This week, we are looking ahead to the PDC World Darts Championship, which gets underway at Alexandra Palace on Sunday. Defending champion Luke Humphries and last year’s runner-up Luke Littler are the big favourites.
Today, we look at the second section of the draw, which contains plenty of potential talking points with a former champion and several rising stars in this section.
Luke Littler v Ryan Meikle/Fallon Sherrock
After bursting onto the scene with his run to last year’s final, Littler has gone from strength to strength. He has taken ten titles this year- including winning the Premier League and Grand Slam on debut.
Meikle is making his fifth appearance at the World Championship and goes into the event 62nd in the Order of Merit, only three places above the cut-off to keep his tour card, which he has held since 2016.
Sherrock made international headlines in 2019 when she beat Ted Evetts, becoming the first woman to beat a man at a World Championship. She followed that up with a victory over 11th seed Mensur Suljovic. She also reached the Quarter Finals of the 2021 Grand Slam.
Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White/Sandro Eric Sosing
Edhouse caused a major surprise when he won the European Championship in October, beating former world champions Michael Smith and Gary Anderson along the way. He is playing in his fifth World Championship.
In the past, White has been known more for his performances on the Pro Tour rather than the TV stages, having been the Number 1 seed for the Players Championship Finals multiple times, but his 2019 semi-final in that event was the only time he has reached the last four of a PDC TV event.
Filipino Sosing returns having made his debut last year, where he was beaten in the First Round by Lee Evans. He secured his place this time around after finishing as runner-up in the PDC Asian Championship.
Danny Noppert v Ryan Joyce/Darius Labanauskas
Dutchman Noppert has ended the last two years inside the top 10 of the Order of Merit as he is currently ranked 13th but could move back into the top 10 with a good run here. He has a major title to his name, the 2022 UK Open.
Joyce could be a dangerous opponent after some decent results in recent tournaments, reaching the Semi-Finals of the World Grand Prix and Quarter Finals of the Players Championship Finals.
Labanauskas was a tour card holder for five years before losing his card last year, but secured his place in the World Championship after finishing second on the Order of Merit on the PDC Nordic & Baltic Tour, winning two of the ten events.
Ryan Searle v Mensur Suljovic/Matt Campbell
Searle is a player who has been getting solid results on the Pro Tour- he was seeded fourth for the Players Championship Finals, but so far this year, he has been unable to translate that into a deep run in a major tournament.
Popular Austrian Suljovic has endured a tough couple of years, which has seen him slide down the rankings from his high of 2017 when he got up to fifth, but earlier this year, he did reach the final of the World Cup of Darts alongside Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Canadian Campbell won the North American Championship but was unable to take up the World Championship place for that tournament as he is a tour card holder. He did, however, manage to come through the qualifier, beating Mervyn King in his deciding match.
Rob Cross v Scott Williams/Niko Springer
Cross is the only former World Champion in this section of the draw, having sensationally won the title on debut in 2018, thrashing Phil Taylor 7-2 in the final match of his legendary career. Last year, he reached the semi-finals before losing to Luke Littler.
Williams had a surprise run to the Semi-Finals of last year’s World Championship, beating Michael Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals. His only other deep run at a TV event came at this year’s Players Championship Finals, where he reached the last eight.
Springer secured his place at the World Championship after finishing second on the PDC Development Tour, which also meant that next year, he will have a Tour Card for the first time.
Gian Van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko/Zong Xiao Chen
Dutchman Van Veen has only held a PDC Tour card since last year but has made his way into the top 32 of the Order of Merit. He won the World Youth Championship last month, beating compatriot Jurjen Van der Velde in a dramatic final.
Like Van Veen, German Pietreczko emerged last year, winning the German Darts Championship after beating Michael Van Gerwen and Peter Wright. He reached the Quarter Finals of this year’s European Championship.
Zong will be looking to win a first match at the World Championship at the fourth attempt. He qualified this time after winning the inaugural PDC China Championship.
Nathan Aspinall v Cameron Menzies/Leonard Gates
Aspinall is hoping to continue his return to form at Ally Pally, having been forced to miss two months of the season due to a tendon injury in his throwing arm, which forced him to miss the World Series of Darts Finals.
One thing guaranteed with famously expressive Menzies is entertainment. He was the highest-ranked Pro Tour qualifier and won his first PDC title earlier this year at a Players Championship. His TV breakthrough came at the Grand Slam, where he reached the Quarter Finals.
Former baseball player Gates qualified after topping the rankings on the Championship Darts Circuit. Last year, he won three titles on the World Seniors Tour and will be competing in his third PDC TV event of the year after the UK Open and Grand Slam.
Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman/Nitin Kumar
Gilding preceded the current trend of surprise TV event winners when we won last year’s UK Open, beating Michael Van Gerwen in the final. Since then, he has reached two TV Quarter Finals, last year’s World Grand Prix and this year’s World Matchplay.
Lukeman came through the qualifier for the Grand Slam of Darts and made it to the final, becoming the first qualifier in the event’s history to do so. He gained Group Stage wins over Rob Cross and Peter Wright, beating Cross again in the Quarter Finals.
Kumar won the Indian Qualifier to secure his fourth appearance at the World Championship, last qualifying in 2022. He has yet to win a match, or even a set, at the tournament.