Players Championship Finals Preview

This weekend will be our final chance to see the World Championship contenders fighting it out on the big stage. The winner of this tournament has went on to win the 'Big One'on three of the last 5 years , so its should not be taken lightly as a big performance here could see them being taken very seriously next month.

The first round of The Players Championship Finals is best of 11 legs.

Robert Thornton hasn't had much going for him recently. He had an dismal Grand Slam tournament which resulted in three defeats in the group stages, but the bare result doesn't tell the whole story as he averaged 90+ in all of the matches and even managed a 97 average against Vincent van der Voort. 'The Thorn' will face Darren Webster in the first round, a match that he will be favourite to win considering he has won all five of their previous meetings. The draw has been kind as he will avoid Phil Talylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and James Wade until the Semi Finals if all win accordingly. The Scotsman will feel he is due a good run in a tournament and I feel that this could be his chance.

Benito van de Pas faces Peter Wright in the first round this weekend. 'Snakebite' Wright has not been anywhere near the form that he showed this time last year when he went all the way to the final in the World Championship although he came 2nd in a tournament last weekend. Van de Pas is capable of an upset here and will fancy his chances against either Andy Hamilton or Vincent van der Voort in the 2nd round if he is successful on Friday. He could meet Wade in the Quarter Finals but his price of 250/1 is very big considering his talent which has saw him claim the scalps of Newton, Pipe, Thornton, van Gerwen and van der Voort in recent months.

Simon Whitlock is another player who is capable of more than he has been producing lately but the draw has been kind to him this weekend. He may meet Wade in the 2nd round but if he can get over that obstacle then he will have a relatively easy Quarter Final match. His record against World Number 5 James Wade is impressive as he has won 19/33 meetings (57%) . He has drawn Dean Winstanley in the 1st round and the Aussie has the better of him in the head-to-heads winning 4/6.

Stephen Bunting is a regular on the blog. He is the current BDO World Champion and since his switch to the PDC in January, he has flew up the World Rankings to number 27 defeating many of the top players along the way including a 10-9 win over Phil Taylor in the European Championships last month. The man from St Helens is up against World Number 21 Steve Beaton and in the only previous meeting between the pair, Bunting won 6-2 in February. A stiffer task lies ahead in the latter stages as he will likely face Gary Anderson in the last 16 and Phil Taylor in the Quarter Finals but his high scoring and great checkouts will help him overcome any challenges he will face.

Predictions:

Robert Thornton - 35/1

Benito van de Pas - 250/1

Simon Whitlock - 33/1

Stephen Bunting - 22/1

World Championship. Who's Involved?

It's approaching that time again, on December 18th the World Championship will commence and it will showcase the best the PDC has to offer and will surely be the hardest to predict in recent times.

Phil Taylor has dominated this event for the best part of a quarter of a century but this years edition will not be as easy as some years have previously been. 

Even though 'The Power' is fresh off the back of an impressive Grand Slam which saw him being crowned champion for the 6th time and averaged over 100 in every game, he still faces stiff competition with many players in scintillating form, no more so than World Number 1 Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman has had an impressive 2014 winning the World Grand Prix, The European Championship and of course The World Championship in January. He will no doubt feature in the latter stages and fans will be drooling at the prospect of a Van Gerwen and Taylor final.

James Wade is for me one of the best players never to be crowned World Champion, but he does have strong claims this time round after a fine 2014, most notably his triumph in the Masters where he showed great character coming from 9-2 down to win the match with a 135 checkout 11-10 against a stunned Mervyn King. Bookmakers make him a fair 10/1 third favourite to go all the way, not many would argue against that possibility.

Current BDO World Champion Stephen Bunting is also in the frame on his debut after quickly adapting to life in the PDC rocketing to number 23 in the Order of Merit despite only joining in February. Phil Taylor speaks highly of the man from St Helens saying that he has a lot of time for Bunting and that he's 'One to watch'.
'The Bullet' has produced some great performances recently averaging 100+ multiple times and his devastating success rate on double 16 is an incredible trait to have, every time he steps up to hit the green bit, I have no doubt that he will close out the leg accordingly.

Mervyn King may be a dark horse for the World Title but he is the most consistent players in the PDC at this current time. He is in the form of his life recently making the Quarter Final in the World Grand Prix (losing to eventual winner van Gerwen), Semi Final in the Grand Slam (losing to eventual winner Phil Taylor) and came second in the European Championship. 50/1 shows that he may have slipped under the radar yet again and could be a bit of value.

Kim Huybrechts had a great Grand Slam, but it was something i didn't see coming, he had failed to get past the last 16 stage in any televised tournament since November 2013, but if he can reproduce the form we seen last week then he will make an impact. He deafeated Michael van Gerwen in the Quarter Final averaging 104 and even hit a 9-dart-finish. He was unlucky to lose in the Semi Final to Dave Chisnall in a sudden death leg and it will be interesting to see if this form continues.

Phil 'The Power' Taylor is 7/4 favourite and its justifiable, but the amount of players on form is nothing short of incredible. If he wins his 17th World Title, it will probably be his best one to date. 

Master Half Time update

The Quarter Final produced arguably the match of the tournament so far between James Wade and Adrian Lewis. 'The Machine' Wade won the match 10-6 and averaged 105 in the process but it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Lewis averaged 107 and hit eight 180s in defeat, he averaged higher than any player in the Quarter Finals but too many missed doubles seen him lose important legs.

Lewis later tweeted "Missed a few doubles but at least my form is coming good for next couple of majors".

Wade will now face Phil Taylor in the Semi Final and if he keeps his standard up I think he is in with a real chance, although, Taylor is no stranger to winning tournaments and will feel he is well overdue a trophy.

Michael van Gerwen is continuing his winning ways and will face King in the other Semi Final and they way he is playing, it's hard not to see him in another final.

Quarter Final Results 

Mervin King    10 - 6   Justin Pipe

James Wade  10 - 6   Adrian Lewis

Phil Taylor       10 - 6   Gary Anderson

MVG               10 - 7   Dave Chisnall 

Semi Final Matches

James Wade     v       Phil Taylor

MVG                  v      Mervin King