Competitions SCS Premier League Darts- World Championships - Tuesday 27th December @10:00pm AEDT

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1597265776473681922

Richie Burnett:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1597243454194872323

1995 BDO World Champion defeating Raymond Van Barneveld 6-3 in the final and a young Peter Wright in the first round.

Switched from the BDO to the PDC in 1999 and made the semis of the Matchplay in both 2000 and 2001 and the quarter finals of the World Championships in 2002 and 2003. Ranking slid from then onwards and suffered from dartitis later in his career along with a positive test for cocaine at the 2014 Grand Slam Qualifier resulting in an 18 month ban. Earned his tour card at Q-School this year but has only made it to one of the last 16 in one of thrity players championship events.

Faces young Czech Adam Gawlas (Age: 20) who impressed at the Grand Slam (albeit no wins) and in recent events to hold onto his ranking to ensure a place at the Worlds. 32nd of the 32 qualifiers from the Pro Tour Order of Merit.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1592239977701978112

 

[Connoisseur]

Beau Greaves:
Age: 18

• Qualified as the sixth seed for the 2020 WDF Women’s World Championship at the age of 15 (youngest participant). Lost in the Semi Finals to the reigning and eventual winner, Mikuru Suzuki.
• Qualified as the fifth seed for the 2022 WDF Women’s World Championship (age 18). Lost one set for the whole tournament which occurred in the opening match to become the world champion.
• Win/Loss record of 127/6 for 2022.
• 52 wins from 52 matches on the PDC Women’s Tour for eight consecutive titles. Beau did not appear in the first twelve of twenty events. Also posted the highest average by a female of 107.86 in the final of Event 19 against Fallon Sherrock.
  

Received a nice draw and would not be surprised if she made it to the third or fourth round.

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598293801730117632

 

[Connoisseur]

Gary Anderson will be defending his runners up prize money from 2021 (£200,000) and will need a deep run to hold onto his position within the top 16. This and the money received as a 2022 Semi Finalist account for 73.04% of his earnings for the last two years.

Gary at the World Championships:
2010= Second Round
2011= Finalist
2012= Quarter Finalist
2013= Third Round
2014= Third Round
2015= Winner
2016= Winner
2017= Runner up
2018= Quarter Finalist
2019= Semi Finalist
2020= Fourth Round
2021= Runner up
2022= Semi Finalist

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598564448855285761

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1597691148197593088

 

[Connoisseur]

Alan Soutar:
Earned a tour card at Q School in Feb 2021 and has been very impressive since. His first major PDC tournament he participated in was the 2021 UK Open and his run to the last 16 involved wins over former world champions in Raymond Van Barneveld and Stephen Bunting. Made it to the fourth round of the World Championships on debut with wins over Suljović and De Sousa by capitalising on their missed darts at doubles but did not receive the same opportunities against C Rydz.

Recently defeated Jonny Clayton at the Grand Slam and narrowly lost to Aspinall in the quarter finals over a long format. Knocking on the door of the top 32 which is a mighty effort given the two year ranking system.

In a very nice section of the draw and is capable of going one better this year for a quarter final berth.

 

[Connoisseur]

Raymond Van Barneveld:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598731218937417745

Responsible for the first two nine darters at the World Championship and the greatest final in 2007. He entered that tournament as the 32nd seed and defeated the World Number 1- Colin Lloyd in his second match on route to the title. Any similarities with 2023?

Head to head record:
Raymond Van Barneveld: 8 (2022= 3)
Draw: 1
Gerwyn Price: 2 (2022= 0)

 

[Connoisseur]

Steve Beaton:
The model of consistency and longevity once again qualifies, making this his thirty second consecutive appearance at the World Championships. 1996 winner against Richie Burnett in the BDO but since switching over to the PDC his best finish has been the fourth round on two occasions (2004 and 2020) with only one other time past the second round (third round in 2005). History suggests he will likely fall at the second round at the hands of Jonny Clayton but could favour his chances against Hughes/Hendriks/Dolan if he was to wind back the clock. Would then likely have to contend with the likes of Rydz/Rock/Aspinall to make it to the quarter finals and very tough to select him compared to the other options available in the Pro Tour Order of Merit section.

Recent interview with Steve:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V8w_4kuNas

A shame that he did not continue this tradition for interviews.

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598659037800775680

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598938467857154048

2013= Runner up= Lost 3-7 to a 103.04 avg from P Taylor (Winner)
2014= Winner
2015= Semi Finals= Lost 3-6 to a 102.20 avg from G Anderson (Winner)
2016= Third Round= Lost 3-4 to a 100.44 avg from R Van Barneveld
2017= Winner
2018= Semi Finals= Lost 5-6 to a 100.97 avg from R Cross (Winner)
2019= Winner
2020= Runner up= Lost 3-7 to a 102.79 avg from P Wright (Winner)
2021= Quarter Finals= Lost 0-5 to a 107.34 avg from D Chisnall
2022= Third Round= Withdrew due to Covid 19

In that 10 year period as well:
2013= Nine darter
2015= 170 checkout
2016= 170 checkout
2017= 170 checkout
2018= 170 checkout
2019= 170 checkout
2020= 170 checkout

 

[Connoisseur]

North Americans:

Danny Baggish (CDC US Tour Qualifier): Has all the makings of a last leg thriller against fellow tour card holder Matt Campbell. This is the end of Danny’s two years as a tour card holder and after making the third round in 2021 defeating D Heta and A Lewis but missing last year, he will be aiming for a deep run to finish in style and hopefully retain his card (top 64 automatically receive a card). Winner faces Mervyn King and both should fancy their chances of making it to the third round.

David Cameron (CDC Canadian Tour Qualifier):
The 2022 World Seniors Darts Master defeating Phil Taylor six sets to three sets, in a best of eleven sets format. Mid to high eighties averages to win the Seniors events will not cut at the Ally Pally and a formidable opponent in Danny Noppert awaits in the second round

Matt Campbell (Pro Tour Order of Merit):
Still seeking his first win on the Ally Pally stage after losing to Mark McGeeney, Scott Waites and Adrian Lewis over the last three editions. Very good player on his day but has yet to translate to the TV stage often enough. Had a good run at the Players Championship and was one leg away from making the Quarter-Finals (lost 9-10 to Danny Noppert).

Leonard Gates (Norh American Champion): Qualified thanks to defeating Danny Baggish in the North American Championship Final at the US Darts Masters. Counting leaves a lot to be desired and the issue at the Grand Slam does not seem to be isolated,

Jeff Smith (PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier):
Similar situation to Danny in terms of his tour card status but in a far better position rankings wise (currently 63rd). First round matchup against De Decker is another that has the potential to be a last leg decider. Has a good floor game thanks to his high checkout percentage (41.73% over the past 12 months) but has yet to translate this to TV successes. A Mensur down on form awaits in the second round for the winner before a potential third round matchup against MVG.

 

[Rowsus]

@The Banker

Price, Smith M, MvG
Noppert, DvdB, Anderson
van Barneveld, Heta, Bunting, Smith R
Whitlock, Lukeman (V), Barry, Rock (C)
Burnett, Hempel, Labanauskas, Joyce

 

[The Banker]

@The Banker

Price, Smith M, MvG
e

👍

Rowan can you fill the form out that I bumped in the chat group. That’s how we will be rolling next year so I’m just going to get everyone in the habit.

I’m not on my laptop so if you have already then all good

 

[Professor]

When are teams due by?

 

[Rowsus]

👍

Rowan can you fill the form out that I bumped in the chat group. That’s how we will be rolling next year so I’m just going to get everyone in the habit.

I’m not on my laptop so if you have already then all good

No probs. Sorry forgot about that.
I'll do it in about 8 hours.
Going to sleep now.

 

[The Banker]

When are teams due by?

Believe it begins the morning of Friday the 16th in Australia. So heaps of time Jim.

 

[Connoisseur]

Australians:

Damon Heta:
Since winning the World Cup (non ranking tournament) he has failed to make it past the first round of any TV tournament since which is a stark contrast to his performance on the floor events at the Pro Tour in which he has been one of the premier performers this season. No easy matches for Damon with a possible matchup against Adrian Lewis to open his tournament followed by the possibility of meeting Joe Cullen in the third round and Michael Smith in the fourth round.

Raymond Smith:
Winner of the 2022 Australian Darts Open held in Moama with a 10 leg to 9 win over Haupai Puha and won the DPA Satellite Tour to gain entry this year. Lost to Mervyn King three sets to four in the fourth round after defeating Jamie Hughes, Devon Petersen and Florian Hempel. A win over King would have automatically earnt him a PDC tour card if he choose to accept. Benefited from a friendly draw but will be very hard to replicate given Dirk Van Duijvenbode and Ross Smith possibly await in the second and third round.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1548594049820532737

Simon Whitlock:
Rankings slide continues for Simon but he has usually found a way to go on a deep run at a TV major to keep his position in the top 32. Currently ranked 35th and will be defending £25,000 from this third round exit in 2021 at this staging of the World Championship and £12,500 from his 2021 UK Open Quarter Finals, early in 2023. In his first five appearances at the Alexandra Palace, Simon finished as a Finalist, Thrid Round exit, two time Semi Finalist and a Quarter Finalist. Since 2014, he has only made it past the second round on two occasions (2020= Fourth Round and 2021= Third Round).

Simon Whitlock at the World Championships 2015-2022:
2015: 7th seed= Lost 1-3 in his opening match to Darren Webster
2016: 10th seed= Lost 2-3 in his opening match to Ricky Evans
2017: 17th seed= Lost 0-4 in his second match to Darren Webster
2018: 10th seed= Lost 1-4 in his second match to Darren Webster
2019: 8th seed= Lost 0-3 in his opening match to Ryan Joyce
2020: 14th seed= Lost 2-4 in his third match to Gerwyn Price
2021: 18th seed= Lost 0-4 in his second match to Krzysztof Ratajski
2022: 20th seed= Lost 1-3 in his opening match to Martijn Kleermaker

Wins= 5 and Losses= 8

Last time that Whitlock entered a World Championship unseeded= 2010
2010= Runner up to Phil Taylor

 

[Connoisseur]

Steve Beaton:
A shame that he did not continue this tradition for interviews.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1599132999962226688

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1573939447946674177

Lourence Ilagan:
Still searching for that elusive win at the Ally Pally and is a very dangerous opponent. Loves the camera a bit too much.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1074745486026919937

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1473041737593544707

Christian Perez:
Eight years since his last match at the Palace. Featured at the Grand Slam in the same group as Whitlock, thanks to defeating Paolo Nebrida seven legs to five in the 2022 PDC Asian Championship.

Toru Suzuki:
Public enemy no 1 due to his despicable act of defeating Paul Lim as part of his run to the Semi Finals at the 2022 PDC Asian Championship, to qualify for this event.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1573614077565345793

 

[Connoisseur]

Prakash Jiwa:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1586713254239371264