Raymond van Barneveld and Gerwyn Price may face Sussex pair in world darts championships

Two players from St Leonards have been handed potentially mouth-watering ties in the William Hill World Darts Championship.
Ritchie Edhouse could face Gerwyn Price at Ally Pally / Picture: Kais Bodensieck - PDC EuropeRitchie Edhouse could face Gerwyn Price at Ally Pally / Picture: Kais Bodensieck - PDC Europe
Ritchie Edhouse could face Gerwyn Price at Ally Pally / Picture: Kais Bodensieck - PDC Europe

Rob Cross, the 2018 champion, could play Raymond van Barneveld in round two - if the Dutch five-time world champion wins his first-round match against Lourence Ilagan.

And a second-round meeting with world number one and defending champion Gerwyn Price is at stake for Ritchie Edhouse - if he prevails against Lihao Wen at Alexandra Palace, London.

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The draw, which was made on Monday night, sees the top 32 players from the PDC Order of Merit seeded through to round two, with the first round featuring the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers against the Qualifiers & International Representatives.

Rob Cross at the recent Players' Championship / Picture: Lawrence Lustig - PDCRob Cross at the recent Players' Championship / Picture: Lawrence Lustig - PDC
Rob Cross at the recent Players' Championship / Picture: Lawrence Lustig - PDC

Number 11 seed Cross will take on the winner of the clash between returning legend Van Barneveld and Filipino thrower Ilagan.

And Edhouse - one of the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers - will play PDC China Champion Wen for the right to face number one seed Price.

The sport's blue riband tournament will begin on Wednesday December 15 and the action will be televised live on Sky Sports.

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Meanwhile, Cross and Edhouse both defeated players in the top 16 of the world rankings at the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals last weekend.

The 31-year-old Cross overcame world number 10 Nathan Aspinall and Edhouse, 38, saw off 14th-ranked Dave Chisnall in Minehead.

Cross won 6-4 against Aspinall in round two of the ITV4-televised event on Saturday afternoon, having beaten Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 in round one the previous night.

The European Championship winner's progress was halted, however, by a 10-7 loss at the hands of eventual runner-up Ryan Searle, ranked 15th, in round three on Saturday night.

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Edhouse, now up to 80th in the rankings, pulled off a very good 6-4 victory over the experienced Chisnall in the last first-round match on stage two on Friday night.

He then lost 6-3 in round two to 23rd-ranked Brendan Dolan, who went on to knock out Price in round three.

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