The 25th staging of the PDC World Championships gets underway on Thursday, setting off 18 days of pure darts action and making up what has become part of the holiday season’s crucial viewing for darts fans and non-fans alike.
Sadly, this will be the last time we will see the departing legend and 16x World Champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor throw a dart — at this level at least. But even as the greatest darts player of all time exits stage left, there is still plenty to get excited about.
The favorites to win PDC World Championships
This time last year, Michael van Gerwen was set to become a two-time World Champion, joining Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis and Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson as the other double winners on the tour. Now, he arrives at London’s Alexandra Palace — Ally Pally if you’re cool enough — gunning for a third world title.
Anderson, along with world number two and third seed Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, are likely to be the closest challengers to the Dutch master. In Peter Wright’s case, participation is entirely dependent on his recovery from a recent attack of suspected gallstones, leaving Wright unlikely before Thursday according to a Tweet from his wife. The illness has pushed his price out to 10/1 at Betway to win the event outright, which is surely great value for such a high-ranking player. Wright, always a crowd favourite, brings colour to the show and would be sorely missed should he be absent from the event. This is especially true given that overtook his great rival Gary Anderson in the Order of Merit this year.
Emerging darters and familiar faces round out top favorites
Having won major titles this year, emerging stars Mensur Suljovic and Daryl Gurney will go into the World Championship with confidence, with odds of 50/1 and 40/1 to win outright, respectively.
The meteoric rise of Rob Cross, who is making his Ally Pally debut this year, has repeatedly reached the latter stages of major tournaments leading many to predict a bright future for the 27-year-old and is now pushing for a Premier League place. His performance this year is enough for us to select him as dark horse of the tournament. Not that we expect him to win, but look out for match-to-match value or even jump on an each-way outright bet which could pay off should he run deep enough. Let’s not forget that the rookie has played and beaten Michael van Gerwen on a couple of occasions this year too, so never say never.
And, of course, it would be criminal to rule out former World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, while the likes of James Wade and Dave Chisnall will be on a mission to prove that they still belong in the company of the elite despite recently dropping out of the top eight.
The first matches and final thoughts
The stand out match of the first round is Phil Taylor against Chris Dobey, quarter-finalist in the 2016 Grand Slam of Darts. Dobey, who beat Raymond van Barneveld at the Grand Slam in Wolverhampton, will be a tough opening opponent for Taylor. Phil loves to put young threats in their place, just as he did so brutally to Daryl ‘Superchin’ Gurney last month.
To surmise, Michael van Gerwen, who has won the last four TV events coming into the last four majors, is the red-hot favourite. Then there’s Gary Anderson and Peter Wright with the winner coming from one of those three with Rob Cross, 6/1 to reach the final, as the outsider. But don’t write off Phil Taylor, who has the edge over MVG this year and will want to end on the ultimate high.
Sky Sports will be broadcasting all of the action live, across their Main Event, Action and Arena channels.
Outright World Darts Championship betting odds at Betway
- 8/11 Michael van Gerwen
- 6/1 Gary Anderson
- 10/1 Peter Wright
- 10/1 Phil Taylor
- 12/1 Rob Cross
- 28/1 Adrian Lewis
- 40/1 Daryl Gurney
- 50/1 Mensur Suljovic, Raymond van Barneveld
- 125/1 Dave Chisnall, James Wade. Simon Whitlock
- 150/1 Kyle Anderson, Michael Smith
- 200/1 Alan Norris, Benito van de Pas, Jelle Klaasen, Kim Huybrechts
- 250/1 Cristo Reyes, Jonny Clayton, Mervyn King, Robert Thornton, Darren Webster Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Gerwyn Price, Ian White, Joe Cullen
- 300/1 Steve West
- 400/1 Vincent van der Voort
- 500/1 Brendan Dolan, Chris Dobey, James Wilson, Jamie Lewis Jan Dekker, Jeff Smith, John Henderson, Justin Pipe, Mark Webster, Ronny Huybrechts, Steve Beaton, Steve Lennon, Krzysztof Ratajski
- 750/1 Ted Evetts, Kevin Painter, Richard North, Keegan Brown, Jermaine Wattimena
- 1000/1 Antonio Alcinas, Devon Petersen, James Richardson, Martin Schindler, Peter Jacques, William O’Connor, Zoran Lerchbacher
- 2000/1 Aleksandr Oreshkin, Cody Harris, Gordon Mathers, Kenny Neyens, Kevin Munch, Kim Viljanen, Luke Humphries, Marko Kantele, Paul Lim, Willard Bruguier, Alan Ljubic, Bernie Smith, Christian Kist
- 2500/1 Xiao Chen Zong, Diogo Portela, Kai Fan Leung, Seigo Asada
Match schedule (seeds in brackets)
Thursday December 14 (7pm)
- (25) Steve Beaton v William O’Connor
- (32) James Wilson v Krzysztof Ratajski
- Michael van Gerwen v Christian Kist
- (16) Gerwyn Price v Ted Evetts
Friday December 15 (7pm)
- Seigo Asada v Gordon Mathers (P)
- (21) Stephen Bunting v Dimitri Van den Bergh
- (6) Phil Taylor v Chris Dobey
- (20) Rob Cross v Seigo Asada/Gordon Mathers
Saturday December 16
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
- Brendan Dolan v Alan Ljubic (P)
- (14) Benito van de Pas v Steve West
- (22) Mervyn King v Zoran Lerchbacher
- (28) Robert Thornton v Brendan Dolan/Alan Ljubic
Evening Session (7pm)
- Jeff Smith v Luke Humphries (P)
- (19) Joe Cullen v Jermaine Wattimena
- (12) Jelle Klaasen v Jan Dekker
- (3) Gary Anderson v Jeff Smith/Luke Humphries
Sunday December 17
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
- Kenny Neyens v Jamie Lewis (P)
- (15) Alan Norris v Kim Viljanen
- (24) Kyle Anderson v Peter Jacques
- (31) Jonny Clayton v Kenny Neyens/Jamie Lewis
Evening Session (7pm)
- Willard Bruguier v Cody Harris (P)
- (11) James Wade v Keegan Brown
- (8) Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
- (17) Ian White v Willard Bruguier/Cody Harris
Monday December 18 (7pm)
- Kai Fan Leung v Paul Lim (P)
- (5) Mensur Suljovic v Kevin Painter
- (4) Daryl Gurney v Ronny Huybrechts
- (30) Mark Webster v Kai Fan Leung/Paul Lim
Tuesday December 19 (7pm)
- Aleksandr Oreshkin v Kevin Munch (P)
- (29) John Henderson v Marko Kantele
- (9) Raymond van Barneveld v Richard North
- (7) Adrian Lewis v Aleksandr Oreshkin/Kevin Munch
Wednesday December 20 (7pm)
- Xiao Chen Zong v Bernie Smith (P)
- (13) Michael Smith v Steve Lennon
- (10) Simon Whitlock v Martin Schindler
- (27) Justin Pipe v Xiao Chen Zong/Bernie Smith
Thursday December 21 (7pm)
- (26) Cristo Reyes v Antonio Alcinas
- (18) Kim Huybrechts v James Richardson
- (23) Darren Webster v Devon Petersen
- (2) Peter Wright v Diogo Portela
Second Round
Friday December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
- Price/Evetts v White/Bruguier/Harris
- Chisnall/Van der Voort v Beaton/O’Connor
- Klaasen/Dekker v Bunting/Van den Bergh
Evening Session (7pm)
- Suljovic/Painter v Thornton/Ljubic/Dolan
- G Anderson/J Smith/Humphries v M Webster/Leung/Lim
- Van Gerwen/Kist v Wilson/Ratajski
Saturday December 23
Afternoon Session (1pm)
- Wade/Brown v King/Lerchbacher
- M Smith/Lennon v Cross/Asada/Mathers
- Van de Pas/West v Cullen/Wattimena
Evening Session (7pm)
- Gurney/R Huybrechts v Henderson/Kantele
- Taylor/Dobey v Pipe/Zong/Smith
- Van Barneveld/North v K Anderson/Jacques
Wednesday December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
- Whitlock/Schindler v D Webster/Petersen
- Norris/Viljanen v K Huybrechts/Richardson
- A Lewis/Oreshkin/Munch v Reyes/Alcinas
Evening Session (7pm)
- Wright/Portela v Clayton/Neyens/J Lewis
All sets are the best of five legs and the following formats apply.
Knockout Stages
- First Round – Best of five sets
- Second Round – Best of seven sets
- Third Round Best of seven sets
- Quarter-Finals Best of nine sets
- Semi-Finals Best of 11 sets
- Final Best of 13 sets (Monday, 1st of January)