In the quest to win the biggest title in the sport, you only have to keep winning – you do not need to be convincing, you just have to win. It gives you the chance to be brilliant in your next game, and the chances are that at some point you are going to have to be brilliant to get your hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy at the World Darts Championship.
The only certainty is that you will not win it if you get knocked out, and Gerwyn Price has now suffered that fate. The world number five was as good as Brendan Dolan for large parts of their match, but not as good in the most crucial parts, and one of the title favourites has fallen by the wayside. The red-hot Luke Humphries could have gone the same way, but managed to battle back from 1-3 down to Ricardo Pietreczko to seal his spot in the last 16, even though he is yet to demonstrate his true capabilities. However, while “Cool Hand” still has the chance to do that, ‘Gezzy’ does not.
Luke To Come Good
I still believe that things will come good for Humphries, but the form that has seen him shoot to within touching distance of the top of the world rankings needs to make a return now. Former Masters champion Joe Cullen stands between him and a fourth appearance in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace.
Humphries may have underwhelmed thus far, but it is surely only a matter of time until we see the real player who has claimed three of the last four major titles. It may turn out that his less-than-dominant displays work out well for those of us who are keeping the faith, offering up more favourable odds for his match with Cullen. I do still expect Cullen to make life hard for “Cool Hand” though, and backing “The Rockstar” to hit at least eight maximums (at 1.95) seems like the sensible play.
Fighting Fit Ferret?
My two picks as dark horses for this event came unstuck in very different ways. Jim Williams will be incandescent after missing endless chances to beat a poor Raymond van Barneveld, but we were right about the talent shown at the top level by the Welsh arrow-flinger. Ross Smith will feel equally disappointed with his defeat to Chris Dobey, but he should be proud of his excellent performance. “Smudger” and “Hollywood” served up the highest quality contest of the tournament so far, hitting an astonishing 27 maximums in 26 legs of darts, far exceeding the line of 16.5 that we backed ahead of the contest.
So while our horses’ races are run, they have done their job for us, and we can let them head off to the pasture to rest, rather than shipping off to the lasagne factory. It is not the form of the horses for which I have most concern though, rather the form of a very particular ferret. Jonny Clayton finds himself in the fourth round once again, but is yet to show his true colours.
“The Ferret” has managed to win back to back games on a TV stage for the first time since his heroic run to the World Matchplay final in July, but he still does not look likely to recapture that standard just yet. His next opponent Rob Cross was very impressive in holding off a tenacious Jeffrey de Graaf, averaging more than 101 in the process, and I expect “Voltage” to carry on in similar fashion and win convincingly (Rob Cross -1.5 sets at 1.90 with kwiff)
Aussie Grit
While all eyes in the third quarter of the draw have been fixed on the collision between Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting, a rather interesting section of the draw has played out alongside it. The surprise demise of Danny Noppert and Josh Rock has allowed Australian number one Damon Heta and the unseeded Scott Williams to book their places in the last 16 for the first time in their careers. Both have battled hard to get there, with Williams scraping past Martin Schindler and Heta holding off Dutchman Berry van Peer. It was Heta who impressed more though in that display against van Peer.
“The Heat” has enjoyed a two-year spell of soaring up the rankings, and this year has found a very pleasing knack of winning without producing his brilliant best. With three major quarter-finals already under his belt in 2023, he will be favourite to add another on the biggest stage of all – and I expect him to do so, but I also expect it to be another hard fight.
Williams is a mercurial talent whose swagger and on stage persona divides opinion, but I think Heta can outlast him in another epic encounter – over 5.5 sets in this match (at 1.66 with kwiff) seems the most likely outcome.
PDC World Darts Championship 2024 Selected Bets
– Joe Cullen to hit more than 7.5 x 180s v Luke Humphries at 1.95
– Rob Cross -1.5 sets v Jonny Clayton at 1.90
– Over 5.5 sets in Damon Heta v Scott Williams at 1.66
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By Dan Dawson
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