Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting (Picture: Kieran Cleeves/PDC)

PDC World Darts Championship 2024: Day 12 predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sat December 30, 2023 · 11M ago

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship continues on Friday with another double session so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, best bets and suggested acca.

Darts betting tips: World Championship day 12

1pt Krzystof Ratajski to beat Jonny Clayton at 11/10 (Betfred)

1pt Gary Anderson to win, hit the most 180s and have the highest checkout at 11/10 (General)

1pt Stephen Bunting to beat Michael van Gerwen at 8/5 (Coral)

1pt Chris Dobey to beat Michael Smith at 11/10 (General)

SL Acca: Ratajski, Anderson (-1.5), Bunting (+1.5) & Dobey (+1.5) all to win at 13/2 with Sky Bet

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

AFTERNOON SESSION

TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1200 GMT
Format: Third round, best of seven sets

Damon Heta (2/7) v Berry van Peer (5/2)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 94.48 - 89.55
180s per leg (2023): 0.28 - 0.18
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 38.75% - 53.33% (This tournament)
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 13.74% - 11.90%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 25.00% - 0% (This tournament)

Berry van Peer is one of two surviving 'International Qualifiers' left in the World Championship after a surprisingly impressive run to the third round thanks to upset wins over Luke Woodhouse and Josh Rock.

He achieved both with averages of 93.87 and 91.32 respectively while his tournament checkout percentage is over 50% so a similar level of performance could well trouble Damon Heta based on the Aussie's form in recent months.

Heta has ventured into the 80s or low 90s in 10 of his last 14 matches - including a mark of 89.69 in the previous round against Martin Lukeman - while he's never gone beyond the third round here in four previous attempts.

It could well end up being a scrappy encounter with at least six sets.

Scoreline Prediction: 4-2

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Jonny Clayton (8/11) v Krzysztof Ratajski (1/1)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 96.04 - 95.01
180s per leg (2023): 0.21 - 0.17
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 41.92% - 34.11%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 15.69% - 11.60%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 15.43% - 20.16%

Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski flew so far under the radar into the third round that I forgot they were both in it until I started writing this preview.

The Ferret battled his way past Steve Lennon 3-1 in a match where both players averaged in the 80s and exactly the same can be said about the Polish Eagle's triumph over Jamie Hughes.

Clayton, who only hit two 180s in the 17 legs played, hasn't actually produced many significantly better performances than that over the past couple of months whereas Ratajski has been around the 100 mark in six of his 10 matches before arriving at the Ally Pally.

I'm going to side with the marginal underdog in this one as he bids to reach round four for just the second time.

Scoreline Prediction: 2-4

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Jim Williams (10/11) v Raymond van Barneveld (4/5)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 95.28 - 93.49
180s per leg (2023): 0.24 - 0.25
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 37.00% - 38.64%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 10.60% - 13.20%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 19.35% - 19.35%

The darting romantic will be hoping Raymond van Barneveld wins this to set up a clash of generations against against a future legend who is young enough to be his grandchild.

Barney rolled back the years to brush Radek Szaganski aside 3-1 with a 99.81 average last time out while Jim Williams almost found beating Peter Wright as easy as when he trounced Norman Madhoo 3-0 and 9-0 in legs.

Neither player tested Williams whatsoever, with Snakebite averaging just 83.87 to round off a disappointing season so you'd expect van Barneveld to give him a much tougher challenge in front of the Barney Army tonight.

When you look at their seasonal averages, 180 per leg numbers and doubling percentage above, there isn't really much between them while they both boast healthy 100+ checkout stats.

It's a hard one to call and I'm happy to swerve this one.

Scoreline Prediction: 4-2

EVENING SESSION

TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1900 GMT
Format: Third/Fourth round, best of seven sets

Boris Krcmar (4/1) v Gary Anderson (1/7) (R3)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 92.05 - 98.85
180s per leg (2023): 0.17 - 0.33
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 35.29% - 36.32%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 13.21% - 11.27%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 7.69% - 31.75%

Gary Anderson probably can't believe his luck the way his quarter of the draw has opened up and I doubt he would have expected Luke Littler to be the biggest threat.

He's got to get through Boris Krcmar and Brendan Dolan - rather than Gerwyn Price - first and even then there's no guarantee the 16-year-old will overcome Jim Williams or Raymond van Barneveld, but you have to feel that's where we're heading.

Anderson has been one of the most consistent performers on Tour this season and underlined his credentials with an easy 3-0 win over Simon Whitlock with a 98 average, so I can't see him having many problems against Krcmar.

The Croatian showed he's got a very soft emotional side underneath his doorman exterior after putting an injured Dirk van Duijvenbode to the sword 3-1 with an impressive 96.84 average so just being here will feel like a massive bonus.

Anderson brings up the match treble in almost 32% of his games this year and I fancy him to do it again given how his 180 hitting is far superior and the fact he'll win the majority of the legs.

Scoreline Prediction: 1-4

CLICK HERE to back Gary Anderson to win, hit the most 180s and have the highest checkout with Sky Bet

Michael van Gerwen (4/7) v Stephen Bunting (5/4) (R4)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 98.09 – 95.79
180s per leg (2023): 0.28 – 0.29
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 40.12% - 38.88%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 11.73% - 11.66%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 21.77% - 27.04%

Stephen Bunting has already sealed his status as the People's Champion but he could achieve so much more than that if he maintains his blistering momentum for just a few more days.

The Bullet has produced averages of 107.28 and 101.15 in back-to-back whitewash wins over Ryan Joyce and Florian Hempel, firing in 12 maximums along the way, but he also showed tremendous character against the latter who threw everything at him for two sets.

As for Michael van Gerwen, he's also marched through to this stage without dropping a set against Keane Barry and Richard Veenstra, averaging 98.17 and 101.39 respectively so he's warming up nicely for the business end of the tournament.

This is a repeat of their epic contest at the Players Championship Finals, where MVG came from behind to pip him en route to the final, but that hasn't dented Bunting's growing belief that he's finally realising his potential.

Their 180 hitting and their rate of 100+ checkouts are so similar that I wouldn't fancy delving into who will hit most maximums or achieve the highest finish, so I'll keep this simple and back the titanium Bullet.

It's surely bound to be close so I wouldn't put anyone off going high on 180s and ton plus checkouts.

Scoreline Prediction: 3-4

CLICK HERE to back Stephen Bunting to win with Sky Bet

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Michael Smith (4/6) v Chris Dobey (11/10) (R4)

Three-Dart Average (2023): 95.48 - 96.06
180s per leg (2023): 0.31 - 0.31
Checkout % (PDC Stage Events 2023): 39.57% - 38.46%
100+ checkout per leg won (2023): 12.56% - 12.55%
Match Treble % (Win, most 180’s & High Checkout): 27.97% - 22.88%

Chris Dobey is one of the players of the tournament after coming through a pair of thrilling contests with 100+ averages and he's also leading the race to win the inaugural Ballon d'Art thanks to hitting 24 180s at 0.42 per leg.

Obviously to lift that trophy you almost certainly have to reach the final but there's no reason why he can't get that far based on what we've seen from him against William O'Connor and Ross Smith.

He's averaged higher than Michael Smith over the whole season and also performed better than the defending champion in the past couple of rounds.

Smith did average just over a ton during a closer than expected tussle with Kevin Doets before getting frustrated with the pace of Madars Razma in a 4-1 win in which he averaged 93.73. But the pace and flow of this match will be much more to his liking.

I'm backing Dobey to come through this one as the marginal underdog but if there's at least six sets, you can expect at least 20 maximums.

Scoreline Prediction: 2-4