Fast Results
Scores
PDC World Darts Championship 2023: Day two predictions, betting tips, acca, order of play and TV time
The PDC World Darts Championship continues on Friday night so check out Chris Hammer's match-by-match predictions, best bets and a suggested acca.
The first double-session of this year's event takes place today featuring the likes of Michael Smith, Adrian Lewis and teenage sensation Beau Greaves.
Here, we look ahead to all four matches with seasonal statistics to help...
Darts betting tips: World Championship day two
1pt Alan Soutar to beat Mal Cuming 3-0 at 13/10 (888Sport)
1pt Boris Krcmar to win, hit most 180s and highest checkout at 9/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt Kim Huybrechts to beat Grant Sampson 3-0 at 11/10 (Ladbrokes)
1pt Beau Greaves to beat William O'Connor at 2/1 (BetVictor)
SL Acca: Soutar (-1.5 sets), Krcmar (-1.5 sets), Huybrechts (-1.5) & Greaves (+1.5 sets) at 7/2 with Sky Bet
World Championship: Friday, December 16
AFTERNOON SESSION
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1230 GMT
- Round and Format: Rounds 1 & 2 (Best of five sets)
- In the below stats (courtesy of @CarlyFletch) and his @DartsTracker), the averages and 180 per leg data is for all PDC events in 2022, while checkout percentage is for stage events only. For players who haven't played in any PDC events like Mal Cuming, Toru Suzuki, Daniel Larsson, Grant Sampson and Lourence Ilagan, any data available is only from their World Championship qualification route.
Alan Soutar (1/8) v Mal Cuming (9/2) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 91.81 - 88.87
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.22 - 0.15
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 37.43% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.22% - 9.38%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 19.23% - Unavailable
Alan Soutar capped off a superb debut PDC season on this stage 12 months ago when reaching the fourth round and he arrives back at the Ally Pally with confidence of managing a similar kind of run.
The Scotsman's relatively quiet campaign burst into life last month when he qualified for the Grand Slam of Darts, where he came through a group with Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright before defeating Jonny Clayton 10-8 with a 97 average to reach the quarter-finals.
His opponent Mal Cuming won the Oceanic Masters back in October to earn his Ally Pally debut and his pretty impressive average of 88.87 throughout that tournament will be the bare minimum performance level if he's to trouble Soutar.
Cuming also featured in this year's televised New South Wales Darts Masters and lost 6-5 to Fallon Sherrock in the first round with an average of 77 - so a repeat of that display will almost certainly lead to a swift exit.
Scoreline prediction: 3-0
WATCH: Paul Nicholson and Chris Hammer predict the Ally Pally draw!
Boris Krcmar (1/6) v Toru Suzuki (7/2) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 93.05 - 79.51
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.18 - 0.07
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 41.03% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 12.27% - 4.17%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 17.86% - Unavailable
Boris Krcmar has never won a match on the World Championship stage in three previous appearances but he should end his long wait in style on Friday afternoon.
The Croatian, who lost a preliminary round match way back in 2011, only managed to win one set across the last two editions against Ron Meulenkamp (3-1) and Adam Hunt (3-0) despite matchings his opponents' averages of around 89 so he'll be relieved to get a much softer draw this time.
Krcmar's only other televised outing this year was the UK Open, where he reached the sixth round thanks to a couple of impressive wins over Luke Woodhouse and Dave Chisnall, who he crushed 10-4 with a 97 average, before bowing out 10-8 to James Wade.
His season average is pretty strong compared to many others - as well as his 100+ checkout per leg won stats - and while he's not been an explosive 180 hitter, you'd expect him to manage a couple more than Toru Suzuki in what could be a one-sided affair.
Suzuki is the only Japanese player to qualify after coming through the Asian Championship alongside Philippines trio of Lourence Ilagan, Christian Perez and Paolo Nebrida - and would get a few boos if the crowd knew he was the one who ended Paul Lim's dreams!
This is Suzuki's second appearance here having lost 3-0 to Madars Razma two years ago - although all three of those sets went the distance - and only managed an 80 average during his qualification route. He will need Krcmar to have one of his off days to stand a chance.
Scoreline prediction: 3-1
Adrian Lewis (2/9) v Daniel Larsson (3/1) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 1-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 93.51 - 88.39
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.26 - 0.23
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 38.27% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 9.33% - 7.23%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 27.88% - Unavailable
It's been a pretty up and down year for Adrian Lewis but he'll need to recapture the form he displayed earlier in the summer if he's to enjoy a resurgent run at the Ally Pally.
Jackpot, who is appearing n his 18th World Championship, won his first Pro Tour event for over three years back in July and was consistently reaching the latter stages of other non-televised tournaments around that time - but a loss of form in recent months and that allowed Raymond van Barneveld to pip him for a seeding spot at the Ally Pally.
He also had to enter at the first round last year when he beat Matt Campbell 3-1 with a 94 average before losing to Gary Anderson by the same scoreline while Daniel Larsson averaged under 80 in a crushing 3-0 defeat to Jason Lowe.
Larsson, who always earns his spot via the PDC Nordic & Baltic qualifier, lost 3-1 to Steve Lennon the year before with an 83 average and this trend will probably continue against Lewis, who should also be backed to hit most 180s given his healthy maximum per leg ratio this season of 0.26.
Scoreline prediction: 3-1
Kim Huybrechts (1/9) v Grant Sampson (5/1) (R2)
- Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 92.30 - Unavailable
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.19 - Unavailable
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 37.98% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 11.02% - Unavailable
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 17.36% - Unavailable
Grant Sampson has already exceeded his own dreams just by reaching the second round - and hopefully he'll now afford himself an Uber when he returns to the Ally Pally.
The South African had needed to use Crowdfunding to help pay for his flight from Cape Town and travelled to the venue on the bus last night for a match that few gave him any chance of winning. Myself included.
But he's now £15,000 richer after upsetting the odds against Keane Barry and will surely be a lot more relaxed against Kim Huybrechts.
Sampson had previously admitted he'd never played in front of more than 40 people so it wasn't really too much of a surprise to see him average less than 80 in a nervy performance, but it was good enough to punish a very disappointing display from his talented opponent.
Although Huybrechts wouldn't have been a strong favourite to beat Barry had their paths crossed - and many would have tipped the Irishman - the Belgian's A-game would be far too hot to handle for Sampson while even his B-game of high 80s to low 90s should be plenty good enough for a comfortable opening assignment.
Scoreline prediction: 3-0
EVENING SESSION
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports, 1900 GMT
- Round and Format: Rounds 1 & 2 (Best of five sets)
- In the below stats (courtesy of @CarlyFletch) and his @DartsTracker), the averages and 180 per leg data is for all PDC events in 2022, while checkout percentage is for stage events only. For players who haven't played in any PDC events like Mal Cuming, Toru Suzuki, Daniel Larsson and Lourence Ilagan, any data available is only from their World Championship qualification route.
Rowby-John Rodriguez (1/4) v Lourence Ilagan (11/4) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 92.07 - 83.94
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.24 - 0.17
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 35.36% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.97% - 15.0%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 21.74% - Unavailable
The crowd-pleasing Lourence Ilagan returns to the Ally Pally for a seventh time and is still seeking his first ever win on this stage.
That losing streak might surprise some fans who will probably associate him for his big celebrations - although sadly they are only for legs and sets rather than for a match dart!
He's also failed to win on any of the six times he's represented the Philippines at the World Cup which again feels wrong when you consider how close they've run some of the bigger nations in the past.
They'll be plenty of noise up on the stage - let alone the crowd - when he faces the lively Rowby-John Rodriguez, who has enjoyed a solid season despite the extremely worrying times he endured away from the oche earlier this year when his daughter had heart problems.
Rodriguez came agonisingly close to winning a maiden European Tour title against Luke Humphries earlier this year while he stunned Gerwyn Price at the televised European Championship before bowing out meekly to Peter Wright in round two.
Inconsistency has prevented him qualifying for more majors - and going on lengthy runs when he does get into them - while he hasn't ever gone further than round two of the World Championship in six previous attempts.
Rodriguez should prevail but it could be a barnstormer that goes the distance.
Scoreline prediction: 3-2
William O‘Connor (2/5) v Beau Greaves (7/4) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 0-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 92.41 - 85.81
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.24 - 0.27
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 38.38% - Unavailable
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 9.41% - 6.25%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 16.33% - Unavailable
Beau Greaves arrives at the Ally Pally with a lot of pressure and expectations on her shoulders to become the second woman to beat a man on the World Championship stage.
The 18-year-old sensation scooped eight consecutive Women’s Series titles between August and October thanks to a remarkable winning streak of 52 matches to seal her debut, while she also averaged over 90 in 16 of those matches and even recorded a women’s record of 107.86 during one of her final victories over Fallon Sherrock.
Quite incredible when you think she's so young and had to battle with dartitis a few years ago, but can she beat Willie O'Connor tonight? If she players to her A-game then she's certainly got a great chance but let's not forget she hasn't played over such a long format against such a seasoned campaigner like O'Connor before.
Greaves is evidently too strong for the rest of the female contingent at the moment - as demonstrated by winning over 60 successive legs in recent weeks as well as adding the World Masters crown to her WDF world title at the weekend - and it's fascinating how she will fare.
She'll need the crowd on her side and it'll be interesting to see how O'Connor, who has averaged 92 for the season and reached a solitary European Tour final, fares at being the villain on such a big stage – a role he's never played before.
Don't be too put off by Greaves' overall Women's Series average being 'only' 86. There were several times when her opponents were averaging in the 60 region and it's very hard to produce your best levels in that kind of battle. When she needed to raise the bar against the likes of Lisa Ashton, Sherrock and Mikuru Suzuki, she did.
Greaves will relish the occasion and I think we could witness something special.
Scoreline prediction: 2-3
Keegan Brown (11/10) v Florian Hempel (4/6) (R1)
- Head to Head (TV): 1-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 1-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 90.14 - 90.93
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.16 - 0.23
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 31.08% - 28%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 11.29% - 11.59%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 14.12% - 19.23%
Keegan Brown will lose his Tour Card for the first time since he first got one if he suffers a first-round exit tonight while Florian Hempel is also in grave danger of the same fate.
The Isle of Wight thrower recently took part in Eggheads alongside another player who has just lost his card in Glen Durrant but their team 'Trebles for Show, Doubles for Dough' were unable scoop the jackpot t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶t̶ ̶B̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶6̶0̶t̶h̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶P̶D̶C̶ ̶O̶r̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶M̶e̶r̶i̶t̶.
Brown has struggled for much of the season but he did win his first ProTour title for seven years with a dramatic 8-7 defeat of Nathan Aspinall back in August having also defeated Jose de Sousa, Chris Dobey and Peter Wright on the same day.
He thrashed Florian Hempel 6-0 in their only other meeting back in March but the German heads into the clash as the slight favourite despite not really having much better form behind him.
Hempel beat Martin Schindler and Dimitri Van den Bergh on this stage last year but hasn't done anything of note since and had to book his return to the Ally Pally by winning the Europe Super League, where he averaged around 94 in the final.
It's a very tough one to call but I'm going to give Brown the edge.
Scoreline prediction: 3-1
Michael Smith (1/8) v Nathan Rafferty (9/2) (R2)
- Head to Head (TV): 3-0 (0-0)
- 2022 Head to Head (TV): 2-0 (0-0)
- Three-Dart Average (2022): 96.83 - 91.45
- 180s per leg (2022): 0.35 - 0.17
- Checkout % (Stage Events 2022): 39.46% - 39.02%
- 100+ checkout per leg won (2022): 10.20% - 10.87%
- Match Treble % (Win, most 180s & high checkout): 32% - 17.89%
Michael Smith is one of my outright selections for the title so obviously I'm expecting him to sail through tonight.
Bully Boy ended his mental blocking run of nine major final defeats in style at last month's Grand Slam of Darts and although there was a slight hangover at the Players Championship Finals a week later, expect him to be firing on all cylinders again at the Ally Pally.
Apart from achieving his long-awaited triumph in Wolverhampton, Smith had already enjoyed his best ever calendar year in a career that has promised so much, winning six titles overall (a tally only bettered by MVG) including the televised US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden and reaching three other major finals – the World Championship, UK Open and European Championship.
Statistically his seasonal average of 96.83 is eighth highest – behind MVG (98.43), Rock (97.75), Heta (97.62), Humphries (97.57), Price (97.44), Wright (97.42) and van Duivenbode (97.26) – but it's the way he's been 'finding a way' to win scrappy games that have impressed us the most.
He won't want an unnecessarily tough battle tonight against Nathan Rafferty, who scrapped past Jermaine Wattimena 3-2 in a hard-fought clash in which they both averaged in the high 80s, and all logical signs point towards a fairly easy win.
Scoreline prediction: 3-1
Darts: Related content
- 2023 World Darts draw, schedule & results
- Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally picks
- Chris Hammer's in-depth betting preview
- 2022 PDC Darts calendar and results
- 2023 Premier League schedule
- Fallon Sherrock on her World Championship spot
- Fallon Sherrock on the female challenge
- Michael van Gerwen interview
- Paul Nicholson's Ally Pally tales
- Watch all the Ally Pally nine-darters
- Players everyone hates to face
- Players everyone loves to face
- How to make it as a pro?
- How much money do players earn?
- Greatest darts rivalries
- Rivalries to cherish
- Be canny with counting
- Phil Taylor's greatest display
- World Cup of Great Darts performances
- 2022 Premier League results
- Sky Bet's darts odds