Consistency is the most important aspect in this magnificent tournament, winning a first to six legs match when playing badly is possible but sets format will expose players' inconsistency and it will prevent any flukes, this is what makes it the best tournament on the darting calendar.
If you have read this blog before then you will have noticed that I am a big fan of Robert Thornton. His big scoring is a joy to watch and when he is on form with his doubles he could beat anyone. The draw hasn't been too bad either, he meets World Championship debutant Andrew Gilding in the first round and should get through that without any hassle. The second round could be tricky with Ronnie Baxter or a qualifier waiting, especially if the qualifier is Daryl Gurney. The up and coming Northern Ireland man is a quality player who could ruffle some feathers this year if on his game although I think Thornton should progress into the last 16 where he could be up against either Justin Pipe or Terry Jenkins. This round isn't a certainty but the long format in the later rounds should help him and he usually steps up his game on the biggest stage of them all. Dave Chisnall or Michael van Gerwen may be next and it will be difficult for the Scotsman, but stranger things have happened. He is 80/1 at Bet365 which I think is very over priced...so over priced I think it will have my £1 each way bet.
If I was to choose which half of the draw is the most difficult, I would say the bottom half without a doubt. Current BDO World Champion Stephen Bunting must be cursing his luck after seeing that he is likely to come up against James Wade in the 2nd round, 'The Bullet' is one of my favourite players on the circuit but it's a tall order for the man from St Helens to go all the way on his debut as he also has Adrian Lewis, Jamie Caven, Brendan Dolan, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael Smith and Keegan Bradley in his quarter of the draw and if he made it past all of those he would likely face Phil Taylor in the Semi Finals. I think he will win this prestigious event in the coming years and I hope he can prove me wrong and win it this year. A big price of 33/1 sounds fair to me.
Vincent van der Voort is in the easiest quarter of the draw in my opinion with players including an out of form Simon Whitlock, Ian White, Dean Winstanly and Mervyn King. Phil Taylor is also in that quarter but van der Voort won't meet him until the Quarter Finals if all goes to plan. If he plays as well as he did in the Players Championship Finals when he made it to the semi final losing to eventual winner Gary Anderson, then I think he will have a chance of progressing far. The long format should suit the Dutchman as he always seems to get better as the match goes on. He's a player I will be keeping my eye on throughout and 250/1 is a huge price, although if he plays anything below his best he won't get past the second round.
The usual suspects all have obvious claims. Gary Anderson is fresh off the back of a great weekend which saw him win the Players Championship Finals beating World Number 2 Phil Taylor in a thrilling final and he will want to emulate that although Christian Kist or Jelle Klaasen will be his opponents in the second round and they won't be a walk in the park. Bookmakers have Fan Favourite Anderson at 13/2, just too short for me but he is very capable and I'm sure a few will have their quids on him.
Phil Taylor will be the one to beat this year but I'm sticking my neck out and saying that I think there will be a new champion this year. I can't wait to watch and with the amount of players on form, it should be one of the best World Championships ever.
