PDC World Championship – Updated Preview

We’re down to just eight players in the 2015 PDC World Championships and we expect some more epic encounters before we finally crown a world champion.

The Story So Far
Five of the top 10 seeds have been eliminated from the tournament so far with world number 3 Adrian Lewis becoming the latest casualty after he lost a mesmerising battle with Raymond van Barneveld on Tuesday night.

Jackpot hit a nine-darter to take the opening set and appeared to be in complete control throughout the match, and was never behind before entering the final set. Then Barney, who had shown great character and resilience to stay with Lewis throughout the match, edged ahead in the decider and then despite missing a few match darts managed to get the job done.

There was a last-16 scare for Phil Taylor who also had to show battling qualities to edge past Kim Huybrechts in a final-set decider, while Gary Anderson had his bottle tested after falling 3-1 behind against Jelle Klaasen before winning their second round match 4-3.

Stephen Bunting has, arguably, traversed the trickiest path to this point, seeing off James Wade and Michael Smith already to reach this stage, while there should be a special mention for Robert Thornton who has yet to drop a set in the championship so far.

My pre-tournament selections (https://betting.boylesports.com/darts/jackpot-joy-bound-for-ally-pally) haven’t gone according to plan and only rank outsider Vincent van der Voort (tipped at 200/1) remains in the hunt at the quarter-final stage. He’ll need to up his game to another level if he is to see off The Power and progress any further.

A new champion?
Of the remaining eight players, three have been crowned PDC World Champion previously, and two of those – Taylor and Michael van Gerwen – top the betting.

Of the two I’d have to lean towards The Power as a betting proposition at odds of 13/10.

He seems to have the more consistent game at present, and showed against Huybrechts in the last 16 that he still has the fight inside him when required.

However, the one I’d want to be getting involved with now is Gary Anderson at odds of 5/1. He’s had a couple of scares along the way, but has impressed me in the way that he has dealt with those examinations, particularly against Jelle Klaasen. He’s in the opposite half of the draw to Taylor, which is always a plus, and also has experience of reaching a final at Ally Pally previously. I thought he was too short pre-tournament at odds of 13/2, but now with just eight men left and his odds only marginally shorter he looks good value.

I’m also tempted to get involved in the 6/4 available on Barney to beat Stephen Bunting in their quarter-final match. The Dutchman showed against Lewis that he is capable of sticking with an in-form player, and the longer best-of-9-sets format is unchartered territory for The Bullet, at this level.