The venue previously held the British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship, most recently in 2019.

However, the BDO has since gone into liquidation, and the WDF World Championship is serving as its replacement.

This year's World Championship was originally scheduled for January, but it was pushed back by three months due to concerns over COVID-19 restrictions.

The last edition of the BDO World Championship was held at London's O2 Arena in 2020.

Wayne Warren triumphed 7-4 over Jim Williams in an all-Welsh men's final, while Japan's Mikuru Suzuki successfully defended her women's title by beating England's Lisa Ashton 3-0.

Prior to Warren's success, Glen Durrant had won three successive BDO World Championships, but he now plays in competitions organised by rival governing body the Professional Darts Corporation.

Warren is seeded third in the main draw, and is set to play the winner of the all-English clash between Lee Shewan and Jordan Brooks in the second round.

The top seed Brian Raman of Belgium will start against the winner of another all-English affair between John Scott and Johnny Haines.

Home favourite Connor Scutt or Canada's Shawn Burt await Thibault Tricole of France, seeded second.

In the women's draw, Suzuki enters the competition in the first round with a tie against Laura Turner of England.

Fourth seed Aileen de Graaf of The Netherlands would be her second round opponent should she progress.

The world number one Deta Hedman of England will play the winner of Scotland's Lorraine Hyde against Tori Kewish of Australia.

Kewish's compatriot Corrine Hammond is seeded second, and is set to face either England's Paula Jacklin or Wales' Rhian O'Sullivan in the second round.

World number two Anastasia Dobromyslova, a three-time BDO world champion, has been hit by the ban on Russian players, implemented following the invasion of Ukraine.

"This unfortunate situation has impacted players representing the Russian Darts Federation and it is with sincere regret that Anastasia Dobromyslova, Elena Shulgina, Aleksey Kadochnikov and Roman Obukhov are now unable to compete in the 2022 World Championships," WDF Chief Development Officer Richard Ashdown said earlier this month.

Winners of the men's event are in line to win £50,000 ($65,000/€60,000) of the £200,000 ($260,000/€240,000) total prize money.

The total pool for the women's competition is less than half of that at £87,500 ($115,000/€105,000), with the champion earning £25,000 (£35,000/€30,000).