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You know the festive season is approaching when the the prestigious World Darts Championship rolls into Alexandra Palace. It’s an annual tradition for darts fans to spend their Christmas period engrossed in the sport’s showpiece staging.
The drama, atmosphere, fancy dress and general shenanigans makes the tournament like no other. It’s the time of year when darts takes centre stage in the sporting world, and it’s the absolute dream of every darts player to step up onto that iconic stage and have success.
An accomplished field of 96 players, including six former world champions, 22 debutants and qualifiers from 28 nations, with three-time winner Michael van Gerwen the clear favourite following his Premier League, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix triumphs this year.
It’s been a chore attempting to predict who will become world champion in recent years ahead of Van Gerwen’s second coming. He’s back in fine fettle now nonetheless despite the likes of Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall trying to impede his quest for a fourth accolade.
QUARTER ONE
Gerwyn Price described his deserted 2021 triumph as an ‘anti-climax’ and now wants to taste success in a more raucous Alexandra Palace to conclude a disappointing season by his usually sublime standards.
It seems quite peculiar labelling Price’s season as discouraging despite him landing a record five nine-dart finishes this calendar year, although only winning the World Series of Darts Finals is a relatively poor return for a player of his calibre.
You’d expect Price’s opener to be against Luke Woodhouse, who faces the unknown Ukrainian qualifier Vladyslav Omelchenko, with Woodhouse having previous when it comes to dispatching a top seed following his victory over Michael Smith three years ago.
Anyone delving into the opening quarter would be relishing the prospect of Price and 2007 champion Raymond van Barneveld restoring rivalries nonetheless. Barney appears to have the Welshman’s number following his two victories on his way to last month’s Grand Slam of Darts semi-finals, although Ryan Meikle or Lisa Ashton will be standing in his way.
Ryan Searle has reached the fourth round in three of his four Alexandra Palace appearances, and you’d imagine that he would see off either Richie Burnett or Adam Gawlas prior to a possible meeting with either Simon Whitlock or Jose de Sousa, both of who have blown hot and cold this year.
UK Open champion Danny Noppert, meanwhile, headlines Price’s principal threats en route to the latter rounds. He’s put himself into Premier League contention following an outstanding season, which has seen him become the fifth-most prolific double-hitter on the tour, and proved that he can cope with the world’s very elite on a consistent basis.
With fellow seeds James Wade, Gabriel Clemens and Daryl Gurney having shown little promise in recent months, Noppert will fancy his chances of dealing with a tricky opener in Ritchie Edhouse or World Seniors Masters champion David Cameron on his way to a potential fourth televised quarter-final of the season.
Women’s world champion Beau Greaves makes her anticipated Alexandra Palace debut following her eight successive PDC Women’s Series successes. She has more gears than the numbers she produced on that tour, although UK Open semi-finalist William O’Connor is a seasoned professional and therefore a heavy favourite.
Surprise UK Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Bialecki encounters Jim Williams in an intriguing round one meeting, with whoever prevails capable of upsetting eighth seed Wade, while Alan Soutar memorably reached the fourth round on debut 12 months ago and the Scotsman could prove a threat to Gurney.
Prediction: Price beats Noppert in the quarter-finals
QUARTER TWO
Michael Smith’s confidence and belief will be at an all-time high as the newly-crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion heads to London fresh from finally ending his major duck. The floodgates now may well open for the fourth seed, although he will have to claim some sizeable scalps on his way to the final.
His campaign will commence against either Jermaine Wattimena or Nathan Rafferty, both of who have proved their worth on the big stage. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, as two breakthrough talents and finalists on the tour this year in Martin Schindler or Martin Lukeman will probably await him in the third round.
Joe Cullen and Damon Heta are both players Smith could encounter on his way to the quarter-finals, with Cullen having won the Masters and reached the Premier League final whilst Heta ended James Wade’s three-year streak as the world’s most proficient double-hitter.
Both Cullen and Heta have potential banana skins to contend with in their openers. Heta has won only one match on TV since reaching March’s UK Open quarter-finals and could face two-time champion Adrian Lewis, while Cullen takes on one of two crowd favourites in Ricky Evans or Fallon Sherrock.
Luke Humphries rose into the world’s top five and has played more than 50 matches on stage this season, highlighting his incredible consistency. The four-time European Tour champion is a two-time quarter-finalist at Alexandra Palace, and has a favourable opener in Keegan Brown or Florian Hempel.
Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting could face off in the third round, with both having reached the semi-finals in recent years. Chisnall will have a stern test from Andrew Gilding who ranks 18th in the seasonal averages, should the three-time ranking event runner-up defeat debutant Robert Owen.
Cameron Menzies defeated Josh Rock at last month’s Players Championship Finals prior to testing Michael van Gerwen. The Scotsman was delighted to avoid girlfriend Sherrock in the opening round, and he could have more than a say in a section involving Vincent van der Voort and Diogo Portela.
Prediction: Smith beats Chisnall in the quarter-finals
QUARTER THREE
Hardly anyone had even heard of Josh Rock last December – he was coming through PDC Qualifying School as a relative unknown only eleven months ago. Nevertheless, the bookmakers now have him as sixth favourite on debut, and that’s testament to just how impressive his maiden season in professional darts has been.
Rock has the fourth-highest rolling average and third-highest checkout percentage for the second half of the season. Having landed a nine-dart finish in a thriller against Michael van Gerwen at last month’s Grand Slam, the newly-crowned world youth champion is the name on everybody’s lips in a quarter involving the defending champion.
It’s uncommon for Peter Wright to go under the radar heading into the sport’s showpiece staging, although his wife’s health problems in recent weeks and his relatively disappointing season before that makes it extremely difficult to predict how the world number two fares.
Wright was beaten in the third round during his last world title defence, and Keane Barry could force history to repeat itself this time around. UK Open semi-finalist Barry has improved year on year as he prepares for his fourth Alexandra Palace appearance, and his five-set affair against Jonny Clayton 12 months ago often goes unnoticed.
Dimitri Van den Bergh, Krzysztof Ratajski and the unseeded Rowby-John Rodriguez all have the capability of then reaching the quarter-finals, with the three of them having shown promise without tearing up trees this season. Poland’s Ratajski in particular has appeared steady enough when playing on TV.
Nathan Aspinall, meanwhile, feared for his career only seven or eight months ago and him heading to London as a two-time major runner-up this year is nothing short of remarkable. He has rarely produced a truly breathtaking display, although his battling qualities have really shone through.
It was only a scintillating showing from Michael Smith which stopped Jonny Clayton last time around after his sensational year. It’s been something of a damp squib for Clayton this campaign, with the Welshman without a ranking title all season. An in-form Steve Beaton could cause him problems, should he deal with debutant Danny van Trijp.
Callan Rydz was a quarter-finalist last year, only beaten in a captivating classic against the eventual champion. He has shown promise in recent weeks but nothing near that of yesteryear, with his possible second round clash against Rock a potential blockbuster.
Of the unmentioned non-seeds, Boris Krcmar should defeat Japan’s Toru Suzuki and possibly challenge Aspinall, Rowby-John Rodriguez and Lourence Ilagan is a potential five-set match and Danny Jansen makes his debut after winning a maiden ranking title at only his ninth attempt back in April.
Prediction: Rock beats Ratajski in the quarter-finals
QUARTER FOUR
Michael van Gerwen may not be as invincible and unbeatable as he was during that unprecedented period around 2016, although the three-time champion has that air of inevitability about him once again and could regain that world number one tag come January 3.
Van Gerwen had only landed the Premier League and World Matchplay in the same season once before this year – he was crowned world champion to cap off that particular campaign and his quest for a fourth crown begins with a favourable yet tricky opener against either Lewy Williams or Niels Zonneveld.
The Dutchman could encounter Mike De Decker in the third round, a two-time semi-finalist on the ProTour who has recorded some astronomical numbers this year, with the Belgian arguably favourite against both Canada’s Jeff Smith and the out of form Mensur Suljovic.
Elsewhere, only five players are averaging more than Dirk van Duijvenbode this season and his 554 180s stat is only bettered by Michael Smith and Dave Chisnall. It would be fitting conclusion to his year if he enjoyed a deep run at Ally Pally, but 2022 fourth-rounder Raymond Smith or Karel Sedlacek is quite possibly the toughest opener for any of the seeds.
Ross Smith is a name being banded around as a potential giant-killer in this quarter, with the European champion having thrown a stunning standard in recent months and beaten Michael van Gerwen in a Grand Slam classic. He’s averaging a reasonable 96.44 since the beginning of September.
Challenge Tour table-topper Scott Williams has experienced an extraordinary season without holding down professional status. He won a Players Championship title in June, becoming only the third non-tour card holder to achieve that feat, and impressed at times during his Sky Sports debut at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts.
Him encountering good friend Rob Cross in the second round, who has provided him with much-needed mentoring this year, would be an epic storyline. Cross has reached four European Tour finals this year and brought that form to the majors last month in Minehead, while former quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce also deserves a mention in that intriguing section.
Danny Baggish and ranking event runner-up Matt Campbell collide in the first all-North American match since 1998, with whoever comes through that receiving a somewhat favourable draw in Mervyn King. Campbell has the fourth-best functional double percentage in this year’s field.
Rounding off the quarter is two-time champion Gary Anderson. He’s become the Michael Buble of darts as he always stars at Christmas. His 95.98 average ranks him a reasonable 13th for the season, and his birthday clash against either Madars Razma or Prakash Jiwa is an auspicious one. Chris Dobey could be his downfall in round three, with Dobey having reached the last 16 three times in four years.
Prediction: Van Gerwen beats Cross in the quarter-finals
Overall: Smith beats Van Gerwen in the final
