Adrian Lewis, Rob Cross and James Wade are all in action on Sunday

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

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sun December 23, 2018 · 7y ago

There's one more third-round games at the PDC World Darts Championship to go today and our preview includes Chris Hammer's take on Rob Cross v Cristo Reyes.

Defending champion Rob Cross returns to the oche for the first time since opening night, which seems a distant memory now, while James Wade and Adrian Lewis are also in action.

After today it's the well-earned Christmas break, with the surviving players coming back from December 27 onwards to resume their campaigns for the Sid Waddell Trophy.

World Darts Championship schedule & results

World Darts Championship: Sunday December 23

AFTERNOON SESSION

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
Third Round: Best of seven sets

Vincent van der Voort (1/1) v Chris Dobey (4/5)

H2H: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 5-0
2018 Titles: 0-0

Vincent van der Voort was quick to admit he was fortunate to win his first-round match against Lourence Ilagen - but there was no luck involved in thrashing Darren Webster 3-0.

However, that's now to say he blew the Demolition Man away with heavy scoring because he didn't.

The Dutch veteran, who almost quit the sport a couple of years ago due to his injury problems, averaged 88, hit just two 180s and missed 19 of his 28 darts at doubles as he caught Webster on an off day.

Chris Dobey, by contrast, wasn't given a game by either Boris Koltsov or Steve Beaton but still managed to average around 93 in both and was very clinical on his doubles, with a cumulative checkout percentage of 45%.

Of course those levels could change if he's put under pressure but I'm sceptical of that and I fancy the 28-year-old from the North East to return home for a very happy Christmas.

You can get 11/8 on him to win with a 1.5 set deficit on the handicap.

Prediction: 1-4

Brendan Dolan (11/10) v Mervyn King (8/11)

H2H: 6-4
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 5-7
2018 Titles: 0-1

I'm still pretty annoyed Brendan Dolan sent my big outside bet for the title crashing out in the second round...in remarkably easy fashion.

The slow-throwing Irishman hit a 170 checkout and averaged 93 in an impressive display whereas Joe Cullen had an absolute mare, missing 16 of his 17 darts at doubles.

Mervyn King was statistically brilliant for much of his clash with Jan Dekker and averaged over 100 when leading 2-0 but he missed eight match darts before finally getting over the line to win 3-2.

It's still amazing to me that at 52, he's appearing in his 23rd successive world championship (1997-2007 BDO) yet is still producing numbers that suggest he could feasibly make a strong run here.

Victory against Dolan sees him take another step in his 'softer' half of the draw which was blown even more wide open by the defeats to the seeded six of Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic, Ian White, Gerwyn Price, James Wilson and Jonny Clayton.

I think it's a safe enough match double to back King to win with the most 180s, considering Dolan didn't hit a single maximum against Cullen.

Prediction: 1-4

James Wade (2/7) v Keegan Brown (13/5)

H2H: 4-4
2018 Meetings: 1-0
PDC Titles: 30-1
2018 Titles: 2-0

James Wade hit the headlines with his extraordinary oche behaviour against Seigo Asada - and his post-match comments - in the last round but he's since issued an apology and we must move on.

That said, it'll be interesting to see what reception he gets from the crowd and how he deals with it. At the European Championship against Max Hopp, he revelled in trying to silence the Dortmund fans but obviously that was a very different situation.

Keegan Brown will also have more support than usual from the crowd - but that's nothing to do with Wade's potential short-term unpopularity.

The former World Youth champion struggled to hold back the tears after his low-quality win over a poor Jelle Klaasen, revealing his wife Roz was recovering from a lumbar puncture.

Brown's mind was clearly on her well being rather than the match, in which he averaged just 82, and he was the first to admit that.

In these situations it's impossible to predict what frame of mind either man will be but I would expect a lot of determination up there.

I'll take the 3/1 on there being over 22.5 legs, a high checkout of more than 135.5 and over 10.5 total 180s.

Prediction: 4-2

EVENING SESSION

· TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

· Third Round: Best of seven sets

Adrian Lewis (2/7) v Darius Labanauskas (13/5)

H2H: 0-0
2018 Meetings: 0-0
PDC Titles: 24-0
2018 Titles: 0-0

The man who potentially ended Raymond van Barneveld's hopes of returning here for one last time in 2018 is back on the oche tonight.

Darius Labanauskas defeated the Dutch legend 3-2 in what was a really tense and low-quality affair, meaning Barney will suffer an alarming slump down the world rankings.

The first ever Lithuanian to play in a PDC World Darts Championship didn't exactly play well, averaging 87 and taking 42 attempts to hit the 13 doubles he needed to eventually get over the line.

To be fair, 11 of those misses came in one leg which kind of distorts the stat, but overall I didn't see much in his play that suggests he'll beat Adrian Lewis, who is starting to get his game back to where he wants it.

Jackpot averaged 97 in a 3-0 win over rising star Ted Evetts, who gave him a really good game, and also converted 53% of his doubles and a similar performance to that will be enough.

Prediction: 4-2

Nathan Aspinall (11/8) v Kyle Anderson (4/7)

H2H: 1-3
2018 Meetings: 0-1
PDC Titles: 1-2
2018 Titles: 1-0

Nathan Aspinall became an overnight fan favourite at the Alexandra Palace when he came from two sets down to defeat Gerwyn Price on an unforgettable Friday night.

The Stockport thrower pumped himself up specifically for the challenge of the musclebound pantomime villain and although the strategy came so close to failing miserably, with Price having a match dart when leading 2-0, the crowd spurred him on to a quite incredible win.

“Two nil and you...it up” the crowd yell at Gerwyn Price! pic.twitter.com/cJBgdEyiCx
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) December 21, 2018

Afterwards he revealed his tactics to give it back to Price aren't really in his nature and that we'll see a calmer side of him when he takes to the oche for a 'proper game of darts' against the more respectful Kyle Anderson.

👏 Nathan Aspinall explains why so many players have come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at this crazy tournament of upsets.

👍 And after giving Gerwyn Price a taste of his own medicine, he’s now looking forward to a “proper game of darts” with Kyle Anderson.@NathanAspi @KyleDarts pic.twitter.com/NVyjd4wgwL
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) December 22, 2018

Although the Aussie's performance against the impressive Noel Malicdem was statistically more impressive than Aspinall's over Price, both matches were played in such different circumstances so it's almost futile to compare them.

Nevertheless Anderson is rated a marginal favourite but both men will be secretly licking their lips at the sight of this bottom section of the draw which has a semi-final run written all over it for everyone left involved.

This of course brings new pressures and there's probably that natural fear of blowing what's clearly a life-changing opportunity. Who can handle it best?

I giving the edge to the cool headed Anderson, and if you throw in six or more 180s and a checkout of over 106.5, then it's 3/1.

Nathan Aspinall stuns Gerwyn Price

Prediction: 2-4

Rob Cross (1/5) v Cristo Reyes (7/2)

H2H: 2-2
2018 Meetings: 1-2
PDC Titles: 7-0
2018 Titles: 1-0

I'm almost drinking in last chance saloon as far as my pre-tournament tips are concerned, with potential success now all boiling down to Rob Cross and Michael Smith, who are on a collision course to potentially meet in the quarter-finals.

But first the defending champion has to get past Cristo Reyes and then either Dimitri van den Bergh or Luke Humphries, so it'll be far from easy.

Voltage won't relish playing a man whose beaten him twice this season, including a 6-1 thumping at the recent Players Championship Finals, but he managed to overcome Jeffrey de Zwaan's average of 106 in his last match almost a century ago, triumphing 3-1 thanks to a stunning display of scoring and finishing.

I wonder if the ludicrous nine days rest means that particular 'form' - a 103 average and a 56% checkout percentage - goes out of the window now or whether it means he's been able to practice filled with renewed confidence after a largely difficult season.

Reyes was let of the hook by Rowby-John Rodriguez in the last round and only averaged 89 in his comeback 3-2 triumph and I don't think he'll be able to live with Cross over the longer format. And I certainly hope he can't!

I'll back Cross to win the match, score over 6.5 180s and have a checkout of over 124.5 at 3/1.

Prediction: 4-1

Suggested bets

Dobey (-1.5 sets) to beat van der Voort at 11/8
King to beat Dolan and hit most 180s
Wade v Brown to have over 22.5 legs, a high checkout of more than 135.5 and over 10.5 total 180s at 3/1
Anderson to win, over 5.5 180s & a checkout of over 106.5 at 3/1
Cross to win the match, score over 6.5 180s & a checkout of over 124.5 at 3/1

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