PDC World Darts Championship: Phil Taylor to face Szabo or Moss

World number one and defending champion Phil Taylor will face either Rob Szabo or Ian Moss in the first round of the 2014 PDC World Championship.

The 53-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent will be aiming to win a 17th world title at the Alexandra Palace.

Michael van Gerwen, who but won the Players Championship on Sunday, plays either Zoran Lerchbacher or Ben Ward.

Brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts from Belgium will meet in the first round.

They met in the Grand Slam of Darts last month, with younger sibling Kim coming through their last-16 match in Wolverhampton.

Adrian Lewis, world champion in 2011 and 2012, will face Dennis Smith, while Gary Anderson's match with 2005 finalist Mark Dudbridge is another exciting first-round tie.

Taylor must wait for the outcome of the preliminary-round encounter between Szabo and Moss before discovering his first-round opponent.

Szabo was the first man to qualify for the World Championship after winning the national title in his native New Zealand in July.

Moss, from Witney in Oxfordshire, claimed one of the last two spots after performing well in last week's final qualifying event in Barnsley.

A £250,000 prize is on offer to the winner of the tournament, which begins on 13 December and ends on 1 January.

First round draw: Michael Smith v Morihio Hashimoto or Paul Lim, Justin Pipe v Arron Monk, Adrian Lewis v Dennis Smith, Mark Webster v Mensur Suljovic, Paul Nicholson v Stuart Kellett, Richie Burnett v Dean Winstanley, Ronnie Baxter v Ricky Evans, Ian White v Kyle Anderson, Colin Lloyd v Beau Anderson, Kim Huybrechts v Ronny Huybrechts, Peter Wright v Joe Cullen, Andy Hamilton v Julio Barbero or Andree Welge, Robert Thornton v Max Hopp, Jamie Caven v Jelle Klaasen, Steve Beaton v Devon Petersen or Mohammed Latif Sapup, Wayne Jones v Kevin McDine, Gary Anderson v Mark Dudbridge, Kevin Painter v Tomas Seyler, Mark Walsh v Jarkko Komula, John Part v Mareno Michels, Brendan Dolan v Dennis Lindskjold or Edward Santos, Raymond van Barneveld v Jamie Lewis, Mervyn King v Darin Young, Vincent van der Voort v Matt Clark, Wes Newton v Gino Vos or Ting Chi Royden Lam, Phil Taylor v Rob Szabo or Ian Moss, Andy Smith v Steve Brown, Simon Whitlock v Ross Smith, Dave Chisnall v John Henderson, James Wade v Darren Webster, Michael van Gerwen v Zoran Lerchbacher or Ben Ward, Terry Jenkins v Colin McGarry or Per Laursen.