PDC World Darts Championship usually has its busiest period around October and November when several majors are taking place. We are talking about the World Grand Prix, Champions League of Darts and the European Championship that attract spectators to their TV screens over the weekends.
Yet another tournament which despite not being a ‘major’ is televised during that period is the 2019 World Series of Darts Finals which are organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. 5 World Series and one finals events were moved from Vienna to Amsterdam this year and two completely new venues debuted this year as well with Hamilton and Cologne replacing Auckland and Gelsenkirchen ones.
The Grand Slam of Darts was played in November in Wolverhampton throughout 8 days of the tournament as well as the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals that were regarded as an ultimate event of 2019. Technically speaking, that was the last event as even though the PDC World Championship will be played on December 13, the winner won’t be announced until January 1, 2020.
Forecasts
One of the biggest questions was whether the favorite of the championship – Michael van Gerwen – will be able to take the prize yet another time. He was a winner in 2014, 2017, and 2019.
But who can be his main competitor this time?
One of the ultimate top-contenders is definitely Rob Cross who already won the World Championship once in 2018 and has taken two televised majors earlier.
Another candidate for the winning is Michael Smith who after certain dips in his performance has shown an upward trend in his results. With two finals and three semi-finals in televised majors, he is definitely having a moment here.
Now Michael van Gerwen is 5/4 with William Hill and Rob Cross is 8/1 with Bet Regal. Other markets will soon be open as well and you’ll be able to bet on ‘winner of each quarter’, ‘170 finishes’, ‘nine darts finishes’ etc.
Damon Heta
On December 17, 2019, Damon Heta will compete with Jose de Sousa in one of the fixtures of the first round. That will be their very first head-to-head meeting. Moreover, that will be the first time taking part in the championship for Heta. So, the first round tie promises to be exciting.
No one expected those two to be scheduled together and if you are seeking the best surprise performers of 2019, they will be at the top of this list. Damon Heta came in cool and confident after his last-leg win over Rob Cross in the final.
Predictions
Even though Damon Heta has already proved that he is an outstanding player, the majority are still thinking that if Jose de Sousa will show his A-game on stage, there will be no chance for Heta to win. Thus, many go for Jose de Sousa 3-1 Damon Heta.
Robbie King
Damon Heta has secured qualification for the William Hill World Darts Championship at the start of the DPA Harrows ProTour season that will last from December 12, 2019, to January 1, 2020.
It was going great for the player until he was denied victory by Robbie King who came from 2-0 down to win the final 6-3 that allowed him to strongly secure his third title of the year.
2019 DPA Harrows ProTour
Event 27
Damon Heta 6-1 Corey Naumann
Mick Lacey 6-3 Gordon Mathers
Peter Sutton 6-3 Stuart Coburn
Robbie King 6-4 Tim Pusey
Semi-Finals
Damon Heta 6-3 Mick Lacey
Robbie King 6-5 Peter Sutton
Final
Robbie King 6-3 Damon Heta
The tournament winner odds
The odds for the 2020 PDC World Championship were updated ahead of the showpiece event. According to those, Michael van Gerwen will remain on top with 5/4. Gerwyn Price is right after him with 5/1.
Robb Cross is at 16/1 and last year’s runner-up Michael Smith is 22/1. While two-time winner Gary Anderson 28/1. Below you may see the full list.
5/4 Michael van Gerwen
5/1 Gerwyn Price
14/1 Peter Wright
16/1 Rob Cross
22/1 Michael Smith
25/1 Gary Anderson
28/1 Dave Chisnall
33/1 Glen Durrant
40/1 Nathan Aspinall, Daryl Gurney
50/1 James Wade, Ian White
66/1 Krzysztof Ratajski, Mensur Suljovic
80/1 Chris Dobey
100/1 Adrian Lewis, Gabriel Clemens, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Dimitri Van den Bergh
125/1 Jose De Sousa, Jamie Hughes
150/1 Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen, Luke Humphries, Raymond van Barneveld, Simon Whitlock
250/1 John Henderson, Mervyn King, Noel Malicdem, Danny Noppert, William O’Connor, Jermaine Wattimena, Darren Webster
300/1 Kyle Anderson, Keegan Brown, Brendan Dolan, Ricky Evans, Ted Evetts, Damon Heta, Max Hopp, Kim Huybrechts, Vincent van der Voort
400/1 Ryan Joyce, Ryan Searle
500/1 Daniel Baggish, Steve Beaton, Robbie King, Jelle Klaasen, Darius Labanbauskas, Steve Lennon, Ron Meulenkamp, Josh Payne, Devon Petersen, Justin Pipe, Cristo Reyes, Ross Smith, Benito van de Pas, Steve West, James Wilson
750/1 Lourence Ilagan, Mark McGeeney, Luke Woodhouse
1000/1 Seigo Asada, Keane Barry, Jan Dekker, Jose Justicia, Boris Koltsov, Nico Kurz, Paul Lim, Ryan Meikle, Geert Nentjes, Madars Razma, James Richardson, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Callan Rydz, Ciaran Teehan, Harry Ward
1250/1 Andy Boulton, Ritchie Edhouse, Arron Monk
1500/1 Matthew Edgar, Robbie King, Zoran Lerchbacher, Mickey Mansell, Diogo Portela
2000/1 Kevin Burness, Marko Kantele, Fallon Sherrock, Mikuru Suzuki, Darin Young
2500/1 Matt Campbell, Nitin Kumar, Benjamin Pratnemer, Ben Robb, Yuki Yamada, Xiaochen Zon