World Darts Championship: Day four predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times

Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall are the highest ranked players in action on day four but crowd favourite Paul Lim is arguably the man the fans want to see most.

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• World Darts Championship draw & schedule
• Chris Hammer's tournament best bets & preview
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• Listen to the Sporting Life Darts Podcast

Here, I'll run through this afternoon's four games while the evening action will be added early on Sunday morning.

World Darts Championship: Sunday December 16

AFTERNOON SESSION

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
• First/Second Round: Best of five sets

Gabriel Clemens (4/7) v Aden Kirk (11/8)

Head-to-head: N/A
2018 Meetings: N/A
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0

Remember when Aden Kirk beat Phil Taylor in his first ever televised match at the UK Open in 2014?

It may have been one of the biggest shocks in darts but it's probably more surprising that 'The Captain' hasn't competed in another major since.

This is therefore his first outing at Alexandra Palace having earned his spot from the last-gasp qualifier in Milton Keynes last month following a season in which he never went further than the last 32 of a Pro Tour event.

Gabriel Clemens is hardly a household name but he's enjoyed a better season, reaching a ProTour final back in May where he lost to Gary Anderson 6-5 after beating Peter Wright.

The German also recently ventured to the last 16 of the Players Championship Finals last month so that's more evidence to suggest he'll cope the better of the two debutants.

But, here's the thing. Clemens, and indeed the bookies, haven't taken into account Kirk's new set of darts which he got from Argos before the aforementioned last-gasp qualifier despite being totally different from the ones he usually uses.

He practiced with them a bit from home, winning a few matches against his wife, then qualified for the Ally Pally.

It may sound daft logic but sometimes in this wonderful world of darts, such a change can spark a new lease of life.

Prediction: 2-3

William O'Connor (4/7) v Yordie Meeuwisse (11/8)

Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0

William O'Connor may be favourite here but you could make a case for him being a shorter price.

The Irishman was on red hot form earlier this year, reaching a European Tour final before losing to Michael van Gerwen but he'd then get his revenge in emphatic fashion by destroying the world number one 6-1 in the Dutch Darts Championship in September.

Meeuwisse has spent most of his time on the PDC's Challenge Tour this year while he qualified for the Ally Pally by winning the West Europe Qualifier.

I'm going to back O'Connor at 5/4 with a 1.5 set deficit on the handicap.

Prediction: 3-1

Brendan Dolan (1/10) v Yuanjun Liu (6/1)

Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 5-0

If you watched the Shanghai Darts Masters this year you will have seen Yuanjun Liu lose 6-2 to Gerwyn Price in the opening round.

Apart from that, little is known about the winner of the PDC China Qualifier but you have to assume Brendan Dolan will slowly labour to victory.

The Northern Irishman, who reached the 2011 World Grand Prix final, isn't the player of old so I'm contemplating if there's a case to back his opponent on the handicap.

Prediction: 3-1

Dave Chisnall (1/4) v Josh Payne (3/1)

Head-to-head: 4-2
2018 Meetings: 1-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-1
Career PDC Titles: 12-2

It's always hard to predict which Dave Chisnall will show up.

There have been several times this season where it looks as though Chizzy has got his game back together and I back him to go far, then all of a sudden the wheels come off.

A prime example of this was the World Series of Darts Finals, where he thrashed Max Hopp 6-1 and then edged out Gary Anderson to reach the quarter-finals.

With MVG then bowing out to Barney it was a golden chance for Chizzy to go on and finally land a maiden TV title but he came up short against Michael Smith.

In the European Championship a week earlier he won a thriller with Adrian Lewis but, after MVG lost again to blow the tournament wide open, the St Helens man was soundly beaten by Gerwyn Price.

Anyway, let's get back to the point.

My gut feeling is that Josh Payne is a great price at 3/1 especially after the confidence he's gained from winning his first ever match on the Alexandra Palace stage on Saturday.

Sure, he wasn't at his best against Jeff Smith and had to come through a deciding set but his nerves will be settled now.

He's won a Players Championship event this season and could make life tough for Chizzy.

Payne is 6/5 on the handicap at +1.5 sets which is a solid bet but I'm also drawn to the 5/1 about Payne to win with Chizzy hitting most 180s.

Prediction: 2-3

EVENING SESSION

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
• First/Second Round: Best of five sets

Luke Humphries (4/7) v Adam Hunt (11/8)

Head-to-head: 2-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0

I'd recommend throwing Luke Humphries into your accas today as he looks to come out of this clash between two English prospects.

Hunt, 25, has been around the block a few years longer than Humphries, 23, but the latter has won two more PDC Development Tour titles in the last two years (six) than his opponent has managed in six (2011-2017).

That's probably a little unfair comparison given how young The Hunter was when he was starting out back in 2011 and there probably isn't really that much separating them now.

Hunt did enough on the Pro Tour to qualify for the Players Championship Finals while Humphries reached a semi-final of his last Pro Tour outing back in October.

I reckon this will be a fiercely competitive clash that goes far so a match action bet of over 14.5 legs, a high checkout of over 112.5 and more than 5.5 180s at 5/4 is a good option too.

Prediction: 3-2

Matthew Edgar (1/1) v Darius Labanauskas (4/5)

Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0

Darius Labanauskas is here because he finished in the top two of the PDC Nordic & Baltic qualifiers but followers of the BDO circuit will know how dangerous he is.

The 42-year-old Lithuanian has reached the quarter-finals of both the BDO World Championship and World Trophy over the past couple of years, losing both to Glen Durrant.

The last of which in the World Trophy was an epic, with Durrant edging it 7-5 and afterwards the Teesider admitted had it gone 6-6, he probably would have lost.

That said this is Labanauskas' debut on the PDC world stage as it is for Matthew Edgar, who just about qualified by virtue of his prize money on the Pro Tour.

The 32-year-old Englishman featured in both UK Open and Players Championship Finals this year although he was unlucky to draw MVG in the first round of the latter.

Very hard to call this one.

Prediction: 3-2

Ross Smith (4/6) v Paul Lim (6/5)

Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0

Paul Lim is back!

I can hardly contain my excitement and I doubt you can either.

The Singapore legend is obviously in folklore because of his nine-dart heroics back at the Lakeside in 1990 - which incidentally earned him £52k (a prize only bettered by Lowe's 102k back in 1984 and Phil Taylor's £100k in the 2002 World Matchplay) - but he's also just an all-round great guy.

He came so close to a fairytale perfect leg against Gary Anderson this time last year after he'd earlier raised the roof with a preliminary round victory and there's no doubt the crowd will be rooting for him tonight.

The 64-year-old doesn't compete in the UK but he remains a quality operator who loves to work the fans. Don't forget he helped Singapore reach the World Cup quarter-finals in 2017, beating Gary Anderson & Peter Wright along the way, while he also defeated Rob Cross 4-1 in a singles rubber during this year's edition, although England still triumphed in the match.

As Lim prepares for his 23rd world championship outing - almost 37 years after his first - and 11th PDC version, Ross Smith is about to make his second at the Ally Pally, five years after his last.

The 29-year-old Englishman did qualify for the Players Championship Finals last month and while he edges favourtism, I'm going for what would be a popular 'upset'.

Prediction: 2-3

Peter Wright (1/10) v Toni Alcinas (6/1)

Head-to-head: 7-0
2018 Meetings: 2-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 3-0
Career PDC Titles: 22-0

Last, but not least, is Peter Wright.

Snakebite's form has been widely questioned in recent months but don't forget he still managed to reach the finals of the Champions League of Darts and World Grand Prix while he also topped his group at the Grand Slam of Darts prior to a disappointing last 16 defeat to Simon Whitlock.

He also defeated the man he's playing tonight, Toni Alcinas, and rising German star Max Hopp at the recent Players Championship Finals before losing a last-leg decider to Stephen Bunting.

I wouldn't say he's drastically off his game by any means and although Toni Alcinas comes into this clash fairly warm after his victory over Craig Ross, to say he wasn't tested is an understatement.

I think this will be an easy win but I'm sure there's a few punters out there taking a chance on a shock at 6/1.

Prediction: 3-1

Sunday's suggested darts bets

• Aden Kirk to beat Gabriel Clemens at 11/8
• O'Connor (-1.5 sets) to beat Meeuwisse at 5/4
• Payne (+1.5 sets) to beat Chisnall at 6/5
• Payne to win & Chisnall hit most 180s at 5/1
• Paul Lim to beat Ross Smith at 6/5
• Click here to place your bets

Sunday's darts accas

• O'Connor, Payne, Humphries & Lim at 20/1
• Click here to build your acca

Schedule for Monday December 17

Monday December 17
Evening Session
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

• Vincent van der Voort v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
• Wayne Jones v Devon Petersen (R1)
• Ryan Joyce v Anastasia Dobromyslova (R1)
• Raymond van Barneveld v Edgar/Labanauskas (R2)

Full World Championship draw and schedule

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• Full World Championship draw and schedule
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• 2018 Premier League darts results
• Sky Bet's darts odds
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