

Semi-finals: Rob Cross (2) / Peter Wright (7) / Dave Chisnall (10)

Final: Michael van Gerwen (1) / Michael Smith (4) / Gary Anderson (5)