Former semi-finalist Dennis Smith was among the eight players to qualify for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at the PDPA Qualifiers on Saturday.

Smith, who reached the last four in the 2000 World Championship, earned his place at Alexandra Palace later in December with a 5-3 victory over Dave Smith in their decisive game of the knockout qualifiers.

Smith had earlier defeated Michael Smith, Stuart Stubbs and Paul Knighton to ensure his 13th World Championship appearance and his first since the 2006 event.

John MaGowan, a 67-year-old from Northern Ireland, ensured his second World Championship appearance with a 5-0 whitewash of Gary Blades in his decisive match, having also defeated former qualifiers Alan Caves and Paul Williams in the event.

Those two were the only players from the eight qualifiers who have previously played in the World Championship, with a host of new faces winning through at the Telford International Centre.

Brendan Dolan, who has previous experience of the big stage from the UK Open and World Grand Prix, joined fellow countryman MaGowan in the World Championship after a narrow victory over Lancashire's Louis Blundell in his decider.

Newcastle's Mark Stephenson, Somerset's Steve Grubb, Stourbridge's Nick Fullwell and Sussex's Tony Ayres will make their World Championship debuts after coming through the qualifier.

Grubb, a publican from Radstock, came from 4-2 down against American Isen Veljic to win his place in the tournament, while Fullwell was another final-leg winner, against Ken Dobson.

Essex postman Michael Barnard, who has been on the PDC circuit since 2004, defeated experienced professional Dave Askew to earn his first World Championship appearance, having also defeated America's John Kuczynski and number 13 seed Steve Brown on the day.

Top seed Mick McGowan suffered disappointment with a third round defeat to Billingshurst-based Ayres, while America's UK Open runner-up Gary Mawson was a first round casualty against Mark Jodrill.