Just the four matches on Monday as there’s no afternoon session to contend with. Nonetheless it’s still an excellent card when both Raymond Van Barneveld and James Wade are in action. Our darts expert is back to preview what is to be expected.
🗓
Day Six of the Championships is on Monday 20th December
Luke Woodhouse vs James Wilson
🏆
Round 1
⏱
Match due to start at 7:10pm
The opening game is a battle between two Englishmen in Luke Woodhouse and James Wilson. The latter was the Number One seed at the 2015 BDO World Darts Championship but he’s endured a difficult season this year, as such this is his first game on stage during 2021.
He’s fared no better than the Last 32 in all events this year so albeit not on ability it was arguably a bit of a surprise to see him come through the PDPA qualifier to gain his place here, winning four matches against David Evans, Adam Gawlas, Andy Boulton and Mike De Decker. His performances that day were pretty good, averaging 90+ in all matches.
Woodhouse in comparison has had a few good tournaments. On the Players Championship circuit he’s reached two Quarter-Finals in his last nine events. He’s also reached the Last 16 on three further occasions in these events and managed to have a good run to the Last 32 of the UK Open, which included an excellent victory over Dimitri Van Den Bergh.
Woodhouse has won 55% of his matches this year compared to Wilson’s 37.5% but it is Wilson who boats the higher seasonal average at 93.52 compared to Luke’s 92.16.
Confidence is a big thing in most sports but especially in darts and as I think Woodhouse will prevail here to set up a second round match against Damon Heta.
🎯
Prediction: Wilson to Hit the Most 180’s
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez vs Ben Robb
🏆
Round 1
⏱
Match due to start at 8:00pm
The second game of the night sees Austrian, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez play New Zealander, Ben Robb.
Robb a qualifier through the DPNZ Tour will be playing in the PDC World Darts Championship for the second time. On the tour this year he reached three finals, winning two where his averages ranged from the 87 mark to 96.
On his previous appearance in the Worlds he was a first round loser to Ron Meulenkamp 3-0 with an average of 88.36. He’ll be hopeful that experience will hold him in good stead but he’ll do well to advance against one of the talented Rodriguez brothers, who’s certainly a player very much on the up.
Rusty-Jake despite not being a tour card holder featured in 28 of the 30 Players Championship events in 2021 with some impressive runs along the way including five Last 16 appearances. His average on this tour this year 92.47, some two and half points higher than the standard he produced at the recent Grand Slam of Darts of 89.94 but two points lower than his average of the Players Championship Finals of 94.43.
Despite losing all three games in the group stage at the Grand Slam he was competitive in a tough group featuring Jonny Clayton, Mervyn King and Bradley Brooks. He won 64% of the legs he played on tour this year and he’ll probably find this a slightly easier assignment than he’s become accustomed to. I’m taking him to win 3-0 or 3-1.
🎯
Prediction: Rusty-Jake Rodriguez to Win -1.5 Sets
Raymond Van Barneveld vs Lourence Ilagan
🏆
Round 1
⏱
Match due to start at 9:00pm
Third in action is one of the most recognisable faces in the sport, Raymond Van Barneveld returning to the PDC World Championships for the first time since his mini-retirement. A four time winner of the BDO World Championship, he also won the PDC version in 2007 against Phil Taylor in perhaps the best final in this event. He’s had an illustrious career and has also won the UK Open (twice), the Grand Slam and the Premier League and finished Runner-Up in the Matchplay and World Grand Prix.
He turned his back on the sport in 2019 after somewhat falling out of love with the game but the break and with time on his hands during the Covid pandemic, he realised how much he missed the game and he came through Q-School back in January to regain his tour card.
He was back in the winners enclosure by February when he won the third Players Championship event of the year beating Rob Cross, Mervyn King, Ian White and Joe Cullen en route to the title.
It’s fair to say it’s not been perfect since. He lost in the opening round of the UK Open and failed to qualify for the World Series Finals, he did qualify for the Grand Slam but was eliminated at the group stage after losing to both Michael Smith and Gary Anderson.
The performances were good enough however and he looked very good in defeating Maik Kuivenhoven in the televised Players Championship Finals, averaging 103.99 before suffering a 6-3 defeat to Michael Van Gerwen in the second round.
He’s been handed a tricky assignment here however and could be susceptible to an opening round defeat if he’s not at his best and his likeable opponent plays how we know he can. The Phillipines player is here for his sixth crack at this event after winning the Phillips Qualifier, beating Paolo Nebrida 3-1 in the final with an 88.67 average.
He’s a better player than that and will give ‘Barney’ something to think about. The finishing of RVB however could be key. He has a 50% strike rate on his doubles on stage this year, has won 12.5% of his legs during 2021 with a ton plus finish and his average high finish per match is 100.07.
🎯
Prediction: Raymond Van Barneveld to have the Highest Checkout
James Wade vs Maik Kuivenhoven/Ky Smith
🏆
Round 2
James Wade has a glittering darting career but the PDC World Championship title remains elusive to him, in fact he’s never reached the final despite him seemingly being perfectly suited to this set play format.
‘The Machine’ as he has known is currently fourth in the PDC Order of Merit and he’s arguably playing better now than he ever has done. He’s always been a very good finisher and his doubles percentage throughout 2021 is a marvellous 46.8% and he’s registered the higher checkout than his opponent in 57% of his game.
His performances often get referred to him as ‘Wading’ by hanging in and winning matches than many other players would’ve lost. His scoring game is however sometimes wrongly overlooked. He has a seasonal average of 95.90 and he’s averaged higher than his opponent in 64.3% of the time this year.
A winner of the UK Open back in March where he defeated Ryan Joyce, Rob Cross, Gabriel Clemens, Simon Whitlock, Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphries to claim the crown. He also recently reached the Grand Slam of Darts Semi-Final where this time ‘The Iceman’ Gerwyn Price got his revenge for his UK Open Semi-Final defeat.
The likely opponent for Wade here is the Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven who starts as favourite for his first round match against Ky Smith. He was firmly put in his place by Raymond Van Barneveld at the Players Championship Finals and was abysmal in the opening round here last year when losing to Matthew Edgar. He has however shown glimpses of his ability at times reaching both a Semi-Final and Quarter-Final on the floor and defeating John Henderson on stage in the opening round of World Series of Darts Finals.
Regardless of whether it is Kuivenhoven or Smith you’d have to expect Wade to be too strong for either.
🎯
Prediction: James Wade to Win 3-0
Back the Darts Treble below ⬇️
🧾
Load the bet slip @ 2.48 at Paddy Power
18+ please gamble responsibly
