PDC World Championship Day 4 Review Day 5 Preview

Posted: 17.12.18 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

The rollercoaster ride that is supporting a dart player!

It did turn into a Super Sunday yesterday, well for 8 players it did anyway. The highest profile casualty was Peter Wright. We have been admirers of the Spaniard Toni Alcinas for a long time but even an out of sorts Snakebite was expected to make short work of him. Alas, it was not to be for Peter and Toni ran out a deserved winner.

Photo: PDC/Lawrence Ludwig

Another cracking game yesterday was the Chizzy/Payne game. It hit home on a personal level too watching Chizzy’s manager Roger going through the emotions as Dave made his comeback. On the other side of the fence the joy for Josh’s partner and manager as he got off to a flyer was replaced with, well pain, at what first looked like being a regulation win evaporated to nothing.

This tournament, more than any other, is as much about the players as it is their families, partners and management team. From the obvious financial side, a good run can pay for the next 12 months as well as everyone getting a nice Xmas bonus.

From the family and partner’s viewpoint they have to go through the intense rollercoaster ride of dealing with the bad times as well as the good times 12 months a year. Every single player in the Worlds will have been through some horrendous lows as well as some highs at some time or another.

The Ally Pally is where all the emotion, the fun, the wins and the losses from the past 12 months are replaced with optimism and the two magic words, “what if”. I will be having the full emotional experience tomorrow, along with Diogo's family as Brazilliant takes to the stage. Bring it on!

Me and Diogo's Dad celebrating a World Cup win for Brazil !

A player who will also be going through intense emotions tonight is Anastasia, the 2^nd Ladies qualifier who plays Ryan Joyce. Ryan has had an OK season and has a few Last 16 places on the Pro Tour this year on his CV. Anastasia is a big outsider though, best price 11/2.

It is good to see Wayne Jones back on the bill tonight. He has a tough one v Devon Petersen.

Monday Double Dabble

 Petersen + 1.5 and Anastasis + 2.5 

Monday December 17 (1900)
Vincent van der Voort 2/7 v Lourence Ilagan 10/3   (R1)
Wayne Jones 8/11 v Devon Petersen 13/10  (R1)
Ryan Joyce 2/13  v Anastasia Dobromyslova 11/2 (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld 4/11 v Darius Labanauskas 13/5 (R2)