The draw for this year’s PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace has thrown some up some intriguing ties, even though the world’s top 32-ranked players don’t get involved until the second round.
The tournament celebrates its Silver Jubilee this year, marking 25 years since the PDC spilt with the BDO, but the tournament will not feature one of its biggest names this year. Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor disconnected himself from the circuit following last year’s event, secure in the knowledge that his record 14 PDC titles is unlikely to be bettered – only four other players have won more than one world title.
The World Championship format has been expanded this year and has guaranteed to spots in the main draw for female players. Lisa Ashton and Anastasia Dobromyslova are two of the stars of women’s darts, boasting seven World Championship titles between them. Ashton has won four of the last five BDO Women’s World Championship titles and Dobromyslova has won three times at Lakeside. Gayl King and Dobromyslova are the only women to have previously featured in a PDC World Championship but they were granted wildcards. This year marks the first season that actual qualifying tournaments have taken place. Anastasia Dobromyslova will play Ryan Joyce in the first round with Simon Whitlock (a general 80/1 to be outright winner of the tournament) awaiting the winner. Ashton will take on Jan Dekker for the right to face Mervyn King.
First Round Draw
Top Half
Alan Tabern v Raymond Smith
Danny Noppert v Royden Lam
Simon Stevenson v Ted Evetts
Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas
Ryan Joyce v Anastasia Dobromyslova
Steve Lennon v James Bailey
Krzysztof Ratajski v Seigo Asada
Keegan Brown v Karel Sedlacek
Ross Smith v Paul Lim
Martin Schindler v Cody Harris
Josh Payne v Jeff Smith
Robert Thornton v Daniel Larrson
Paul Nicholson v Kevin Burness
Michael Barnard v Jose De Sousa
Vincent van der Voort v Lourence Ilagan
Chris Dobey v Boris Koltsov
Jeffrey De Zwaan v Nitin Kumar
Ricky Evans v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Dimitri van den Bergh v Chuck Puleo
Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt
Ryan Searle v Stephen Burton
William O’Connor v Yordi Meeuwisse
Ron Meulenkamp v Diogo Portela
Gabriel Clemens v Aden Kirk
Nathan Aspinall v Geert Nentjes
Jeffrey de Graaf v Noel Malicdem
Wayne Jones v Devon Peterson
Richard North v Robert Marijanovic
Toni Alcinas v Craig Ross
Mickey Mansell v Jim Long
Brendan Dolan v Yuanjun Lui
Jan Dekker v Lisa Ashton
Second Round
Top Half
Alan Tabern/Raymond Smith v Michael van Gerwen (1)
Danny Noppert/Royden Lam v Max Hopp (32)
Simon Stevenson/Ted Evetts v Adrian Lewis (16)
Matthew Edgar/Darius Labanauskas v Raymond van Barneveld (17)
Ryan Joyce/Anastasia Dobromyslova v Simon Whitlock (8)
Steve Lennon/James Bailey v Alan Norris (25)
Krzysztof Ratajski/Seigo Asada v James Wade (9)
Keegan Brown/Karel Sedlacek v Jelle Klaasen (24)
Ross Smith/Paul Lim v Daryl Gurney (5)
Martin Schindler/Cody Harris v Jamie Lewis (28)
Josh Payne/Jeff Smith v Dave Chisnall (12)
Robert Thornton/Daniel Larrson v Kim Huybrechts (21)
Paul Nicholson/Kevin Burness v Gary Anderson (4)
Michael Barnard/Jose De Sousa v Jermaine Wattimena (29)
Vincent van der Voort/Lourence Ilagan v Darren Webster (13)
Chris Dobey/Boris Koltsov v Steve Beaton (20)
Bottom Half
Jeffrey De Zwaan/Nitin Kumar v Rob Cross (2)
Ricky Evans/Rowby-John Rodriguez v Cristo Reyes (31)
Dimitri van den Bergh/Chuck Puleo v Jonny Clayton (15)
Luke Humphries/Adam Hunt v Stephen Bunting (18)
Ryan Searle/Stephen Burton v Mensur Suljovic (7)
William O’Connor/Yordi Meeuwisse v James Wilson (26)
Ron Meulenkamp/Diogo Portela v Michael Smith (10)
Gabriel Clemens/Aden Kirk v John Henderson (23)
Nathan Aspinall/Geert Nentjes v Gerwyn Price (8)
Jeffrey de Graaf/Noel Malicdem v Kyle Anderson (27)
Wayne Jones/Devon Peterson v Ian White (11)
Richard North/Robert Marijanovic v Steve West (22)
Toni Alcinas/Craig Ross v Peter Wright (3)
Mickey Mansell/Jim Long v Benito van de Pas (30)
Brendan Dolan/Yuanjun Lui v Joe Cullen (14)
Jan Dekker/Lisa Ashton v Mervyn King (19)
(Seeded players in bold)
MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is a best 13/8 to win a third world crown but his recent Ally Pally record is sketchy considering his record in other tournaments. Mighty Mike has won the Masters, the Premier League and the World Grand Prix in 2018 but has lost in the semi-finals of the World Championship in two of the last four years and was beaten in the third round in 2016.
GARY ANDERSON is his market rival (a general 10/3) and arrives with a similar achievement record this season. The Scot has won the Champions League, World Matchplay and UK Open in 2018. He’s also a dual winner of the PDC World Championship but van Gerwen has been his nemesis on a couple of occasions at Ally Pally.
PETER WRIGHT is a best 12/1 with Sportingbet but it’s not been a brilliant year for Snakebite. He’s not managed to win a major tournament and his record in the World Championship is average at best considering his world ranking. He lost the 2014 final to van Gerwen and was a semi-finalist in 2017 but never seems to find his best form nowadays when the pressure is on.
Last year’s shock winner ROB CROSS is a general 22/1 to stage a repeat but let’s put two up at bigger odds who are generally in better form and represent more value.
MENSUR SULJOVIC is also a general 22/1 and has had his most consistent season to date on the PDC Tour. The Serbian-born Austrian has been a semi-finalist in four ranking tournaments this year and is due a good run at Ally Pally. He’s never reached a quarter-final in 10 attempts but, now ranked seven in the world, the draw looks a lot kinder this year and he should go deep into the tournament.
You could argue that DARYL GURNEY is another who has yet to fulfil his potential with just one previous quarter-final appearance at the World Championship. But Superchin showed what he is capable of at the Players’ Championship earlier this year, trouncing MVG in the final, and could be hitting form at just the right time – the general 33/1 could be way too big.
PDC World Championship Outright Winner Best Odds
Michael van Gerwen 13/8
Gary Anderson 10/3
Peter Wright 12/1
Michael Smith 14/1
Mensur Suljovic and Rob Cross 22/1
Daryl Gurney 33/1
Gerwyn Price and James Wade 40/1
Adrian Lewis and Dimitri van den Bergh 66/1
Raymond van Barneveld, Dave Chisnall and Simon Whitlock 80/1
Joe Cullen 100/1
Jeffrey de Zwaan and Ian White 125/1
Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton 150/1
Kyle Anderson, Danny Noppert and Max Hopp 250/1
300/1 and Upwards Others
(Odds Correct at 10.30am December 10)
