The wait is almost over and the William Hill World Darts Championship gets underway with one session of darts and four matches on the opening night. As is customary with previous years the defending champion headlines the evening’s entertainment and faces the winner of the opening game of the tournament, Ritchie Edhouse versus Peter Hudson in the final match of the night. Our darts experts previews the darting drama and all four matches.
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The PDC World Championships start on December 15
Ritchie Edhouse vs Peter Hudson
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Round 1
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Match due to start at 7:10pm
The first match of the 2022 PDC World Championships sees Order of Merit qualifier Ritchie Edhouse face off against late replacement Peter Hudson.
Hudson qualified for this event as third reserve after losing to Boris Krcmar in a match to seal qualification to this event. That run came out the blue to an extent as he’d only won 6 of his previous 37 matches. Nonetheless he’s a ‘lucky loser’ after making it to that final despite not averaging above 90 once in these four matches. His seasonal average is just 85.87 and to say he’s not the biggest 180 hitter at just 0.11 per leg.
His opponent Edhouse has played to a level above his opponent on the whole throughout 2021. He’s averaging 92.03 for the season and hit 180’s at a rate of 0.21 per leg. He will be making his second appearance in the event having advanced through this opening round two years ago. He’s averaged 100+ on nine occasions this year and dished out five whitewash victories. He’s reached the Quarter Final of three events this year to demonstrate just how capable he is although he would be disappointed with his early defeat in the UK Open back in March. This match should hold no fear for him however and you’d expect him to prevail with the minimum of fuss here to set up a match with Gerwyn Price later in the evening.
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Prediction: Ritchie Edhouse to Win Match and Hit the Most 180’s
Ricky Evans vs Nitin Kumar
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Round 1
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Match due to start at 8:00pm
Second up on the opening night is Rapid Ricky Evans against Indian Qualifier Nitin Kumar.
Kumar has appeared twice at the World Championships previously losing 3-0 on both occasions but with a much improved display the second time increasing his average from 77 to 90 over those two years. He won the Indian qualifier final 6-0 averaging 82.73 to qualify for his third world championships but that was no shock as he was a cut above all other players in that qualifying event. Regular darts followers will know he’s certainly capable of posing a problem or two for his English opponent here.
It’s been a disappointing year for Evans and he’s got no further than the Last 16 of any event in 2021; as a result he won’t be seeded for a third successive year after being 32nd seed the previous two years.
Last time he entered the tournament at this stage in 2019 he lost to another International Qualifier on that occasion, Rowby-John Rodriguez. This assignment represents an easier challenge than on that occasion and he’ll be glad of an easier draw in a big televised events than he’s faced this year on stage having faced Ian White, Gerwyn Price and James Wade so far in 2021.
His seasonal average is 91.09 – down half a point on his 2020 average – but he comes into this having played slightly better of late, winning fourteen of his last twenty four matches since returning to action in October. I expect him to come through here but Kumar is capable of winning at least three legs in this one, having won three and four legs in his previous matches here, even if he may not be able to win a set.
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Prediction: Nitin Kumar to Win Four Or More Legs
Adrian Lewis vs Matt Campbell
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Round 1
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Match due to start at 9:00pm
Back to back world champion in 2011 and 2012, Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis comes into this unseeded having suffered a slump in form over the past few years and he’ll be desperate to set up a mouth-watering second round encounter with Gary Anderson, which would be a repeat of their 2011 and 2016 finals.
He’ll be looking no further than his opening round however as he faces a tough opponent and European Challenge Tour qualifier, Canadian Matt Campbell in the first round. The ’Ginga Ninja’ as he is known is a player we’ll be seeing a lot more of next year as he’ll be on the main tour in 2022.
He lost a thriller and one of the matches of the 2021 World Championships when he was defeated 3-2 to Scott Waites despite averaging 94.97 and a lot was expected him at the Grand Slam of Darts. Unfortunately he was rather underwhelming in that event losing all three matches in the group stage by an aggregate score of 4-15 with a tournament average of just 85.57.
There have been signs of a return to form for ‘Jackpot’ of late and there is no finer sight in darts than an on song Adrian Lewis. A finalist in a recent Players Championship floor event, he looked excellent in defeating Kim Huybrechts in the opening round at the Players Championship Finals before losing to Peter Wright in an ill-tempered affair in round two. Both players have the ability to produce top darts whilst both are capable of producing a standard below what we’ve come to expect of them. This isn’t an easy game to predict and one which you could easily see go the distance and the full five sets.
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Prediction: Match to have Over 3.5 Sets
Gerwyn Price vs Ritchie Edhouse/Peter Hudson
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 10:00pm
With all due respect to Peter Hudson this is a game you envisage Gerwyn Price will be facing Ritchie Edhouse; in either case the Welshman would start strong favourite whoever he faces.
The defending champion will no doubt have some first round nerves as he comes into this with all the pressure on him. Prior to him winning this title last year he didn’t have a great record in the event and his opening match victory last year saw him labour to a 3-2 victory against Welsh compatriot Jamie Lewis. He looked in all sorts of trouble at one stage and was let off the hook by Lewis who bust 68 in the opening leg of the deciding set, then missed three darts at the double in the second leg of that set too. It could’ve easily been a different story.
He took his chances however and went on to win the title and it was his finishing that was the difference throughout. He won 54 of the 108 legs he did win on Double 20 with a strike rate of 55.7% on that particular segment during the tournament and backed this up with an amazing twenty three 100+ outshots.
He has met Edhouse one on occasion this year and that was in the opening round of the European Championships where Price won 6-2 averaging some 17.5 points higher than his opponent in a fairly straightforward victory.
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