Very nice side. Hard to fault the selections of MVG, Price, Ratajski and Soutar. Beware that Bunting and Beaton both share the same eighth (and quarter) of the draw as Price. M Smith is a nice selection from the bottom half of that quarter but I would prefer representation from the third quarter.
Ryan Searle was a finalist at the Players Championship finals three weeks ago losing a last leg decider against Peter Wright and also made the quarter finals of the Grand Prix. Nathan Aspinall is also in that quarter and has finished as a Semi Finalist twice and a third round exit last year from his three visits to the Ally Pally.
Hempel and Schindler is predicted to be a very close first round tie and both have the game to match it and defeat Dimitri. I would prefer to select R Van Barneveld or S Mitchell from the bottom half of the fourth quarter instead. Raymond is a five time world champion returning from a very brief retirement thus having to earn his tour card and play the Pro Tour events until he starts to qualify for the big tv tournaments again. Cross defeated 16 time world champion Phil Taylor in 2018 on debut and after a quiet 2020 has started to rediscover his best form.
As for Scott Mitchell, this is his first year in the PDC after spending the majority of his career as one of the top players in the BDO (defeated Martin Adams to win the 2015 BDO World Championship). Quiet year for Ian White and struggles on the big stage as he performs far greater behind closed doors on the Pro Tour. White has qualified for the past 10 World Championships and has only made it past the second round on two occasions which bodes well for S Mitchell potentially progressing to the third round.