PDC World Darts Championship: Ones to watch

Deputy Editor Oscar Frost previews the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship, highlighting his ones to watch in the tournament

The PDC World Darts Championship in 2022/3 was an instant classic. One of the greatest finals ever played, between the eventual champion Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, also contained the best leg of darts that will probably ever be televised. The famous “I can’t speak” commentary from Wayne Mardle as Smith nailed a nine darter was the epitome of why darts can be such an entertaining sport.

With these seemingly impossibly large shoes to fill, the World Championship in 2024 has a lot to live up to in just a few day’s time. 

Kicking off on December 15th, the championships take place at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Luke Humphries

The bookies’ favourite to win the tournament is Luke Humphries, who was the recent champion at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Humphries has cemented himself as the player to beat recently, only winning his first major title at the World Grand Prix earlier in 2023. Despite being relatively new onto the big stage, the former PDC World Youth Champion has been untouchable of late. 

Cool Hand also took home the Players Championship Finals this year, beating Michael van Gerwen for the first time in his career. 

These victories in 2023 have brought Humphries up to third in the PDC order of merit, being valued at just over a million pounds. 

The Brit from Newbury may seem like a new kid on the block, but his nerves of steel – and incredibly long stems – are set to make a stir at this year’s competition at Ally Pally.

Michael van Gerwen

Despite Humphries’ recent form, Michael van Gerwen should never be counted out for winning major titles. The Dutchman has amassed a staggering 65 televised titles, which puts him second on the all-time list behind Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor. 

Van Gerwen’s skill and pedigree is self-evident, and he has also come out on top three times in the World Championship before, in 2014, 2017 and 2019. He will be looking to end his five-year drought this year and fend off any challengers to his throne in the process. 

MVG sits in second place in the PDC order of merit, but he is a force to be reckoned with. If he can find his best form, there are not many people that can defeat him, so do not be surprised if he goes all the way once again.

Michael Smith

The reigning champion, Michael Smith is a seasoned winner in the PDC, and currently tops the order of merit. 

Also a youth champion, his victory in 2013, Bully Boy has won 21 PDC ranking events, as well as three World Series Titles. Although he has only won six televised titles, he has been the runner up in the Premier League, World Matchplay, UK Open, European Championship, Masters, and World Series Finals. With that in mind, it is finishing the job that seems to be the issue for the St Helenian. 

His experience of being in ten major finals throughout his career will hold him in good stead for the defence of his title at Ally Pally. His form may not be great, going out in the group stage of the Grand Slam of Darts a few weeks ago, but nevertheless if he gets on a roll he will be as hard to beat as ever.

Gerwyn Price

Can you really call Gerwyn Price an outsider? The Ice Man has won ten televised PDC titles and is currently fifth in the order of merit. However, his form of late has meant that he has not been challenging for the major tournaments for a few years. 

His last major individual win was at the World Championship in 2021, and his only victory in 2023 was in the World Cup of Darts, where him and Jonny Clayton came out on top in the team format. Therefore, the Ice Man has not really been able to find the untouchable form that led to a series of victories in 2021.

Price topped group D at the recent Grand Slam, but was beaten in the second round by Gary Anderson. Nevertheless, his performance in Wolverhampton was more positive than it seems at face value. In his loss to Anderson, he averaged 103.54, which was the third best of anyone at that stage. He also had the top two averages during the group stage, with 112.30 against Gian van Veen and 110.51 against Ryan Searle.

Overall, the Welshman is due to go deep in a tournament, and his numbers in Wolverhampton suggests he could be close to being back to his best.