It’s almost time for one of the sporting highlights of the year – The PDC World Darts Championship.
The prestigious tournament will take place from 15 December to 3 January at the world famous Alexandra Palace.
Michael van Gerwen ‘The Green Machine’ finds himself 2/1 favourite. He comes into this in good form, having recently won the Players Championship Final and is looking to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the fourth time and regain his title back from current World Champion Peter Wright.
Gerwyn Price the current World Grand Prix and World Series Finals champion is second in the betting and will be looking to win his first World Championship Title, currently sitting at 11/2.
If you’re looking for a little more value, then you’d do a lot worse than Dirk van Duijvenbode at 66/1, Devon Petersen at 28/1 or José de Sousa at 14/1.
Dirk van Duijvenbode is playing the darts of his life and I fully expect him to defeat Bradley Brooks in the first round to set up a mouth watering tie against former World Champion Rob Cross, who is 50/1 to win his second World Title.
Devon Petersen is on course to meet Michael Smith (14/1) for the title in the third round, hold on to your hats if this is the case as these two players love the lipstick and will be hitting plenty of 180’s
José de Sousa ‘The Special One’ has had a great year, hitting his first ever televised 9-darter in the European Championship. Continuing his good run of form, de Sousa won his first major title in the Grand Slam of Darts beating James Wade in the Final 16-12
First Round Upsets?
Our Round 1 upset picks…
Matt Campbell
To beat Scott Waites
Matt Campbell looked at home on the big stage when he partnered Jeff Smith recently in the World Cup of Darts for Canada. The pairing crashed out at the Quarter-Final stage in a closely fought match against Belgium (Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh).
However, Matt Campbell had already won his singles match 4-1 v Dimitri Van den Bergh before they eventually lost out in the deciding doubles.
Karel Sedláček
To beat Ryan Joyce
The fast improving Karel Sedláček had a nice run recently in front of the TV cameras at the Players Championship Finals, defeating the “Polish Eagle” Krzysztof Ratajski and Latvia’s Madras Razma before eventually going out of the tournament at the last 16 stage to losing finalist Mervyn King.
Ryan Joyce made a dream World Championship debut in 2019 when he made the quarter finals but last year he was dumped out at the first round by Jan Dekker.
I expect this match to be a tight and cagey, but at the prices I have to side with Karel Sedláček.
Outright Tips
Our Outrights best bets…
James Wade
To win 3rd quarter
James Wade ‘ The Machine ‘ seems to be quietly playing himself into some decent form ahead of this years World Championship. Wade has recently been reported saying “I’m so so happy. I’m absolutely buzzing. I used to feel like this many years ago, and I haven’t felt like this for a long, long time. It hasn’t happened for me at times but I’m pushing forward and I’m so happy to win” after his semi-final win against Dimitri Van den Bergh in the Grand Slam of Darts.
When James Wade the current world number 7 is speaking like this it makes him a very dangerous opponent for anyone in his in path.
A nine dart finish
Tournament
Paul Lim will always be in the history books for being the first player to hit a nine-darter at the World Championship back in 1990 against Jack McKenna. Lim won a £52,000 bonus for that feat, which was more than the eventual tournament winner Phil Taylor, who pocketed £24,000 for becoming World Champion.
Gary Anderson is the last player to hit a nine-darter at the World Championship back in 2016 in a 6-0 defeat of Jelle Klassen in the semi-finals . He would then go on to defeat Adrian Lewis in the final to retain his title and lift the Sid Waddell trophy once again.
We’ve had a total of 5 televised nine-darters in 2020 and a total of 28 combined including all floor tournaments.
PDC World Darts Championship Winner
Who wins the PDC World Darts Championship 2021?
