The PDC World Championships get back underway this afternoon, with all the promise of more tungsten twists and turns, to add to what has already been a must watch championship.
Since the first dart was thrown on 15th December, there have been 64 matches played and a surprising 14 seeded players already knocked out. We have already seen a massive 462 180’s hit, a 9 dart finish from Kristian Kist and lets not forget the absolutely ridiculous set from Luke “The Nuke” Littler, where he averaged 140+, a feat which may never be matched.
There have been tense games, games which have gone to the wire, Rapid Ricky Evans overcoming Dave Chisnall was an absolute Ally Pally Classic. I’m sure we would all love to see some more games like this over the next week or so.
Despite the loss of 14 seeded players there are still plenty of big hitters left in the tournament. The obvious two big names being the Luke’s (Humphries and Littler), with both having been in fine form recently, a Semi-Final meeting between these two must surely be on the cards?? The Luke’s have what you would think are winnable games in round 3 with Humphries set to face Nick Kenny in todays last game. Kenny should be full of confidence after 3-0 & 3-1 wins over Bunts and Van Barneveld respectively. Littler will face Ian White in the last game of the day tomorrow, White having come through 3-1 against Edhouse in the last round.
Looking away from the big 2, Scott Williams is going strong after victory over Rob Cross, and looking to reach the Semi-Finals for the second year running. He will have an interesting game with Pikachu this afternoon.
Relative outsider (not something that was said often a few years ago), Michael Van Gerwen is also in action tomorrow as he faces Brendan Dolan. Van Gerwen was a massive 11/1 with Paddy Power before the tournament started, a good price for any punter. Van Gerwen will be happy with the way the seeds have dropped in his quarter of the draw and will be confident he has the ability to reach at least the quarter finals. However, with the way the draw has opened up and with the darts he is capable of throwing, this could be the year he goes all the way, for the first time since 2019.
Another former Champion, Gerwyn Price faces a tough third round tie as he meets Joe Cullen. Price has really struggled for form in recent months, however, he will be desperate for a win in this one to set up a potential all Welsh 4th round tie with Jonny Clayton.
Whatever the outcome of the matches, this promises to be 4 days of cracking darts action, before the next day off. Who comes out on top is still to be decided, who can find the form that will take them all the way.
Can anyone overcome Humphries or Littler? Will a former champion find form and re-live former glories?I wouldn’t be betting against MvG or Price making it all the way to the final, however, I think the last Luke standing will be crowned World Champion 2025.
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