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Peter Wright faces Ryan Searle in what promises to be a thriller
Peter Wright faces Ryan Searle in what promises to be a thriller

PDC World Darts Championship: Day 13 predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time

By Carl Fletcher
21:47 · THU December 30, 2021

The PDC World Darts Championship continues on Thursday so here's Carl Fletcher's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.

The fourth round concludes with six games over two sessions today, featuring the likes of Peter Wright, James Wade, Rob Cross and Gary Anderson. Here's a preview for all of them...

Darts betting tips: World Championship day 13

2pts Luke Humphries to win at 10/11 (Sky Bet)

1pt Rob Cross to win and hit the most 180s at 13/8 (Sky Bet)

1pt Peter Wright to win, score over 5.5 180s and checkout over 110.5 at 11/8 (Sky Bet)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Thursday December 30: Evening session

  • TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)
  • Fourth Round Format: Best of seven sets

James Wade (1/3) v Martijn Kleermaker (23/10)

  • Overall Head-to-Head: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
    2021 Head-to-Head: 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
  • 2021 Titles: 1-0 (TV: 1-0)
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 95.9 - 91.41
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.21 - 0.19
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 46.82% - 23%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 13.51% - 10.25%

James Wade was scheduled to face another giant Dutchman, Vincent Van der Voort in the third round but like Chris Dobey and Luke Humphries he is another player to have reached this stage by virtue of winning just a solitary match after VDV had to withdraw due to a positive Covid test.

In all honesty in the only game we’ve seen from him he was poor. He won 3-1 against Maik Kuivenhiven and ultimately that’s all that matters but his performance was well below what you’d expect from ‘The Machine’, the number four seed whose path to the semi-finals is an undeniably good one.

He averaged just 83.74 there, failed to hit a 180 and even the strongest part of his game, his finishing, was some 10 points down at just 34.62%. He’s not the type of player to let that bother him and this three time semi-finalist, the last being in 2013, will know this is a massive opportunity with Mervyn King next following his defeat of Raymond Smith.

Similarly Martijn Kleermaker will think his draw could’ve been much worse. After defeating John Michael 3-1 in the opening round he’s beaten two excellent competitors in the last two rounds in Simon Whitlock (3-1) and Joe Cullen (4-3), with Wade his next obstacle.

In all of these matches he’s got off to a good start, winning the opening set, and you’d imagine that he’d probably have to do something similar here to get a foothold in the match.

Kleermaker is in fact making amends for having to withdraw from the event last year due to Covid himself. He’s certainly capable of causing a shock here as he made the last 16 of the BDO World Championship in 2020 and has reached a final on the floor this year at Players Championship 11.

I believe the pace of Joe Cullen helped him getting over the line in that one. He led 3-0 but was pegged back to 3-3 as ‘The Rockstar’ took command in the seventh and final set with an early break of throw. A 130 finish in the following leg helped swing the pendulum back in his favour before a bull finish off 88 closed the match out for him.

I don’t think the pace will suit as much here and if Wade produces somewhere near his normal game then the underdog could be in a spot of bother. I expect ‘The Machine’ to advance and he can cover the set handicap in doing so.

Predicted Scoreline: 4-1

Gary Anderson (6/4) v Rob Cross (8/15)

  • Overall Head-to-Head: 12-2 (TV: 6-1)
    2021 Head-to-Head: 3-1 (TV: 1-0)
  • 2021 Titles: 0-2 (TV: 0-1)
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 95.25 - 96.52
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.26 - 0.23
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 35.25% - 39.36%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 11.29% - 10.6%

A battle of two previous world champions and opponents who’ve met each other on 14 occasions, where the Flying Scotsman holds sway at 12 wins to two.

That’s a huge advantage for Anderson but he wasn’t at the races last night and survived a missed match dart at double top from Ian White to still be in this competition.

He trailed 3-0 in that game and although he won 4-3 his performance was way off. He averaged sub 90 for most the match before improving a little late on, buoyed on by the Ally Pally crowd. In the end his match average was 90.31 and that's unlikely to do the job here.

He did look decent enough in his opener against Adrian Lewis, winning 3-1 after losing the opening set. And while his scoring game hasn’t been on point so far, his doubling has been decent at 41.54% for the event.

It’ll probably need to be if he’s to get anything out of this as Voltage has found the level of form in the past five or so months that enabled him to lift this title back in 2018.

Cross won the European Championships in October then followed up the week after by winning a floor title on the Players Championship circuit.

He too came through against an all-time great in his opening game defeating Raymond van Barneveld 3-1. Barney made a blistering start and Cross took time to adjust to such a vociferous crowd. He won nine out the next 12 legs to complete the comeback.

He then built on this by winning a classic against Daryl Gurney 4-3 with a majestic Big Fish checkout to claim a memorable victory in a match where both players served it up to each other.

Despite the head-to-head record it’s hard to oppose Cross here. Anderson could turn up and put in a display and he reached the final last year despite not being at his best but Voltage looks a different proposition, hitting maximums for fun, and can boss matters.

Predicted Scoreline: 1-4

Peter Wright (4/9) v Ryan Searle (7/4)

  • Overall Head-to-Head: 7-2 (TV: 1-0)
    2021 Head-to-Head: 2-1 (TV: 1-0)
  • 2021 Titles): 6-1 (TV: 2-0)
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 97.59 - 95.96
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.31 - 0.25
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 39.75% - 32.76%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 11.9% - 12.66%

The last match before New Year concludes with Snakebite against Heavy Metal, a repeat of the Players Championship Finals, the final event before the Worlds where Wright won a last-leg shootout to lift a sixth singles title of 2021.

The 2020 champion began his campaign in this event this year with little trouble, defeating an underperforming Ryan Meikle 3-0. Meikle averaged just 79.29 in response to a steady 92.19 from Wright.

Wright then put 10 points on this average in his last match as he came from two sets down to win 4-2 with a 102.15 average against Damon Heta. Wright created his own troubles by tinkering with his set up yet again, throwing with what looked like a Simon Whitlock style barrel and struggling early on.

A switch back to his tried and trusted arrows rescued the situation as he produced one of those memorable bursts we’ve become accustomed to from him to knock the stuffing out his opponent and claim the victory. The question is will he stick or twist again?

If he does twist then he may be in trouble against the consistency of Ryan Searle, who’s averaged 92 in both his victories against William Borland and Danny Noppert to reach this stage. You know there’s still more in the locker too.

Snakebite should know all about the threat Searle poses, not only from the Players Championship Finals but also from the final of Players Championship 22 where he lost to today’s opponent in another last-leg decider 8-7.

I see this going deep and it should be a battle that is easy on the eye. I just think Wright has the extra gears to close it out if need be, if not messing about with his darts, so he gets the vote 4-3.

Predicted Scoreline: 4-3

SL Acca: King to win and hit the most 180’s & Rydz (-1.5 Sets) and Wade (-1.5 Sets) both to win at 10/3

Thursday December 30: Afternoon session

  • TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1230 GMT)
  • Fourth Round Format: Best of seven sets

Raymond Smith (2/1) v Mervyn King (2/5)

  • Overall Head-to-Head (TV): 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
    2021 Head-to-Head (TV): 0-0 (TV: 0-0)
  • 2021 Titles: 0-0
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 94.43 - 95.08
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.13 - 0.23
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 47.83% - 47.13%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 15.15% - 14.06%

The opening match of the afternoon session probably won’t grab the headlines like some of the other matches scheduled today but it could be one of the closest games of the six.

Both players come into this playing relatively well and it’s International Qualifier Raymond Smith who boasts the higher tournament average of the two at 94.43 and better doubles efficiency with a checkout percentage of 47.83%.

He’s come through his three matches with relative ease. He defeated Jamie Hughes 3-1 in the opening round despite the Tipton man registering a 96.05 average against him, he then defeated the twenty-eight seed Devon Petersen 3-0 in round two before eliminating Florian Hempel 4-1 in the previous round. Until that point Hempel had been seriously impressive but he was no match for Smith. The foundation for this success is undoubtedly how clinical he’s been at the business end having checked out on all 17 occasions in which he’s come to the oche requiring a double with three darts in hand.

Kings standard hasn’t been but much below that of Smith with a tournament average of 92.36 and a doubles percentage of 37.93%. He has hit two more 180’s than the Aussie despite playing 19 legs less.

King won 4-0 in his latest game and after winning the first set against Steve Lennon it was fairly plain sailing for him. His first match however he had to dig deep to win 3-2 against ‘Relentless’ Ryan Joyce. He trailed 2-0 and withstood a barrage from him. He wasn’t playing too bad himself and he managed to hang in there. He continued to produce the goods whereas Joyce wilted. The longer the match went on the better he looked in fact.

This will the toughest match Smith has faced and I expect this to go deep. I just about favour King to come out in top. He’s playing as good as ever and this former Semi-Finalist in 2009 could match that feat this year.

Predicted Scoreline: 3-4

Alan Soutar (9/4) v Callan Rydz (1/3)

  • Overall Head-to-Head: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
    2021 Head-to-Head: 0-1 (TV: 0-0)
  • 2021 Titles: 0-2 (TV: 0-0)
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 94.23 - 94.78
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.24 - 0.24
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 36.14% - 50%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 12.29% - 10.39%

The firefighter from Scotland, Alan Soutar is somehow still here. He’s dodged a few bullets to advance to this stage having trailed in all three matches he played.

He opened up with a 3-2 victory over the Brazilian, Diogo Portela with a steady if spectacular average of 89.46. You would have then thought he used all his luck up in defeating Mensur Suljović in the second round by the same scoreline. His Austrian opponent led 2-0 but just couldn’t get over the finishing line and missed eight match darts in three separate legs to do so. This was his best average at 90.82.

Yesterday he defeated José De Sousa 4-3, having trailed 3-2 and once again survived a match dart from his Portuguese opponent. The average doesn’t matter in the context of things but this was his lowest of the three at 88.54.

He’s played all 17 sets possible and has shown tremendous fighting spirit to be here but he faces Callan Rydz here who’s playing remarkably well.

He’s yet to drop a set and has won nineteen of the twenty legs he’s had on his own throw. He defeated Yuki Yamada 3-0 in his opener and then backed this up by defeating Brendan Dolan in his next match despite both men averaging 100+.

He also played his previous match yesterday and ruthlessly ousted Nathan Aspinall 4-0 who was clearly struggling with his injury.

The pair have met once this year and it was Callan who won that 6-5 back in February and I expect him to win this one also. He’s averaging almost eight points higher of the two at 97.49 and his doubling his nearly 14% higher at 45.45%. He should have too much and could it be another whitewash?

Predicted Scoreline: 0-4

Chris Dobey (Evs) v Luke Humphries (4/5)

  • Overall Head-to-Head: 4-3 (TV: 0-0)
    2021 Head-to-Head: 1-1 (TV: 0-0)
  • 2021 Titles: 2-0 (TV: 0-0)
  • PDC Three-Dart Average (2021): 97.41 - 95.55
  • PDC 180’s per leg (2021): 0.32 - 0.26
  • PDC Checkout Percentage (Stage Events 2021): 35.51% - 38.61%
  • PDC 100+ checkouts per leg won (2021): 11.63% - 11.92%

The effect Covid has had on this event has been quite significant and both these players have benefited, if that’s the correct expression to use.

Dobey was scheduled to face Michael van Gerwen on Tuesday evening but prior to that session starting the breaking news that MVG had tested positive sent shockwaves across the darting world. The drama didn’t stop there as yesterday Humphries' scheduled opponent Dave Chisnall also had to withdraw for the same reason. Both matches were highly anticipated and I’m sure neither man wanted to advance in these circumstances. It is what it is however and both are here to battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals.

If the last round provided much of the same for these two, they both also came through their solitary matches against the Rodriguez brothers.

Firstly Humphries defeated Rowby-John 3-0 with a 92.91 average, losing just two legs to run out a routine winner. While he only hit three 180s he was ultra consistent throwing just three stray darts out of 107 at treble 20.

Dobey then followed suit by defeating Rusty-Jake in the final second-round match. This wasn’t so easy however and he had to fight back from two sets down to win 3-2. He could’ve won both opening sets, missing three darts at the double to win the opener then two to win the second. Well done to him for holding his nerve and prevailing.

The only real surprise from that was that he hit just two 180s in 22 legs of darts and both these came in the last three legs. He normally is a big 180 hitter at a ratio of 0.32 per leg of the course of the season, higher than Humphries at 0.26.

Humphries comes alive on this Ally Pally stage, twice reaching the quarters. He’s been terrific this year albeit losing in four finals including the UK Open and, while Dobey has won two events on the floor, he’s yet to produce.

The bookies can’t split them but I think Humphries can edge to victory and he's worth backing at a shade of odds-on.

Predicted Scoreline: 3-4

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