Trader’s View: Our man previews the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship

CN: Are there any form horses you’d recommend keeping an eye out for? James Wade and Krzysztof Ratajski have both looked pretty nifty of late.

AV: I haven’t overly bought into the James Wade renaissance. He survived a host of match darts to win back-to-back TV titles this year and I don’t think his level is where it needs to be at to win this. He will likely play Ratajski in the third round and that will be a stern test. The Pole keeps improving with big stage experience.

Stating the obvious as these are the two most recent TV title winners,  but Daryl Gurney (33/1) and Gerwyn Price (33/1) are both coming into this full of confidence.

CN: On the same theme, do you have an outsider we should be looking out for?

AV: Given the fact van Gerwen and Anderson are both in the top-half of the draw I would be looking at the bottom-half.  Mensur Suljovic (22/1) is a little way off his best but has proven he can play at a high level over the longer format. He has a potential fourth round match against Michael Smith (14/1), but given their two prices, he looks the better bet.

At a very big price I think Steve West (150/1) could surprise a few. He is one of the biggest 180 hitters on tour but just lacks a bit of composure at key moments. His win over MVG at the European Championship will have given him so much belief.

CN: And who would you be steering clear of in terms of Outright and Quarter betting? We have our reservations about current world champion Rob Cross and Peter Wright!

AV: For much of the year Rob Cross was playing well and losing. Now he seems to be just losing. The fact he is a bigger price this year (22/1) than last year when he won the thing says it all. He could easily find himself heading home against either Jeffrey de Zwaan or Nitin Kumar on the opening night.

I wouldn’t be writing off Peter Wright (9/1) just yet, though. He has an absolute gift of a draw and looked really decent in defeat to Stephen Bunting at the Players Championship Finals. Given his draw he could easily play himself into form. Key for him lies in finding the right set of darts and sticking with them.

My one to steer clear of is James Wade. He has a tough draw in the early rounds and finds himself in the same quarter as van Gerwen. To put that into some context, Wade has only beaten the Dutchman once in their last 16 meetings.

CN: Based on all of that, would you say this is the most open World Championship we’ve had for quite some time in the PDC?

AV: Given the level of dominance shown by van Gerwen in the past has decreased this year – I would have to say yes.

CN: Are there any bets, in particular, that you like the look of ahead of the tournament?

Mensur Suljovic to Win the Tournament (each-way) @ 22/1

Steve West to Win Quarter 4 @ 10/1

Steve West to Win the Tournament (each-way) @ 150/1

Daryl Gurney to Win Quarter 2 @ 5/1

You can get more of Alan’s insight in the coming days, where he’ll be previewing the first and second round matches taking place from 13th December until 21st December.

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