Title favourites Luke Littler and Michael Van Gerwen lead the Day 14 quarter-final charge at the Ally Pally.
It’s down from 96 players to jst the last eight at the Paddy Power World Championship with four spectacular ties in store to sort the semi-finalists. There are six PDC World titles on show this afternoon with past winners Van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price all gunning for glory.
Lakeside champ Stephen Bunting is also in the mix for a first PDC crown with Geordie pair Callan Rydz and Chris Dobey looking for a life-changing end to the event along with Nathan Aspinall and Littler, who can become the youngest-ever winner and ascend from Prince of the Palace to King of the world. The Nuke faces Aspinall and here Record Sport guides you through the when and who for a huge afternoon and evening of darts in the sport’s biggest tournament.
Afternoon session 12.30pm
Gerwyn Price v Chris Dobey
Price has begun to find some of his old form and fire as he looks to double-up his title haul after winning in 2021. The Iceman isn’t at his consistent best, but the flames are burning. He didn’t have a hard time in beating Keane Barry in his opening tie, but was pushed all the way in a round three classic with Joe Cullen. Price was able to keep countryman Jonny Clayton at arm’s length in the last 16.
Dobey has been a mixture. He was strong in patches against Alexander Merkx, despite some patchy doubling. The all-round game was in place through a sparkling success over Josh Rock in round three when he was much more lethal. However, the problems on the outer-ring resurfaced against Kevin Doets and he needs to clean that up. A tight and tasty contest is in store to kick-off the quarters.
Michael van Gerwen v Callan Rydz
The Green Machine is building into the tournament in just the manner he wants. His opening victory over James Hurrell was a formality before big questions were asked in the success over Brendan Dolan. Van Gerwen stepped up again in the triumph over Jeffrey De Graaf where he averaged over 102 and clicked into gear when needed.
A good sign. Rydz, on the other hand, has been in gear the whole tournament. The Riot has been fabulous to this stage. He has averaged over a ton in two matches against Romeo Grvabac and Dimitri Van den Bergh, while he’s shown his capability to battle and dig out wins against Martin Schindler and Rob Owen. He’s been in the quarters before, but Van Gerwen has three titles on the CV.
Evening session 7pm
Peter Wright v Stephen Bunting
Snakebite has rediscovered some of the old magic which won him the crown in 2020 and 2022 and was lethal to end the reign of Luke Humphries. He’s shown all qualities. There was character in the opening success over Wesley Plaisier having been dragged into a deciding set against and a will-to-win as he overcame a chest infection to sink Jermaine Wattimena.
The Bullet has been sparkling. He was tipped to have a deep run in the competition and is living up to the tag. He has dropped just two sets in dismissing Kai Gotthardt, Madars Razma and Luke Woodhouse. The Scouse star has averaged mid-90s over those three games with strong finishing and will fancy his chances.
Luke Littler v Nathan Aspinall
Littler is the man to beat in the Championship after the exit of Humphries and he’s been sharpened in his opening three matches. The Nuke has the ability to hit a power button and get himself out of any danger and has had to display that trait having been pushed and tested in his trio of outings so far against Ryan Meikle, Ian White and Ryan Joyce. Clearly, there is more in the tank with expectation and pressure appearing his biggest rival at this stage.
Aspinall felt a different type of pressure to deliver in his first game against Leonard Gates having had a dreadful spell and he got the job done. The St Helens star was much better in his next win over Andrew Gilding and coasted in the last 16 against an out-of-sorts Ricardo Pietreczko. He’s completed his key mission to make the last eight and can play with freedom.