The Main Event
Two-time world champion Gary Anderson gets his campaign up and running against Jeffrey de Graaf tomorrow evening.
Anderson, the winner in 2015 and 2016, remains one of the most popular players in the game and he will receive plenty of vocal backing from the Alexandra Palace crowd against Dutchman De Graaf.
The Flying Scotsman has won three events this season but it was a defeat that has given him the inner belief that he can make a challenge at the worlds.
Anderson took teenage sensation Luke Littler to a final-leg shootout in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts and although he lost 16-15, he gained plenty from that clash in Wolverhampton last month.
LITTLER WINS A CLASSIC! 🤯
THAT IS SIMPLY EXTRAORDINARY!
Luke Littler battles back from the brink to defeat Gary Anderson 16-15 in an EPIC Grand Slam semi-final in Wolverhampton!
Sensational from both players! 👏
📺 https://t.co/lkfAqflnXa #GSOD | SF pic.twitter.com/ldSbWCnxfj
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 17, 2024
He told The Daily Record: “It really got me going, proper game, four legs up on him, I had to hold my throw once and I made a mess of it.
“Even afterwards, I watched when Luke beat me, you could see the kind of relief in his face, so I went, I’ve pushed you. It’s good, it gives me a wee bit of a buzz and it does kind of give you that twinkle. Little things give me a wee tweak and I need that to keep going. There’s some cracking darts players out there and it’s still nice to be involved playing against them.
“If you look at his games in the semis and the final, it was an old 54-year-old that kind of took him all the way. I like things like that, I like to see, can I still play up to their standard? My finishing that night was great, my scoring wasn’t too good.”
De Graaf is the world number 81 and beat Rashad Sweeting 3-1 in the first round.
World number 11 Dimitri van den Bergh follows Anderson on to the stage with Callan Rydz, so impressive in his opener, also in action in the evening session.
Order of Play
Afternoon session (from 1230GMT)
Ryan Searle v Matt Campbell (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma (R2)
Joe Cullen v Wessel Nijman (R2)
Ritchie Edhouse v Ian White (R2)
Evening session (from 1900GMT)
Martin Schindler v Callan Rydz (R2)
Ross Smith v Paolo Nebrida (R2)
Gary Anderson v Jeffrey de Graaf (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dylan Slevin (R2)
How to watch
The PDC World Championship is being screened on Sky Sports in the UK.
You can watch the afternoon session on Sky Sports Darts from 12:30 GMT. The evening session is on Sky Sports Darts at 1900 and Main Event from 1915.
Predictions
Anderson should be too good for De Graaf, as should Van den Bergh against Slevin.
The closest contest could come between Rydz and world number 22 Schindler. Rydz has the game to blow anyone away and should be fancied despite being the outsider against the German.
Elsewhere, there should be wins for Searle, Van Duijvenbode, Nijman, Edhouse, and Smith.
