Jim Williams and Paolo Nebrida get the evening’s action underway at the World Darts Championship on Wednesday night. Williams has appeared in each of the previous 3 editions of the event, reaching the 3rd round in the last 2 years. Nebrida, meanwhile, will return to the Ally Pally for a 3rd year in succession, but he will be looking to avoid another early exit.

Williams should be streetwise enough to get the job done here but it might not be the cakewalk the pre-match odds suggest. Alternatively, look for this tie to feature over 3.5 sets.

While Filipino thrower Nebrida has fallen at the first hurdle in each of the last 2 years, he can consider himself unlucky. The 29-year-old pushed Danny Jansen all the way 2 years ago and 12 months later his round 1 clash with Simon Whitlock also required a deciding set. Since then, Nebrida almost pulled off a huge upset at the Bahrain Darts Masters when narrowly losing 6-5 to Michael Smith. Furthermore, Nebrida has hit a combined total of 11 180s across his previous 2 appearances on the world stage, further suggesting that he can keep this contest competitive.

Madars Razma and Christian Kist will both look to make a winning start to their respective World Darts Championship campaigns when the pair come up against each other on Wednesday night. Both players are no strangers to the Ally Pally stage, with Razma featuring in each of the last 5 editions, while Kist will be appearing for a 6th time this year.

Razma is the 1.62 favourite here and he should have enough in his locker to march on to the 2nd round where Dirk van Duijvenbode would lie in wait. ‘Razzmatazz’ reached uncharted territory in the World Darts Championship when plotting a path to the round of 32 last year, where his journey was ended by Michael Smith. The Latvian ace has since averaged a very respectable 91.27 across 2024 thus far. He is well known for his treble 19 hitting and that heavy-scoring may prove decisive against Kist. The Dutchman has averaged less than his round 1 opponent this year (87.74), not to mention he has lost 4 of his 5 matches at floor tournaments in the lead up to this year’s showpiece.

Ricky Evans is expected to hit the ground running at this year’s World Darts Championship when he meets Gordon Mathers on Wednesday night. Evans will grace the world stage for the 10th time this year, while Mathers will make his return after a 3-year absence.

Fan favourite Evans is heavily fancied here at 1.2, however an alternative option to consider is siding with him to win alongside hitting the highest checkout. ‘Rapid’ is well renowned for being one of the fastest throwers on the planet, and his swift approach to the game doesn’t hamper him when it comes to delivering high checkouts. Evans emerged victorious from each of his first 2 matches at last year’s World Darts Championships, hitting the highest finish in each respective fixture – 1 of which was against Nathan Aspinall.

He has since enjoyed a deep run in this year’s UK Open, hitting the highest checkout in wins over the likes of Luke Woodhouse and Rob Cross en route to the semi-final stage. Evans’ superior quality should tell against Aussie arrowsmith Mathers, whose highest checkout in his solitary outing 3 years ago was 40.