World Darts Championship: Day three predictions, odds, betting tips, accas, order of play & TV times
Our day three guide for the PDC World Darts Championship includes the order of play, match-by-match predictions, Sky Bet odds and a suggested acca.
Michael van Gerwen takes to the stage tonight but perhaps the match of the day will be Max Hopp's clash with Danny Noppert.
Read also
- World Darts Championship draw & schedule
- Chris Hammer's tournament best bets & preview
- John Part's predictions & best bets
- 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 Saturday morning.
World Darts Championship: Saturday December 15
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
Richard North (4/7) v Robert Marijanovic (11/8)
Head-to-head: N/A
2018 Meetings: N/A
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0
Robert Marijanovic will take the stage by virtue of becoming German Superleague champion although he's twice been here before back in 2013 and 2015.
On both occasions he fell at the first hurdle - to Daryl Gurney and Stephen Bunting - but I'd say he's got a fighting chance of going close today.
The 38-year-old has no other experience of playing in major PDC events but this year he's picked up a few wins on the Pro Tour and European over the likes of Peter Wright, Jan Dekker and James Wilson.
Richard North is steadily climbing the rankings and this season featured in the UK Open, World Matchplay, European Championship and Players Championship Finals.
The 28-year-old Englishman should win but I'm not sure this is whitewash material.
Prediction: 3-1
Mickey Mansell (1/5) v Jim Long (7/2)
Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 1-0
Career PDC Titles: 1-0
Jim Long topped the CDC's Canadian rankings to qualify for his first PDC World Championship at the ripe old age of 50.
But that's one of the beauties of this great tournaments right there.
I should have probably asked Canada's favourite son John Part about Jim during the Podcast for a bit more insider info so to speak but that was an oversight.
Mickey Mansell found the right formula (see what I did there) to win a maiden PDC title earlier this season aged 45.
The Northern Irishman, who hadn't even reached a Players Championship semi-final since 2010, beat Gerwyn Price en route to the final where he defeated Adrian Lewis.
This is the fourth time Mansell has qualified for the World Championship - and first since the 2015 edition - but lost all his other three by whitewash scorelines.
Prediction: 3-1
Josh Payne (8/13) v Jeff Smith (5/4)
Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 1-0
Career PDC Titles: 2-0
Josh Payne is still regarded as one of the up and coming players even though it seems he's been around a while having won his first of two Players Championship events back in 2016.
He added the second earlier this season while he also pocketed a bumper payday of £10,000 when qualifying for the knockout stages of the Grand Slam of Darts.
However, gaining his first win on this stage at the second attempt won't be easy against former Lakeside runner-up Jeff Smith.
The Canadian is here for the second year running thanks to winning the North American Darts Championship and he'll have relatively fond memories of Alexandra Palace after beating Luke Humphries 2-0 in the preliminary round, firing in a 170 checkout along the way.
A 3-0 thumping to Gary Anderson followed and then he failed to get a Tour Card at Q School in January, which is why you won't have seen much of him since.
Prediction: 3-1
Max Hopp (11/10) v Danny Noppert (8/11)
Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 2-1
Career PDC Titles: 3-1
We all knew Danny Noppert was a class act from his time in the BDO, where he reached the 2017 World Championship final, but now he's starting to show that on the PDC circuit.
The Dutchman won his first Players Championship event at the end of September, managing a 104 average in a semi-final triumph over Rob Cross before defeating Ian White for the title.
He topped that with a fine run to the last four of the televised Players Championship Finals last month, claiming impressive wins over Krzysztof Ratajski and Stephen Bunting before bowing out to eventual winner Daryl Gurney.
Noppert, 27, is already up and running here after his easy first-round win last night but I reckon there's definitely value in Max Hopp.
The Maximiser is leading the way for German darts at the moment and earlier this season landed his first senior PDC crown, fittingly, at the German Open.
It really was highly emotional stuff (click here to read more and watch his winning checkout against Michael Smith) for a player that wears his heart on his sleeve but he so nearly topped that when reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship, only to miss three match darts before losing a deciding leg to James Wade in Dortmund. The silence was deafening.
That's not all, Hopp also claimed a Players Championship title in Dublin the day before Noppert won his.
It's going to be a cracking match and it is so hard to call. But ultimately Hopp is a nicer price to set up a potential meeting with MVG.
I also like Sky Bet's 7/2 on the match have over 17.5 legs, a high checkout of over 129.5 and more than 8.5 total 180s.
Prediction: 3-2
EVENING SESSION
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
- First/Second Round: Best of five sets
Toni Alcinas (2/9) v Craig Ross (10/3)
Head-to-head: N/A
2018 Meetings: N/A
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0
Craig Ross is very fortunate to be here.
He finished runner-up to Tahuna Irwin in the New Zealand qualifier back in July but immigration complications surrounding the winner means Ross steps in at the 11th hour.
I read a nice article about him here, in which the Kiwi beekeeper reveals he'd packed his darts away for the season but has now flown his wife and two daughters over for a trip of a lifetime.
He's never played on the TV before in 25 years of playing darts so accepts it'll be "overwhelming", whereas Toni Alcinas has been around the block a bit by now, featuring in three World Championships.
Last year he reached the third round, where he was thumped 4-0 by Darren Webster, after stunning Spanish World Cup partner Cristo Reyes 3-1 before beating giantkilling Kevin Munch.
Since then he's been steady away on the Pro Tour so in theory, this should be a pretty routine victory. But what a story it'd be if Ross could pull it off!
Prediction: 3-1
Ryan Searle (8/11) v Stephen Burton (11/10)
Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 0-0
I'm going to have to go with marginal underdog Stephen Burton purely based on his eye-catching form at the back end of the year.
'Bertie' from Ipswich is playing in his first World Championship and just his second on television - but thankfully that was as recently as last month at the Players Championship Finals.
There was no sign of stage fright there as he defeated Jermaine Wattimena and Darren Webster before running out of steam, understandably, against Michael van Gerwen.
He'd qualified for Minehead on the back of a steady season on the Pro Tour, reaching the last 16 of four Players Championship events, while he booked his place at Alexandra Palace at the last-gasp qualifier in Milton Keynes.
Ryan Searle is a fair favourite having not only gained TV experience at the UK Open, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals but also having enjoyed a slighty better season on the Pro Tour.
He reached a Players Championship final in September but I think this will be very close indeed.
Prediction: 2-3
Keegan Brown (1/6) v Karel Sedlacek (4/1)
Head-to-head: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 0-0
Career PDC Titles: 1-0
It's not easy to see how a shock could happen here, but stranger things have happened.
The former World Youth champion reached the third round here last year before losing to Phil Taylor while he's obviously a pretty experienced in TV events, even if he hasn't excelled in them.
This will be Karel Sedlacek's first outing at Alexandra Palace after winning an Eastern European qualifier although he has had a couple of attempts at the Lakeside.
Prediction: 3-0
Michael van Gerwen (1/50) v Alan Tabern (14/1)
Head-to-head: 7-6
2018 Meetings: 2-0
PDC Titles in 2018: 18-0
Career PDC Titles: 116-2
Quiz question, how many people have ever beaten Michael van Gerwen six times in a row?
Well, Alan Tabern obviously!
The veteran Englishman, who won his first round match on Friday after a seven-year absence from this stage, lost their first meeting way back in 2007 before reeling of six successive victories until 2011.
Since then they've bet six more times, including twice this year on the European Tour, and MVG has of course won the lot.
The trend will continue tonight, but I hope that little head-to-head history lesson was interesting enough.
Prediction: 3-0
Saturday's suggested darts bets
- Max Hopp to beat Danny Noppert at 11/10
- Hopp v Noppert to have over 17.5 legs, a high checkout of over 129.5 and more than 8.5 total 180s at 7/2
- Stephen Burton to beat Ryan Searle at 11/10
- Click here to place your bets
Saturday's darts accas
- Payne, Hopp & Burton at 6/1
- Click here to build your acca
Schedule for Sunday December 16
Sunday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
- Gabriel Clemens v Aden Kirk (R1)
- William O’Connor v Yordi Meeuwisse (R1)
- Brendan Dolan v Yuanjun Liu (R1)
- Dave Chisnall v Payne/J Smith (R2)
Evening Session (1900)
First/Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
- Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt (R1)
- Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas (R1)
- Ross Smith v Paul Lim (R1)
- Peter Wright v Alcinas/Ross (R2)
Full World Championship draw and schedule
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