Christmas is on the horizon which means that the PDC World Darts Championship is set to get underway, as 96 of the best darts players across the globe head to Alexandra Palace in London, for the tournament which begins on Friday night.
Michael van Gerwen waltzed off with a third world title last year and he will be back to defend the crown, but more players than ever before will feel like they have the chance to get the better of him and claim the title themselves.
Recent Winners
2019 – Michael van Gerwen
2018 – Rob Cross
2017 – Michael van Gerwen
2016 – Gary Anderson
2015 – Gary Anderson
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Adrian Lewis
2011 – Adrian Lewis
2010 – Phil Taylor
The Format
This is the second year of the new format. The top 32 in the world rankings all progress through to the second round with the first round of the event seeing the 32 qualifiers from the pro tour order of merit meeting one of the international qualifiers for the right to take on a seeded player in the second stage of the event.
The first and the second round are the best of five sets. There is no tiebreak in the first round so if it is 2-2 and 2-2 the last leg is the deciding one. The third round and the last 16 are the best of seven sets with the quarter finals up to the best of nine. The two semi-finals are the best of 11 and the champion will be crowned on New Year’s Day over the best of 13 sets. From the second round onwards all deciding sets have to be won by two clear legs but if they go 5-5 the next leg is the deciding one.
Top Quarter
As ever the defending champion is the number one seed and in the top quarter which means that this is where Michael van Gerwen will attempt to defend the title from. There are eight seeds in every quarter and in the top one the rivals for the Dutchman are James Wade, Ian White, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Ricky Evans, Steve Beaton and the talented German star Max Hopp in what looks like quite a tame section.
16 players will make up the qualifiers in each quarter and there are a few which stand out among them in this section. Kyle Anderson may well have the best chance of a deep run in the competition but Gabriel Clemens is a rising star and if he wins his first round match it will guarantee a German player in the third round. Benito van de Pas, Jelle Klaasen and Mark McGeeney are a few other household names in this part of the draw.
Second Quarter
The 2019 runner up Michael Smith heads up the second quarter this week as he bids to go one step further than he went last year. Gary Anderson is his nearest rival and if he is fully fit he is someone who knows how to go the course and distance in this tournament having won it twice. Nathan Aspinall was a semi-finalist last year and he is in this quarter as a seeded player too with the other seeds being Steve West, Krzysztof Ratajski, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Adrian Lewis and Darren Webster.
There are some qualifiers who catch the eye in this quarter of the draw as well. Paul Lim is always popular in this tournament and he is in here while Brendan Dolan has been throwing some good darts recently and Jamie Hughes has also had a good season. The other qualifiers who stand out with a chance of a decent run are Josh Payne, Cristo Reyes and the Brazilian ace Diogo Portela who has served his apprenticeship on the Challenge Tour.
Open an 888sport account to get either 10/1 van Gerwen, 40/1 Price OR 100/1 Wright to win the title! Click the image above to bet. New accounts only. Use code 888ODDS. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Third Quarter
The former champion Rob Cross heads up the third quarter. This is a big week or two for him because he is defending the £400,000 he won for winning the title a couple of years ago and so an early exit will have a huge effect on his world ranking. Peter Wright is the next highest seed in this quarter and when you consider there is also Danny Noppert, Joe Cullen, Jermaine Wattimena, Keegan Brown, Dave Chisnall and Jeffrey de Zwaan also in here this is no easy quarter to win.
Ahead of the draw the eyes were on one man in terms of the qualifiers and that was Raymond Barneveld and he has landed up in this section. There are some big names outside of the seeds in this quarter and they include Vincent van der Voort, Kim Huybrechts, James Wilson and the World Cup finalist Steve Lennon. The popular Devon Petersen and the Japanese number one Seigo Asada complete a pretty tasty quarter of the draw.
Bottom Quarter
The Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price is up to the number three seed for this tournament so he is in here and heads up the bottom quarter. Daryl Gurney is seeded to be his biggest danger but the BDO world champion Glen Durrant will have something to say about that. Simon Whitlock is a former finalist in this tournament while Mervyn King is likewise at Lakeside and they both begin their tilts at an elusive world title here. Mensur Suljovic, Chris Dobey and John Henderson complete a strong set of seeds.
The two women in the field are qualifiers in this with Fallon Sherrock and Mikuru Suzuki housed here. Ted Evetts and James Richardson are the unfortunate men to have drawn them. Justin Pipe is a decent enough name in here while Jose De Sousa, William O’Connor and Ross Smith all hoping for decent runs to set up a solid 2020. Damon Heta showed his class on the big stage in one of the World Series events so this looks a really challenging quarter.
Betting
I think the majority of the best bets in this tournament come in the other outright markets and I’ll be targeting them in other previews but there is one bet that stands out to me in light of the fact that he has won the last three BDO world titles and that is obviously Glen Durrant, a man who showed at Lakeside and again in Dublin this year that set play is right up his street.
It is worth remembering the quirk in the format because there are a lot of legs that carry massive pressure on them in this tournament and the knowledge that you can stand up to such scrutiny and pressure is going to be a real confidence booster. Durrant has been a little quiet in recent TV tournaments but the short format has accounted for a lot of that. This longer format is right up his street and at 40/1 he’s a huge price to become the first man to unify the world titles.
Tips
Back G.Durrant to win PDC World Darts Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
