Our guide for Wednesday's action at the PDC's William Hill World Darts Championship includes the order of play, match-by-match previews, predictions, seasonal statistics, head-to-head records, Sky Bet odds and a suggested acca.
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The welcome sight of actual real darts fans inside the Alexandra Palace was short-lived as London goes back into tier three for at least the rest of the pre-Christmas action.
There's two sessions today, with Chris Dobey headlining the afternoon before Premier League champion Glen Durrant begins his campaign by closing the night.
At the very bottom of this match-by-match guide are graphics of every player's season stats as well as an additional one to chart how successful they've all been in achieving the 'Match Treble' in all their PDC matches this year (winning with the most 180s and highest checkouts).
World Championship: Wednesday December 16
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts (1200 & 1800 GMT)
- First/Second Round: Best of 5 sets, no tie-breakers in any set
Wednesday darts accas
- Joyce & O'Connor to win & Dobey to win with most 180s at 4/1
- Rydz & Hopp both to win with most 180s & Ashton (+1.5) to beat Hunt at 3.85/1
- Click here to build your acca
AFTERNOON SESSION (1200 GMT)
Ryan Joyce (4/9) v Karel Sedlacek (13/8) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-1
- 2020 Meetings: 0-1
- PDC Titles this season: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 1-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 2 - 1
- PDC World Championship best : Quarters (2019) - 1st Round (2019)
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Joyce during his fairytale Alexandra Palace debut two years ago, when he revealed all - so to speak - about his previous career unpacking women's clothes at a Matalan warehouse.
The affable Geordie has continued to soar up the rankings since his life-changing quarter-final run was ended by eventual champion Michael van Gerwen although it took him until this year's Summer Series to win his maiden PDC title thanks to a wins over Chris Dobey, Luke Humphries, Glen Durrant, Gary Anderson and a stunning comeback against Dave Chisnall in the final.
Chizzy would get in revenge in the World Grand Prix - after Joyce had stunned Peter Wright - while his Grand Slam of Darts campaign was thwarted by two 5-4 defeats to Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton.
The world number 37 should win this one but Karel Sedlacek is beginning to find his stride on the PDC circuit having earned his first Tour Card at European qualifying school back in January.
The 41-year-old Czech defeated Joyce during an Autumn Series event while he recently beat Krzysztof Ratajski and Madars Razma at the televised Players Championship Finals before defeat to eventual runner-up Mervyn King.
Both players have been pretty handy on the 100+ checkouts this season, with Joyce doing it in almost 13% of his legs won this season and Sedlacek doing it in 11%. If we see plenty of legs in this one, we could see a fair few of these to give the piped-in crowd much to cheer.
- Prediction: 3-2
- Suggested bet: Three 100+ checkouts in the match at 2/1
Ross Smith (8/13) v David Evans (6/5) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-0
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 3 - 0
- PDC World Championship best : 2nd Round (2019) - Debut
Ross Smith has really started to deliver on his potential this season, particularly in recent months when he's enjoyed some very encouraging results and performances.
One of those was beating Gerwyn Price for a second time this year en route to a quarter-final of a European Tour event, where he lost out to eventual champion Joe Cullen, while he also ventured to the last 16 on his last TV appearance at the Players Championship finals having knocked out Nathan Aspinall.
Darts analyst Carl Fletcher has made him one of his 'six outsiders to watch' in his pre-tournament Sporting Life column and much of that is based on the fact that his seasonal average of 94.03 puts him right up there with many of the top players.
However, not to disagree with my colleague, but I feel there could be a minor shock on the cards if David Evans, who has earned a Tour Card for the next two years following his performances on the Challenge Tour this year, can get close to his best on his Ally Pally debut.
Evans was last seen on TV when reaching the BDO World Championship quarter-finals back in January with an average of almost 96 against Richard Veenstra while he impressed those who have kept a close eye on the online darts scene during lockdown this year.
He recently got a chance to show the PDC ranks what he's made of at the Winter Series, where he beat Jonny Clayton and Ricky Evans among his four wins and averaged over 90 in seven matches. One of those, however, was in response to a 121.7 from Dave Chisnall!
- Prediction: 2-3
- Suggested bet: Over 4.5 sets at 7/4
William O’Connor (4/6) v Niels Zonneveld (6/5) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-0
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 3 - 0
- PDC World Championship best : 3rd round (2019) - Debut
William O’Connor is steadily turning into a consistently dangerous player on the PDC circuit and while he hasn't added a second title to his breakthrough Players Championship success of 2019, he'll be hoping for nothing less than a personal best run at the Ally Pally this year.
The Irishman beat the likes of James Wade, Jonny Clayton and Ryan Searle en route to a Winter Series semi-final last month before losing to Gerwyn Price and run to the European Championship quarter-finals showed how he can convert floor form to the stage.
He also managed that at the UK Open - beating Dave Chisnall 10-8 before being pipped 10-9 by Daryl Gurney in an epic - so don't be surprised to see him threaten another encouraging venture here.
Niels Zonneveld is coming to the end of his second season as a PDC Tour Card holder and needs a good run here to retain it as he's currently ranked 10 places outside the world's top 64.
In these two seasons, the 22-year-old Dutchman hasn't really troubled the cheque writers enough although since lockdown he managed to reach the last 16 of a Summer Series event - beating Dirk van Duijvenbode along the way - while he also knocked James Wade out of the recent Players Championship Finals only to be defeated by the popular Aubergine farmer.
I reckon he's got enough in his locker to push O'Connor to a decent level of performance.
- Prediction: 3-2
- Suggested bet: William O'Connor to win the match, score over 2.5 180s and checkout over 88.5 at 6/4
Chris Dobey (4/6) v Jeff Smith (6/5) (R2)
- Head-to-head: 1-1
- 2020 Meetings: 1-1
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 4 - 2
- PDC World Championship best : Last 16 (2019, 2020) - 2nd Round (2021)
Chris Dobey has endured a very disappointing season by his own high standards and although there were of signs of promise during the Summer Series, his recent form in terms of results has fallen off a cliff.
In his last seven tournaments played - including five at the Winter Series, a European Tour event and the televised Players Championship Finals - he's won just two matches.
However, as Carl Fletcher points out in his 'Outsiders To Watch' article, Dobey has actually been averaging pretty well this season and possesses an uncanny knack to be drawn - and defeated - against the eventual winners of tournaments on five occasion!
That luck has got to change, and where better than the stage where's enjoyed back-to-back runs to the fourth round only to lose thrillers to Gary Anderson and Glen Durrant.
The Northumberland ace has bags of talent and I reckon he'll raise his game to see off Jeff Smith, who battled past teenage star Keane Barry in a clash that didn't showcase either player's best standards.
Dobey's 180s per leg ratio this year is considerably higher than Smith's - 0.28 vs 0.13 - so I'll throw in the maximums as well.
- Prediction: 3-1
- Suggested bet: Dobey to win and hit most 180s at 11/10
EVENING SESSION (1800 GMT)
Max Hopp (1/4) v Gordon Mathers (3/1) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-0
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 2-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 7 - 1
- PDC World Championship best : 3rd Round (2019, 2020) - Prelim (2018)
Considering this is the former World Youth champion's eighth appearance on this stage, you'd have thought he'd have achieved much more in a hyped up career by now. In fact, another sub standard season means he's not even the German number one anymore.
Twelve months ago, as usual, a large travelling press contingent from his homeland descended on the Ally Pally but the media centre felt like a funeral when he bowed out to Darius Labanauskas in the last 32. In fact some of the reaction bordered on anger to be quite honest.
There's been the odd promising result here and there this year - including victories over the likes of Jose De Sousa, Ian White and Michael Smith since September but no lengthy tournament run to speak of, while his seasonal average of around 91 is nothing to write home about.
I wouldn't be surprised if Australia's Gordon Mathers can pinch a set off him, like he did to Seigo Asada in his previous appearance here in the 2018 edition as he looks to make the most of the opportunity earned by virtue of the DPA Order of Merit.
Mathers isn't of the same calibre of Simon Whitlock or Damon Heta - of course - but he's capable of a solid mid 80s average which may give Hopp a little to think about if he's off his game.
- Prediction: 3-1
- Suggested bet: Under 5.5 180s at 11/10
Callan Rydz (1/5) v James Bailey (7/2) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-0
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 1 - 1
- PDC World Championship best : 2nd Round (2020) - 1st Round (2019)
Just like Gordon Mathers in the match before, fellow Aussie James Bailey also arrives for his second Ally Pally outing since the 2019 edition due to his efforts on the DPA Tour - but he'll have his work cut out to challenge rising star Callan Rydz.
Bailey was whitewashed 3-0 by Steve Lennon two years ago with an average of 80 while he was also thrashed 6-0 with an average even less by Gary Anderson at the 2019 Melbourne Masters before a credible 6-5 defeat to eventual runner-up Rob Cross in Brisbane, where Damon Heta famously took the title.
His average of 87 was far inferior than Cross' 101 but it showed what a battling performance can do in darts and he'll need to do something similar against Rydz to pinch a set or maybe two.
The 22-year-old from the darting hotbed of Bedlington enjoyed an eye-catching Ally Pally debut 12 months ago with a 3-2 victory over Steve Lennon before bowing out to Danny Noppert for the same scoreline - averaging high 80s in both matches - and this year's he's qualified thanks to climbing high enough on the ProTour Order of Merit despite this being his first season as a Tour Card holder.
That feat is even more creditable when you bare in mind he didn't win a single penny of ranking money in his first six events! Since the season resumed he's managed to up his yearly average of 94 thanks to some fine displays and victories, including the scalp of Michael van Gerwen with a 100 average at the Winter Series.
Most recently he gave Peter Wright a huge scare at the televised Players Championship Finals, bowing out 10-9 having previously beaten Daryl Gurney and Ryan Searle. He's not afraid of the big stages and will soon be earning more opportunities to show it.
- Prediction: 3-1
- Suggested bet: Callan Rydz to win the match, score over 2.5 180s and checkout over 94.5 at 11/8
Adam Hunt (2/5) v Lisa Ashton (2/1) (R1)
- Head-to-head: 0-2
- 2020 Meetings: 0-2
- PDC Titles this season: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 4 - 1
- PDC World Championship best : 1st Round (2019) - 1st Round (2019)
Fair to say that a Lisa Ashton victory tonight in front of no fans won't have anywhere near the global impact as Fallon Sherrock's history-making feats 12 months ago - but it would perhaps be patronising to give it the same treatment anyway, considering she's now spent a full season pulling her weight against the men in the PDC ranks.
That said, it's perhaps even more important to get a second woman winning on the biggest televised stage of them all in such close proximity to Sherrock's glass-ceiling breaking moment to further normalise such a feat - the last thing anyone wants is for us to go five or 10 years without it happening again. And it won't. There's a very good chance of it happening tonight.
The four-time BDO world champion, who lost 3-1 to Jan Dekker on her only other previous appearance on this stage two years ago, has defeated Adam Hunt in both of their meetings on tour this year - one pre-lockdown and once at the Summer Series - while her other victims in 2020 include Rob Cross, Michael Smith, Dimitri Van den Bergh, John Henderson, Gabriel Clemens and Jamie Hughes. She was so close to adding Krzysztof Ratajski to that list but he came back brilliantly from 4-1 down to win 5-4 at the recent Grand Slam.
Nobody in the darts fraternity would bat an eyelid to see her beat Hunt from an ability point of view, but there's no denying the pressures of following Sherrock's footsteps and proving to a mass audience that she's actually the best female player on the planet makes it more of a challenge.
Hunt miraculously managed to reach the knockout stages of the Grand Slam despite losing two of his three group matches but overall he's improved a lot in terms of performance and results since a horrific Summer Series, where he didn't win one match in five days.
His season average of 90 is slightly higher than Ashton's 87 so it's going to be a close call.
- Prediction: 2-3
- Suggested bet: Lisa Ashton (+1.5 sets) at evens
Glen Durrant (1/6) v Diogo Portela (4/1) (R2)
- Head-to-head: 0-0
- 2020 Meetings: 0-0
- PDC Titles this season: 1-0 (TV: 1-0)
- Career PDC Titles: 3-0 (TV: 1-0)
- PDC World Championship appearances: 1 - 4
- PDC World Championship best : QF (2020) - 2nd Round (2021)
Ordinarily, there would only be one winner in this clash but Glen Durrant's recent struggles to fully recover from a bout of Covid that ruled him out of October's European Championship make it one to avoid.
Or to take a small punt on his opponent, who won the hearts of darts fans last night with his emotional celebrations against Steve Beaton.
Since reaching the quarter-finals on debut 12 months ago, Duzza was enjoying another stellar season as he reached the World Matchplay semi-finals for the second year in a row before finally winning a major PDC title that he craved on Premier League Finals night.
Although that was only in October, it feels like a lifetime ago now and has only managed three victories in his last 13 matches, losing all of his last seven including round one of the Players Championship Finals against Wayne Jones.
He's had a couple more weeks to recover and practice before this clash and if he does win then he'll have the best part of another fortnight to prepare for the post-Christmas part of the competition.
As much as Portela says he's struggled this year with lockdown life, he produced a courageous performance against a below-par Beaton to win 3-0 with an average of 89. He should take heart from the fact he always manages to average around that mark - or even higher - on this stage despite three previous defeats and if he can reproduce that elsewhere, he could start to enjoy the career he desires from darts.
I'm not sure what the quality level will be in this - it could be scrappy or a revived Duzza could blow him away - so I'll play it simple in the sets market.
- Prediction: 3-1
- Suggested bet: Over 3.5 sets at 4/5
Season Statistics
To help you with your bets throughout the tournament, here are some excellent statistical graphs for every player in the field from Darts Tracker creator and Sporting Life contributor Carl Fletcher (@CarlyFletch & @Darts_Tracker on Twitter), while there is an additional graphic at the bottom charting each player’s frequency of bringing up the ‘Match Treble’ in PDC events this season. That is when they win, throw most 180s and hit the highest checkout. You can read more about Carl’s research on that by clicking here.
NB: Averages & 180 per leg data covers events except World Grand Prix (which is double-start and distorts figures), 100+ checkout % is all events, and doubles percentage is stage events only (majors and European Tour) because definitive double stats for Players Championship events aren't available.
More World Darts Championship content
- World Championship draw & schedule
- Chris Hammer's pre-tournament betting tips
- Carl Fletcher's 'what the stats say' preview
- Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally picks
- Carl Fletcher's Super Six Outsiders
- Carl Fletcher's Match Treble Masters
- James Cooper's Quarter masters
- Watch: All the World Championship nine-darters
- 2020 Premier League results
- 2020 PDC event calendar & results
- Sky Bet's darts odds