Gerwyn Price (Picture: Kieran Cleeves/PDC)

PDC World Darts Championship 2024: Day four predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

Darts

Mon December 18, 2023 · 2y ago

The 2024 Paddy Power World Darts Championship continues at the Alexandra Palace on Monday night so check out Carl Fletcher's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.

Darts betting tips: World Championship day four

1pt Martin Lukeman to win and hit 3+ 180s at 11/10 (Sky Bet)

SL ACCA: Vandenbogaerde, Van Veen (-2.5), Lukeman (-1.5) and Price (-1.5) all to win at 4/1 with Sky Bet

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Format: First round/second round, best of five sets

Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole (R1)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 92.40 - 87.90
180s per leg (2023): 0.17 - 0.14
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 38.57% - N/A
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 11.58% - 8.41%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 13.46% - Unavailable

Thibault Tricole the first Frenchman to qualify for the PDC World Championship faces off against Mario Vandenbogaerde, who is also making his debut in this event.

Tricole was actually the first opponent Tour Card Holder Vandenbogaerde faced this year, in the opening round of Players Championship One. On that occasion it was Mario who came out on top 6-2 having raced into a 5-0 lead.

The Belgian recently enjoyed a good run at the Players Championship Finals to reach the last 16 where he found Michael Van Gerwen to good, losing 10-6.

Tricole appeared at the WDF World Championship in 2022, losing in the final 6-5 to Neil Duff, a run which included impressive victories over 2023 winner Andy Baetens and PDC Tour Card holder Cameron Menzies.

We’ve seen plenty of Tricole in Players Championship events this year too. He played in sixteen of them, the pick being a Last 16 run in event 13. Vandenbogaerde in comparison played all 30, reaching the Last 16 on four occasions and a Quarter-Final too.

This is hard to call and a case can be made for both and has potential to go the distance. I’m opting for the Tour Card holder to come on top but only just.

Score Prediction: 3-2

Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung (R1)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 96.44 - 82.55
180s per leg (2023): 0.31 - 0.12
Checkout % (Stage Events 2023): 42.51% - N/A
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 10.98% - 8.48 %
Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 25.37% - Unavailable

Gian van Veen has been one of the leading young lights on the PDC circuit this season. He’s played to a high standard all season with an average of 96.44 on the main tour events and recently reached the Semi-Final of the European Championships, where he succumbed 11-9 to James Wade.

He’s lost all three group games in the Grand Slam of Darts, lost in the second round of the Players Championship to Stephen Bunting and lost the World Youth Final to Luke Littler but four of those five defeats were against opponents averaging 100+.

Man Lok Leung is an Asian Tour representative who averaged 82.55 across the 20 events he played. He’ll need to up that but we did see him take on Luke Humphries in Bahrain on the World Series at the start of the year. He lost that game 6-3 and worried ‘Cool Hand’ averaging 90.97 in that match. His seasonal high on the Asian Tour was 97.75 so we know he can improve but can he do it over this longer format?

If GVV plays to the level we’ve seen most of 2023 it should be a comfortable night for the Dutchman.

Score Prediction: 3-0

Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha (R1)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 92.25 - 88.06
180s per leg (2023): 0.19 - 0.17
Checkout % (Stage Events 2023): 36.88% - N/A
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 11.26% - 11.06%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 15.79% - Unavailable

Martin Lukeman enjoyed a very progressive season in 2022 but this year has been a struggle at times, however, and he’s certainly got nowhere near those heights which saw him reach the World Grand Prix quarter-finals.

That said, he faced Luke Humphries in the opening round of the Players Championship Finals last month, and did have ‘Cool Hand’ in trouble when leading 4-2 before eventually bowing out 6-4.

Lukeman made his debut last year, reaching the second round where he lost to Martin Schindler 3-1 so he does have experience on his side.

Haupai Puha has also made one appearance in this event, in 2021 where he was easily defeated 3-0 by Mickey Mansell. He was under par there and capable of much better.

He defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 in the New Zealand Darts Masters this year and defeated Graham Usher 6-3 in the World Series of Darts Finals before pushing Peter Wright close in the second round, ultimately losing 6-4.

Another tricky game to call but I think Lukeman wins it and there should be plenty of legs for him to reach at least three maximums.

Score Prediction: 3-1

CLICK HERE to back Lukeman to win and hit 3+ 180s with Sky Bet

Gerwyn Price v Connor Scutt (R2)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 98.80 - 91.32
180s per leg (2023): 0.33 - 0.23
Checkout % (Stage Events 2023): 41.05% - 36.73%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 13.06% - 11.60%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 37.71% - 16.84%

Scutt was very impressive in defeating Krzysztof Kciuk in the opening round 3-0, averaging 95.97, hitting five maximums and being very ruthless in his finishing too.

That wasn’t a one off, he’s been in decent form of late. He’s won 13 of his last 20 matches and this includes reaching the final of Players Championship 27, where he defeated Ross Smith, Gary Anderson and Gian Van Veen en route. You have to remember he was favourite for the 2022 WDF World Championship.

He’s clearly capable of troubling Gerwyn Price but the ‘Iceman’ has won both their previous meetings fairly comfortably 6-2 and 6-3. This is a lot bigger than those and generally Price is reliable when it matters.

He underperformed at the Players Championship Finals losing in the second round to Kim Huybrechts 6-1 with an 85.92 average. Prior to that event, however, he’d averaged 100+ in 10 of his previous 19 matches.

Price defeated Luke Woodhouse 3-1 in the opening round last year after losing the opening set to an opponent who flew out the blocks. I somewhat expect a similar scenario tonight.