WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP: They say Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and that is certainly the case for Darts fans, with the PDC World Darts Championship kicking off this week.
The PDC World Darts Championship gets underway this Friday evening and for the thirteenth year running the Alexandra Palace in London is the venue, for what is sure to be three weeks of high entertainment and drama. Ninety-Six Players will start off but only one player can lift the Trophy on New Year’s Day. Let’s take a look at the main contenders to be walking away with the £500,000 winning prize fund on January 1st.
Michael Van Gerwen
The Dutchman enters the tournament as the defending champion after beating Michael Smith 7-3 in the 2019 decider and will be seeking his fourth win at Ally Pally. The 30-year-old is the heavy favorite, priced at 2.24.
Van Gerwen started the year in flying form by winning the Masters and the Premier League but it’s been up and down since May. He suffered a surprise exit in the last 16 at the World Matchplay and lost a cracking Semi-Final at the Grand Slam to Gerwyn Price last month. He did however remind us of his quailty by winning the Grand Prix in October.
Last year’s winner should make the Quarter-Finals with ease, with a likely clash vs James Wade/Ian White in store. Should he overcome that challenge, an expected Semi-Final vs Gary Anderson/Michael Smith awaits and that will give “Mighty Mike” plenty to think about. That said, I still expect him to set foot on the oche on January 1st.
Outright MarketRob Cross
The 29-year-old shocked the Darts world on New Year’s Day 2018 when he hammered Phil Taylor 7-1 in the Final to claim his first PDC World Championship title. The man nicknamed “Voltage” enters the tournament as the second seed and is priced at 17.0.
Cross has been performing consistently well all year. He won the World Matchplay in July and the European Championship in October, whilst he was the runner up at both the UK Open and the Premier League.
He will have been very disappointed with his Fourth Round exit last year but his 2019 form suggests he will go further this time around. Kim Huybrechts could offer a potential banana skin in the Second Round. However, I will be surprised if hes not in a Quarter-Final vs either Peter Wright/ Dave Chisnall. Victorious in that tie, Cross is likely to face Daryl Gurney or in the in-form Gerwyn Price in the Semi-Finals. With that potential run of matchups, Cross will fancy his chances of replicating his achievements of 2018.
Gerwyn Price
The former Rugby League and Union player is in great form and full of confidence after recently defeating Peter Wright 16-6 to claim the Grand Slam title. The Welshman is trading as the second favorite at 5.0.
Price didn’t have the best of starts to 2019. He missed out on the Play-Offs for the Premier League and lost to Stephen Bunting in the opening round of the World Matchplay. The last two months has seen a turn in fortunes for Price, which saw him reach the Final of the European Championship and win the Grand Slam.
The “Iceman” knows himself that he under preformed at the World Championship. He failed to get past the Third Round, but I fully expect him to be in a Quarter-Final vs Daryl Gurney on December 29th. That is a tie that really falls into the 50/50 category. Surely the thoughts of facing Rob Cross in the Semi-Finals and gaining revenge for that European Championship Final defeat will be a strong motivating factor for Price, but I still think that will be the end of his journey.
Michael Smith
The man from Saint Helen’s first showed what he was capable of producing in the 2014 World Championships when he knocked out Phil Taylor in the Second Round. He finally delivered on that potential in 2019 by reaching the Final. It wasn’t to be the fairytale start to 2019 however, losing 7-3 to Michael Van Gerwen. “Bully Boy” finds himself as fourth seed but he is at a long price at 21.
Apart from a poor Premier League performance, Smith’s form this year suggests he could go a long way once again. He reached the Final of the World Matchplay, Semi-Finals of both the UK Open and European Masters, and most recently the Quarter-Finals of the Grand Slam. The 29-year-old is starting to show a lot more consistency in his Darts.
Despite being tenth seed last year, Smith never defeated an opponent ranked higher than him and some people will hold the view that he overachieved. Those same people will feel his tournament will end in the Quarter-Finals vs Gary Anderson. Smith’s performances so far in 2019 suggest he should win that, and set up a repeat of last year’s matchup vs Van Gerwen. That tie however, I do believe, will be a bridge too far.
Final Verdict
It is hard to make a case for anybody outside of the four names listed above. Two-time Champion Gary Anderson (26.0) knows what it takes to go all the way, but a back injury and early exits at most 2019 tournaments suggest he won’t make it a hat-trick of titles. Daryl Gurney (41.0) has mixed the good with the bad in 2019 and so is hard to trust.
Peter Wright (13.0) has reached two televised finals this year but has exited the PDC World Championship at the Second Round for the past two tournaments. My dark horse is David Chisnall (23.0). His confidence is high, having reached the Grand Prix Final in October. It won’t be easy for “Chizzy”, as he likely needs to overturn Peter Wright and Rob Cross just to make the last four.
My tip is for the 2018 and 2019 Champions to face off on New Year’s Day, with Rob Cross coming out on top against Michael Van Gerwen and in doing so, adding his second World title.
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