Daryl Gurney claimed the second televised title of his career on Sunday after he overcame Michael van Gerwen 11-9 in the Players Championship Finals final. Superchin averaged 96 compared to MVG’s 100 in a tight match that could have gone either way at almost any point, but Gurney held his nerve to see out the win and pick up his second win since the 2017 World Grand Prix.
Van Gerwen, who has won this event on the last three occasions, went into the match and the tournament as the favourite, which only intensified after he beat Gary Anderson 11-9 in an epic semi-final earlier in the evening.
Northern Irishman Gurney, who beat Danny Noppert 11-3 in the semis, proved himself to be stubborn opponent however and managed to keep the score level at 6-6 as the opening 12 legs all went with throw. MVG was the first player to make a break, beating Gurney’s throw in the 13th, only for his rival to break back immediately and then maintain his own throw to move 8-7 ahead.
Mighty Mike then hit back hard with back-to-back leg wins and looked to be the likely winner only to uncharacteristically miss the double 16 allowing Gurney back in with a chance. It was a chance he took nicely thanks to an 88 checkout. He then chucked a 13-darter to move one leg away from victory, which he he soon claimed after landeding a brilliant bullseye finish to take out 85 and win the tournament at the Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
A preview of the PDC Darts World Championship
The next event on the calender, of course, is the 2019 PDC Darts World Championship, the biggest event of the year. The draw and schedule for the event, which will take place at the Alexandra Palace from December 13 to January 1, has been set, so players can begin planning their route to darting immortality.
This year’s event will see the largest field in history with 96 players entering the tournament rather than the usual 72. The extra 24 qualifiers include, for the first time ever, two female contenders in Anastasia Dobromyslova and Lisa Ashton. The 32 seeded players from the PDC Order of Merit will all enter the event in the second-round and have been drawn to play a winner from the 32 first-round matches.
Reigning World Champion Rob Cross and Lakeside Women’s Champion Lisa Ashton will headline the opening night of the £2.5 million event, kicking off 16 days of top darts action. Voltage, as Cross is known, will play the winner of the tournament’s opening fixture between Jeffrey de Zwaan and Indian Qualifier Nitin Kumar. Making her Ally Pally debut, Ashton will take on Dutchman Jan Dekker, also on the Thursday.
By day two, twice World Champion Gary Anderson will kic off his campaign looking for his third title and will play one of Paul Nicholson or Kevin Burness. World number one Michael van Gerwen enters the event on Saturday December 15 to play either Alan Tabern or Raymond Smith, while former finalist Peter Wright, gets going on the Sunday, as does Dave Chisnall.
The retiring five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld begins on Monday December 17 against one of Matthew Edgar or Darius Labanauskas, while last week’s winner Daryl Gurney steps up to the oche for the first time on Tuesday December 18. James Wade, Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock all get chucking on the Wednesday and two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis opens his bid for a third Ally Pally title on Thursday December 20. Also on the Thursday, Steve Beaton, Stephen Bunting and Mensur Suljovic kick off their campaigns, one day before Gerwyn Price goes on the Friday, which concludes the second round.
As always, the third round is split on the side of the Christmas break, with the fourth round being played on December 27-28 before the quarter-finals on December 29. The semi-finals will take place on Sunday December 30 and will be followed on Tuesday January 1 by the final ,where the last two standing will battle it out for the Sid Waddell Trophy. Early prices are available now at Betway but our darts betting preview will be here next week.
PDC 2019 World Darts Championship Draw
Thursday December 13
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Jeffrey de Zwaan v Nitin Kumar (R1)
- Martin Schindler v Cody Harris (R1)
- Jan Dekker v Lisa Ashton (R1)
- Rob Cross v De Zwaan/Kumar (R2)
Friday December 14
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Michael Barnard v Jose De Sousa (R1)
- Alan Tabern v Raymond Smith (R1)
- Paul Nicholson v Kevin Burness (R1)
- Jamie Lewis v Schindler/Harris (R2)
- Danny Noppert v Royden Lam (R1)
- Simon Stevenson v Ted Evetts (R1)
- Chris Dobey v Boris Koltsov (R1)
- Gary Anderson v Nicholson/Burness (R2)
Saturday December 15
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Richard North v Robert Marijanovic (R1)
- Mickey Mansell v Jim Long (R1)
- Josh Payne v Jeff Smith (R1)
- Max Hopp v Noppert/Lam (R2)
- Toni Alcinas v Craig Ross (R1)
- Ryan Searle v Stephen Burton (R1)
- Keegan Brown v Karel Sedlacek (R1)
- Michael van Gerwen v Tabern/Ray Smith (R2)
Sunday December 16
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Gabriel Clemens v Aden Kirk (R1)
- William O’Connor v Yordi Meeuwisse (R1)
- Brendan Dolan v Yuanjun Liu (R1)
- Dave Chisnall v Payne/J Smith (R2)
- Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt (R1)
- Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas (R1)
- Ross Smith v Paul Lim (R1)
- Peter Wright v Alcinas/Ross (R2)
Monday December 17
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Vincent van der Voort v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
- Wayne Jones v Devon Petersen (R1)
- Ryan Joyce v Anastasia Dobromyslova (R1)
- Raymond van Barneveld v Edgar/Labanauskas (R2)
Tuesday December 18
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Robert Thornton v Daniel Larsson (R1)
- Ricky Evans v Rowby-John Rodriguez (R1)
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Seigo Asada (R1)
- Darren Webster v Van der Voort/Ilagan (R2)
- Steve Lennon v James Bailey (R1)
- Ron Meulenkamp v Diogo Portela (R1)
- Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chuck Puleo (R1)
- Daryl Gurney v Ross Smith/Lim (R2)
Wednesday December 19
First Round (Best of 5 sets) & Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Nathan Aspinall v Geert Nentjes (R1)
- Jeffrey de Graaf v Noel Malicdem (R1)
- Joe Cullen v Dolan/Liu (R2)
- Kim Huybrechts v Thornton/Larsson (R2)
- James Wilson v O’Connor/Meuwisse (R2)
- Simon Whitlock v Joyce/Dobromyslova (R2)
- Michael Smith v Meulenkamp/Portela (R2)
- James Wade v Ratajski/Asada (R2)
Thursday December 20
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Jermaine Wattimena v Barnard/De Sousa (R2)
- Alan Norris v Lennon/Bailey (R2)
- Stephen Bunting v Humphries/Hunt (R2)
- Steve Beaton v Dobey/Koltsov (R2)
- Cristo Reyes v Evans/Rodriguez (R2)
- Mervyn King v Dekker/Ashton (R2)
- Adrian Lewis v Stevenson/Evetts (R2)
- Mensur Suljovic v Searle/Burton (R2)
Friday December 21
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
- Benito van de Pas v Mansell/Long (R2)
- John Henderson v Clemens/Kirk (R2)
- Steve West v North/Marijanovic (R2)
- Kyle Anderson v De Graaf/Malicdem (R2)
- Ian White v Jones/Petersen (R2)
- Jelle Klaasen v Brown/Sedlacek (R2)
- Gerwyn Price v Aspinall/Nentjes (R2)
- Jonny Clayton v Van den Bergh/Puleo (R2)
Saturday December 22
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
- Whitlock/Joyce/Dobromyslova v Norris/Lennon/Bailey (R3)
- Chisnall/Payne/J Smith v Huybrechts/Thornton/Larsson (R3)
- Gurney/Ross Smith/Lim v J Lewis/Schindler/Harris (R3)
- Suljovic/Searle/Burton v Wilson/O’Connor/Meeuwisse (R3)
- G Anderson/Nicholson/Burness v Wattimena/Barnard/De Sousa (R3)
- Van Gerwen/Tabern/Ray Smith v Hopp/Noppert/Lam (R3)
Sunday December 23
Third Round (Best of 7 sets
- Webster/Van der Voort/Ilagan v Beaton/Dobey/Koltsov (R3)
- Cullen/Dolan/Liu v King/Dekker/Ashton (R3)
- Wade/Ratajski/Asada v Klaasen/Brown/Sedlacek (R3)
- A Lewis/Stevenson/Evetts v Van Barneveld/Edgar/Labanauskas (R3)
- Price/Aspinall/Nentjes v K Anderson/De Graaf/Malicdem (R3)
- Cross/De Zwaan/Kumar v Reyes/Evans/Rodriguez (R3)
Thursday December 27
Third Round (Best of 7 sets) & Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
- White/Jones/Petersen v West/North/Marijanovic (R3)
- Clayton/Van den Bergh/Puleo v Bunting/Humphries/Hunt (R3)
- M Smith/Meulenkamp/Portela v Henderson/Clemens/Kirk (R3)
- Wright/Alcinas/Ross v Van de Pas/Mansell/Long (R3)
- 2x Fourth Round matches
Friday December 28
Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
- 6x Matches
Saturday December 29
- Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 sets)
- Quarter-Final 1
- Quarter-Final 2
- Quarter-Final 3
- Quarter-Final 4
Sunday December 30
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 sets)
- Semi-Final 1
- Semi-Final 2
Tuesday January 1
- Final (Best of 13 sets)