It’s that time of year when the thoughts of every player on the PDC Tour start turning towards Ally Pally and the World Championship. However, there is still some nice prize money to win between now and December, starting with the non-ranking Champions League of Darts at the Morningside Arena in Leicester over this coming weekend.
Only the top eight players on the PDC Order of Merit qualify for this event, That is reduced to the top seven if the defending champion is not currently in the top eight as he has a guaranteed place.
Champions League of Darts 2019 Groups and Best Odds
Group A Winner
Michael van Gerwen 8/11
Gary Anderson 9/2
Michael Smith 6/1
James Wade 7/1
Group B Winner
Rob Cross 15/8
Peter Wright 11/4
Daryl Gurney and Gerwyn Price 9/2
MVG is almost favourite by default in every tournament in which he takes part.
Mighty Mike (5/4 with Betfred) gained the 12th title of yet another productive year when winning the World Grand Prix in Dublin last week. The brilliant Dutchman has also won the World Championship, the Masters and the Premier League in 2019 and could hardly be in better form as the darts season reaches its climax.
However, the Champions League has not been particularly kind to him so far. He lost to Phil Taylor in the final of the inaugural event in 2016 and failed to get beyond the group stage 12 months later. In Brighton last year, he lost in the semi-finals to Peter Wright.
By contrast, this is a format which seems tailor-made for Gary Anderson (9/1 with Betfred).
The Flying Scotsman was a losing semi-finalist against MVG in 2016 and beaten in the final in 2017 but it all came right last year as he beat Peter Wright in the final, losing only four games.
That said, it has been a very disappointing year so far for Anderson since his World Championship semi-final in January. A persistent back problem saw him withdraw from the Masters at the start of February and he also pulled out of the Premier League. He did partner Peter Wright in Scotland’s successful World Cup of Darts campaign in June but that has been a rare bright spot.
The Wright choice?
The name of PETER WRIGHT (10/1 with Paddy Power) keeps cropping up. Snakebite broke the record for the highest average in a live broadcast match in Barnsley last week so is in red-hot form.
Winner of the German Masters this year as well as the World Cup, he also reached the semi-finals of The Masters. Wright has qualified for each of the previous three stagings of the Champions League but last year’s final appearance was the first time he’d progressed beyond the group stages. However, he’s been handed a decent draw this time so should go deep into the weekend in Leicester.
Rob Cross is favourite for Wright’s section having won the World Matchplay in July.
Still a relative newcomer on the PDC circuit, Voltage is already the world number two and set to cause a few more shocks in the years ahead. This year, he has already reached the final of the UK Open and the Premier League.
The former electrician loves playing in front of the TV cameras and will be determined to make the most of his first-ever appearance in the Champions League, for which he has been priced up at 8/1 by Boylesports.
Daryl Gurney and Michael Smith are both ranked higher currently than both Anderson and Wright. Both are available at 14/1 to win this year’s Champions League.
Champions League of Darts 2019 Current Best Odds
Michael van Gerwen 5/4
Rob Cross 8/1
Gary Anderson 9/1
Peter Wright 10/1
Gerwyn Price 12/1
Daryl Gurney and Michael Smith 14/1
James Wade 16/1
(Odds correct at 10.45am October 17)
