PDC World Championship
PDC World Darts Championship: Smith to land biggest prize of them all
My name is Ryan Hallam and I’m a Content Executive at William Hill. I love the Darts and I’ve been to events all around Europe so I’m previewing The World Darts Championship.
It’s the greatest spectacle in darts. The atmosphere. The pressure. The excitement. The fancy-dress. Alexandra Palace. The World Darts Championship.
For many, the build-up to Christmas begins as soon as the Coca-Cola advert appears on TV, soundtracked by the familiar tune ‘Holidays are Coming’. For myself, and darts fans alike, our Christmas, or you could say ‘Dartsmas’, begins on Thursday, 15th December when ‘Game On’ is called and ‘Chase The Sun’ bounces around Ally Pally. That’s when you really know that holidays are coming.
The 30th edition of the PDC’s showpiece event sees 96 players from 28 different countries, including 22 debutants, seven previous world champions, and for the first time in World Darts Championship history, three female players. They will all be battling it out to lift the most coveted prize in darts, the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Latest World Darts Championship outright odds
Can MvG seal a fourth World Championship?
Of the 58 PDC events staged this season, there have been 24 different winners. But one man is leading the field in wins by a considerable margin. It’s Michael van Gerwen. ‘The Green Machine’ has won a whopping 10 titles in 2022, that’s 17% of the trophies on offer. It’s funny to think that two years ago, fans and pundits alike dared to think MvG’s fall from grace was permanent. How wrong we were!
The 10 wins haven’t just come in the smaller events either. He’s done it on the biggest of stages and under the greatest pressure. The world number three’s victories include the Premier League, the World Grand Prix, the World Matchplay and the Players Championship Finals.
Winning titles isn’t the only thing the three-time world champion has been the best at this year. He’s also sitting pretty at the top of the averages. Now, I know William Hill ambassador Wayne Mardle is always keen to point out that “averages are just a guide” but Van Gerwen is averaging 98.58 across the whole season, leading the field by at least 1 point… no wonder he can’t stop winning. SHEESH.
Our Top Price Guarantee on Michael van Gerwen
Ones to watch
I think I can speak for every amateur darts player when I say that at one point or another, we have all dreamed about gracing the World Darts Championship stage. For me, the realisation that it won’t happen set in a while ago, but at this point I’ll even don the pom poms and the dancing shoes to take to the stage… I’m not picky.
Dreams will become a reality for 22 professionals making their debut at the World Darts Championship and, for the first time, a Ukrainian will take to the oche. Vladyslav Omelchenko props up the outright market at 2,000/1 – he faces Luke Woodhouse in the first round.
When you think of hot property in darts, it doesn’t get much hotter than Josh Rock and Beau Greaves. Their rise has been meteoric. Rock won his Tour Card on the final day of Q School in January and has since taken the darting world by storm. Since October, Rock has had a three-dart average of 99.51, with only Van Gerwen achieving higher in the same period. It’s form that saw him lift his first professional title, beating Luke Humphries 8-5 in the final at Players Championship 28, where he averaged 108.
And the Northern Irish arrowsmith has shown no fear. Picture this: The Grand Slam of Darts, a capacity crowd, facing Michael van Gerwen in a last-16 match. A lesser player may have crumbled under the pressure or failed to deal with nerves. Not Rock. He threw his first televised nine-darter. Darting perfection! Against arguably the greatest player of all time. This guy is the real deal!
Fallon Sherrock famously smashed the glass ceiling at the 2020 World Darts Championship and has since been nicknamed ‘Queen of the Palace.’ This year, there’s a new claim to the throne as Beau Greaves looks to become the rightful heir. The 18-year-old has it all: confidence, talent and the ability to win. In fact, winning is almost guaranteed for her on the Women’s Tour. She won eight consecutive PDC Women’s Series events, taking her to 66 wins.
Greaves has been drawn against William O’Connor in the first round, with their match taking place on Friday night. Unfortunately for Greaves, I don’t believe the draw could have been any unkinder. O’Connor has seen it all in darts, and if there’s anybody going to be unphased by the fanfare that Greaves brings to the oche, then O’Connor is that player.
Latest odds on O’Connor v Greaves
My Picks
It’s probably the most open World Darts Championship in recent years and the outright betting market suggests as much. It would be easy for me to say that Michael van Gerwen will become world champion for the fourth time, but where’s the challenge in that pick? We all know that anything can happen in darts, it only takes a player to perform slightly below their usual level and their opponent will be on hand to take advantage.
Instead, I’m going to give myself three selections to take on the favourite. My first is Michael Smith. The saying ‘always the bridesmaid and never the bride’ has been uttered in ‘Bully Boy’s’ direction after many major tournaments. The St Helens man reached eight major finals in his career, before winning the Grand Slam of Darts last month, when, finally, the curse was broken at the ninth try. Just like London buses, I feel now that one has arrived there’s likely to be another around the corner; and this proverbial bus could be the biggest of the lot.
Back Michael Smith to win the World Darts Championship
At 28/1 we have a previous world champion. Rob Cross has quietly gone about his business on the PDC Tour. The 2018 winner has won two titles this season, narrowly missing out a third, losing 11-6 to Michael van Gerwen in the Players Championship Finals final. Experience of winning on the biggest stages counts for a lot, and I’m hoping that ‘Voltage’ can summon all his power to go all the way this year.
Back Rob Cross to win the World Darts Championship
My final pick is Nathan Aspinall. ‘The Asp’ has reached two televised ranking finals this season. His current form combined with experience on the Ally Pally stage should stand him in good stead. It looks like the persistent arm injury that blighted last year’s World Championship has passed and he’s getting back to the levels of form that saw him reach the Premier League final in 2020.
My only reservation is that if the draw goes as predicted, Aspinall will face world youth champion Josh Rock in the third round. And we saw Rock edge Aspinall 6-5 in the first round of the European Championship Finals. Otherwise, it’s a fairly winnable quarter for a player of Aspinall’s quality and at 33/1, there’s a chance he could lift the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Back Nathan Aspinall to win the World Darts Championship
This article was written by an employee of William Hill but doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinions of William Hill LTD
