GERWYN Price faces a tough first round tie in the World Matchplay when he goes up against two-time semi-finalist Daryl Gurney.

Price, beaten by Michael van Gerwen in the 2022 final, will go up against the Northern Irishman in the £800,000 tournament in Blackpool, which runs from July 13 to 21.

The 39-year-old from Markham is fourth seed and will hope to shine after having to withdraw from the World Cup of Darts because of health issues.

The top 16 players in the world were seeded for the draw and will go up against 16 qualifiers from the one-year ProTour Order of Merit.

Standout tie for the first round at Winter Gardens is a meeting between van Gerwen and Luke Littler.

Littler, the world number 25, was the player the top seeds would have wanted to avoid following his dramatic rise this year.

He followed up his stunning run to the World Championship final in January by winning the Premier League in May.

Carmarthenshire’s Jonny Clayton, runner-up last year, meets five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in another heavyweight showdown.

Nathan Aspinall begins his title defence against Luke Woodhouse while world number three Michael Smith will play 2018 champion Gary Anderson.

World champion Luke Humphries - the 7/2 pre-tournament favourite with sponsors Betfred – takes on German newcomer Ricardo Pietreczko.

The sport's biggest names will compete across nine days of action at the Empress Ballroom, with £200,000 and the coveted Phil Taylor Trophy on offer for the winner.

The schedule is yet to be confirmed with the first round played across the first three days from July 13 to 15.

This year's visit to the Winter Gardens will also feature the third staging of the Betfred Women's World Matchplay, with eight players competing on the afternoon of Sunday, July 21.

2024 Betfred World Matchplay draw bracket

(1) Luke Humphries v Ricardo Pietreczko

(16) Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce

(8) Jonny Clayton v Raymond van Barneveld

(9) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Martin Schindler

(4) Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney

(13) Ross Smith v Josh Rock

(5) Nathan Aspinall v Luke Woodhouse

(12) Danny Noppert v James Wade

(2) Michael van Gerwen v Luke Littler

(15) Joe Cullen v Brendan Dolan

(7) Dave Chisnall v Krzysztof Ratajski

(10) Peter Wright v Andrew Gilding

(3) Michael Smith v Gary Anderson

(14) Chris Dobey v Ritchie Edhouse

(6) Rob Cross v Gian van Veen

(11) Damon Heta v Ryan Searle