TOURNAMENT DETAILS

Phil Taylor saw off a plucky James Wade in the 2006 final to lift the title at a boiling Winter Gardens. Follow his defence here in the summer.

PHIL TAYLOR will begin the defence of his Stan James World Matchplay against Blackpool's Wes Newton next month. The 2007 World Matchplay will take place at the Winter Gardens from Sunday 22 July to Saturday 28 July.

Taylor, the number one seed and eight-time World Matchplay champion, has drawn local favourite Newton, who made his debut in the tournament 12 months ago with a defeat to John Part in round one. Taylor has previously faced Newton in the semi-finals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic as well as at last weekend's Blue Square UK Open - where Taylor landed a nine-darter against the 29-year-old from Fleetwood.

World Champion Raymond van Barneveld faces Denis Ovens, while the number three and four seeds - Colin Lloyd and Peter Manley - drew qualifiers Mervyn King and Michael van Gerwen. King and van Gerwen were two of the four PDPA members to win places in the tournament, with the qualifiers determined by prize money won in a series of eight Players Championship events.

The final two of those took place at the Lakeside Holiday Village on Hayling Island on Saturday and Sunday, with King and Steve Beaton's displays over the weekend seeing them take places. Adrian Gray and van Gerwen held on to their places to secure their World Matchplay debuts. Gray was drawn against Kevin Painter and Beaton meets number seven seed Adrian Lewis.

James Wade, last year's runner-up, will meet Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones, and two former finalists clash in the meeting between Wayne Mardle and Mark Dudbridge. Colin Osborne, a semi-finalist in the UK Open last weekend, drew three-time Blackpool finalist Dennis Priestley

The Schedule of Play will be confirmed during the next week.

Stan James World Matchplay - First Round Draw & Bracket

Phil Taylor (1) v Wes Newton
Kevin Painter (16) v Adrian Gray
Wayne Mardle (8) v Mark Dudbridge
Roland Scholten (9) v Chris Mason
Terry Jenkins (5) v Alan Tabern
John Part (12) v Alan Warriner-Little
Peter Manley (4) v Michael van Gerwen
Ronnie Baxter (13) v Bob Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld (2) v Denis Ovens
Barrie Bates (15) v Andy Smith
Adrian Lewis (7) v Steve Beaton
Andy Hamilton (10) v Mick McGowan
Dennis Priestley (6) v Colin Osborne
James Wade (11) v Wayne Jones
Colin Lloyd (3) v Mervyn King
Andy Jenkins (14) v Mark Walsh

The top 28 players qualify for the Stan James World Matchplay, where they will be joined by the leading four players (not already in the top 28) from the Players Championship Order of Merit following next weekend's two events at Hayling Island.

Alex Roy is the unlucky man to miss out, dropping to 29th following the UK Open with Ireland's Mick McGowan leaping to 27th with his performance.

Bob Anderson clung onto 28th place, despite his early exit at Bolton which left him with no prize money from the UK Open and an anxious weekend watching his rivals in action.

Vincent van der Voort's run to the final of the UK Open moves him into the top 50 of the PDC world rankings for the first time - but only a win over Raymond van Barneveld in the Bolton decider would have taken him into the top 28.

Stan James World Matchplay - Automatic Qualifiers
Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Lloyd
Peter Manley
Terry Jenkins
Dennis Priestley
Adrian Lewis
Wayne Mardle
Roland Scholten
Andy Hamilton
James Wade
John Part
Ronnie Baxter
Andy Jenkins
Barrie Bates
Kevin Painter
Chris Mason
Mark Dudbridge
Denis Ovens
Colin Osborne
Wayne Jones
Alan Tabern
Wes Newton
Andy Smith
Alan Warriner-Little
Mark Walsh
Mick McGowan
Bob Anderson

Click here to see the full Order of Merit