PDC World Darts Championship 2024
Preview and Predictions by Shane McArdle
The 2024 PDC World Darts Championship is getting ever closer(Alexandra Palace, London, Friday Dec 15 to Saturday Jan 03).
The £2.5 million tournament, which carries a winner’s prize of £500,000 plus the coveted Sid Waddell trophy, will be contested by 96 players, with the top 32 ranked players on the PDC Order Of Merit being seeded straight into the second round, leaving the next 32 highest ranked players on the order of merit and the 32 players from the various qualifiers going into the first round.
Michael Smith is the defending champion after he defeated Michael van Gerwen (7-4) in the 2023 final.
Players making their World Championship debuts are:
Simon Adams, Owen Bates, Stowe Buntz, Tomoya Goto, Man Lok Leung, Luke Littler, Wessel Nijman, Sandro Eric Sosing, Bhav Patel, Berry van Peer, Darren Penhall, Reynaldo Rivera, Alex Spellman and Thibault Tricole.
Format:
All matches will be played in set format, with each set being the best of five legs (first to three).
For all rounds, except the first round, the deciding set will have to be won by two clear legs, unless the score reaches 5-5, in which case a sudden-death leg will be played.
Rounds 1 & 2 – Best Of 5 Sets (first to 3)
Rounds 3 & 4 – Best Of 7 Sets (first to 4)
Quarter-Finals – Best Of 9 Sets (first to 5)
Semi-Finals – Best Of 11 Sets (first to 6)
Final – Best Of 13 Sets (first to 7)
My Three Ante-Post Tips –
NAP – Gerwyn Price (9/2)
N.B. – Peter Wright (16/1)
E/W Outsider – Nathan Aspinall (25/1)
First Round (Best Of Five Sets)
*Check below for my selections on selected First/Second matches*
Friday December 15th
(7:15pm) – Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz (Prediction – Stowe Buntz)
(8:15pm) – Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (Prediction – Rusty-Jake Rodriguez)
(9:15pm) – Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida (Prediction – Simon Whitlock)
(10:15pm) – Michael Smith v Winner of Game 1 (Prediction – Michael Smith)
Saturday December 16th
Afternoon Session:
(12:45pm) – Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing (Prediction – Lee Evans)
(1:45pm) – Connor Scutt v Krzysztof Kciuk (Prediction – Krzysztof Kciuk)
(2:45pm) – Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall (Prediction – Jules van Dongen)
(3:45pm) – Dave Chisnall v Winner of Game 2 (Prediction – Dave Chisnall)
Evening Session:
(7:15pm) – Jamie Hughes v David Cameron (Prediction – Jamie Hughes)
(8:15pm) – Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera (Prediction – Keane Barry)
(9:15pm) – Scott Williams v Haruki Muratmatsu (Prediction – Scott Williams)
(10:15pm) – Gary Anderson v Winner of Game 3 (Prediction – Gary Anderson)
Sunday December 17th
Afternoon Session:
(12:45pm) – Ricky Evans v Simon Adams (Prediction – Ricky Evans)
(1:45pm) – Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo (Prediction – Jim Williams)
(2:45pm) – Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan (Prediction – Matt Campbell)
(3:45pm) – Joe Cullen v Winner of Game 7 (Prediction – Joe Cullen)
Evening Session:
(7:15pm) – Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel (Prediction – Dylan Slevin)
(8:15pm) – Niels Zonneveld v Darren Webster (Prediction – Niels Zonneveld)
(9:15pm) – Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock (Prediction – Jermaine Wattimena)
(10:15pm) – Luke Humphries v Winner of Game 5 (Prediction – Luke Humphries)
Monday December 18th
(7:15pm) – Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole (Prediction – Mario Vandenbogaerde)
(8:15pm) – Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung (Prediction – Gian van Veen)
(9:15pm) – Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha (Prediction – Martin Lukeman)
(10:15pm) – Gerwyn Price v Winner of Game 6 (Prediction – Gerwyn Price)
Tuesday December 19th
Afternoon Session:
(12:45pm) – Ian White v Tomoya Goto (Prediction – Ian White)
(1:45pm) – Ritchie Edhouse v Jeffrey de Graaf (Prediction – Ritchie Edhouse)
(2:45pm) – Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar (Prediction – Keegan Brown)
(3:45pm) – James Wade v Winner of Game 15 (Prediction – James Wade)
Evening Session:
(7:15pm) – Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman (Prediction – Steve Beaton)
(8:15pm) – Mike de Decker v Dragutin Horvat (Prediction – Mike de Decker)
(9:15pm) – Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki (Prediction – Ricardo Pietreczko)
(10:15pm) – Michael van Gerwen v Winner of Game 10 (Prediction – Michael van Gerwen)
Wednesday December 20th
Afternoon Session:
(12:45pm) – Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele (Prediction – Radek Szaganski)
(1:45pm) – Steve Lennon v Owen Bates (Prediction – Steve Lennon)
(2:45pm) – William O’Connor v Bhav Patel (Prediction – William O’Connor)
(3:45pm) – Ross Smith v Winner of Game 18 (Prediction – Ross Smith)
Evening Session:
(7:15pm) – Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman (Prediction – Ryan Joyce)
(8:15pm) – Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb (Prediction – Richard Veenstra)
(9:15pm) – Christian Kist v Luke Littler (Prediction – Luke Littler)
(10:15pm) – Peter Wright v Winner of Game 14 (Prediction – Peter Wright)