PDC World Darts Championship: John Part's predictions, best bets & outsiders for glory

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The PDC World Darts Championship takes place over the festive period (December 13-January 1) and we've teamed up once again with the legendary Darth Maple to preview the action.

Part, who famously ended Phil Taylor's eight-year grip on the world title in 2003 before beating Kirk Shepherd five years later to become the first man to triumph at Alexandra Palace as an 80/1 pre-tournament outsider, will be commentating for Sky Sports during what promises to be an unforgettable two-and-a-half weeks of darts.

Here, he's selected his best bets while you can scroll down for his full explanation.

John Part's picks & outside fancies

• Michael van Gerwen to win the world title - Back him at 6/4 with Sky Bet
• MVG v Michael Smith final - Back it at 8/1 with Sky Bet
• Gerwyn Price to win fourth quarter - Back him at 3/1 with Sky Bet
• Dimitri van den Bergh to win the world title - Back him at 80/1 with Sky Bet
• Jeffrey de Zwaan to win the world title - Back him at 125/1 with Sky Bet

Quarter One: Michael van Gerwen to defy tough draw

Michael didn’t get a very good draw overall, he’ll have to work pretty much every step of the way because there are potential pitfalls for him. That said it’ll help him set his focus for the event because you don’t want it too easy necessarily.

Also, don’t forget a lot of his hard work will get done for him, for instance Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld potentially meeting in the third round.

He doesn’t have to beat everyone – you don’t look at the field and think ‘jeez, I need to beat all these guys’. You just have to beat what gets through so you don’t want to overthink the draw too much. Things will happen to make life easier than possibly you think.

I think Barney would like to think he has it in him he does face Michael. Certainly when you’ve done things in the past, you want to draw on those experiences and repeat it.

However if it does come down to Adrian and Barney in the third round I think Jackpot will get through. He’s younger, got a lot more to look forward to and, from what I’ve seen recently, there are signs of life that he’s going to come through his frustrating wheel spinning.

But don’t assume MVG will find it so easy to get that far himself. Danny Noppert is in his mini section although you can’t dismiss his opponent, Royden Lam, out of hand as he’s just won the biggest soft tip title. If it is Noppert v Max Hopp in round two, well, either of those have the ability to stun van Gerwen.

I would still expect Michael to survive through all of this to get into the quarter-final, where he could face the likes of Simon Whitlock or James Wade.

And who was hotter than Wade in October and early November? He won back-to-back titles at the European Championship and World Series of Darts and although his run of success was eventually ended, he’ll be feeling good about himself.

However by the time anyone meets MVG in the quarters, he'll be well up and running and very hard to stop over the longer format.

Quarter two: Anderson to battle past Gurney

Daryl Gurney has got a pretty good record against Gary Anderson and if they meet then he will be a real threat. He doesn’t have any fear against him and has more wins than losses in their recent meetings.

However I do believe Gary can rally when motivated or agitated to prevail. He didn’t at the Grand Slam of Darts against Gerwyn Price but a lot of other times he has and he’ll surely fancy his chances to take the title here.

He did also beat MVG in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam so he’ll be confident if he can get past Gurney in this theoretical quarter-final here.

Obviously just by talking about a semi-final between MVG and one of either Gurney or Anderson shows just how tough this top half of the draw is.

Gurney played such a composed final against MVG, hung in there and landed the key shots. He looked every bit right but I’m just a little sceptical about his consistency and timing in this set-play format if he faces Anderson.

I just have faith that Anderson will come through this quarter when he gets going with the game that beats just about anybody.

Quarter three: Smith is the solid pick

Jeffrey de Zwaan will be up for playing Rob Cross off the back of a first-round win, and Voltage could be in trouble.

I think it’s an advantage to play a first-round match, as long as you win it obviously! Their second-round opponents haven’t been on the stage yet, haven’t got used to the atmosphere and haven’t hit any doubles yet.

It’s a significant advantage. The seeded top 32 have to be ready for someone already match tested.

I do think Rob has been harshly judged this season but when you’re world champion, you’re expected to be the best. That’s the hardest think about being world champion - being held up to the highest accountability.

He was in a beautiful situation this time last year – playing great darts all year but going into the world championship with no expectation on him that he could go and pull it off. In his own mind he’d have put pressure on because he knew how well he was playing.

You’ve also got Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton in there who will be tough to beat but in the end I’m going to take Michael Smith to come through this quarter.

He’s the solidest pick out of a lot of players who will fancy their chances, and has played brilliantly at times this season, including in the Premier League where he was runner-up.

Quarter four: Price to outmuscle open section

I see this bottom quarter of the draw is the most wide open.

The ‘top seed’ here in Peter Wright is looking iffy at the moment and not very consistent but he’ll look at this draw and think it’s his best opportunity ever if he can get his game to how he’s had it before.

Then you have Gerwyn Price, who I think is the guy to come through here. He’s on form having won the Grand Slam of Darts so well.

I think what’s changed with Gerwyn is that he’s added the ability to finish at key times to his heavy scoring.

In the past he’d have spells of not hitting doubles and overthink those situations but now I think he’s the man to beat in the quarter now. I have to pick him over anyone else.

He plays with his heart on his sleeve although the one part of his game where he seems out of control is this obsession with the crowd. If they’re not with you I think it’s best to just ignore them rather than become embroiled in it.

Joe Cullen is talented but his opening match against Brendan Dolan isn’t a guaranteed win. Brendan’s almost gamesmanship slow, which won’t suit Joe. He’s not only a slow thrower but he’s a slow retriever – all in the rules though! Nothing he does is illegal he just forces his pace on the game and the player he’s up against has to deal with it.

Naming the finalists, outright winner & outsiders

I’m going to go with MVG to beat Anderson in my predicted semi-final and then Smith to come through against Price in the other.

As dangerous as Smith will be, van Gerwen has a formidable record in finals despite losing his last against Daryl Gurney.

Although the tough draw on paper makes him slightly more vulnerable in the shorter matches, it will at least help him reach a high level of darts pretty early on and usually he’s able to stay there.

My two big priced ‘Cinderella story’ winners are in the same quarter of the draw – Jeffrey de Zwaan and Dimitri van den Bergh.

Jeffrey was superb at the World Matchplay, where he beat MVG for the second time in a major this season, and Dimitri has looked pretty impressive recently.

He hit a nine-dart finish at the Grand Slam of Darts then recently won the World Youth Championship for a second year in a row.

There is history of long shots of 50/1 or more getting to finals – I was even 80/1 to win the 2008 world championship at the beginning of that tournament and goodness knows what Kirk Shepherd was!

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