Newly crowned Players Championship Finals champion Kevin Painter takes on young gun Arron Monk in round one of the World Darts Championship this evening.
 
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The Artist picked up his first PDC televised title last week when he defeated Mark Webster to win the Players Championships and will be looking to go one step further than his 2004 campaign in this event, which saw him finish runner-up to Phil Taylor in an epic final.

He takes on reigning PDC Unicorn World Youth champion Arron Monk in his opener at the Ally Pally tonight, in what promises to be a thrilling close-run encounter.

Now world number nine, Painter knows that a good showing in this event could see him challenge for the title, as well as put him in contention for a coveted Premier League place in 2012.

Basingstoke thrower Monk (son of PDC pro Colin Monk) has emerged as one of the sports' hottest young prospects.

He beat Michael van Gerwen on the Ally Pally stage last year to become U21 world champion and has a promising future ahead of him.

The pair last met in a Pro Tour event in Ireland in October, in a game which saw Painter take a 6-3 victory.

The bookmakers make Painter favourite to see off the 21-year-old on the big stage tonight; he is priced at 1/2 with title sponsors Ladbrokes, as opposed to Monk who is the 15/8 outsider.

The winner will play Mark Walsh in the second round after Christmas.

The match gets underway at 10pm and will be streamed live over the best of five sets from the Alexandra Palace, London.