2022 PDC World Darts Championship

[drahkon]

OH BABY, it's that time of the year.

The 2022 PDC World Darts Championship will start in a few hours. Darts will fly, Ally Pally will roar, Dimitri Van den Bergh will dance, Peter Wright will look crazy and there will be 4 - FOUR! - German players taking part. Sadly, one of which will definitely be out of the tournament after Round 1...

Tomorrow will be a grand day for Fabian Schmutzler. 16 years old and he gets to play on the big stage at Alexandra Palace. Absolutely crazy.

The defending champion, Gerwyn Price, will probably rile up the audience but perform spectacularly once again. One player to watch will definitely be Jonny Clayton. He won 4 televised titles this year and plays on a very high level. If he can bring his A-game, he surely is a favourite for winning it all.

Guess who's back? Raymond van Barneveld. Doubt he'll make much of an impact.

And will Fallon Sherrock be able to repeat her strong display from the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts? I sure hope so.

I'm ready, I can't wait and GOODNESS ME, I love this time of the year. Fuck Christmas, it's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel dart (if that's a correct way to phrase this. IT'S TIME TO PLAY DARTS ).

Edited December 15, 2021 by drahkon

[killthenet]

The highlight of last night was definitely Lewis vs Campbell, a really high quality match. Looked liked Edhouse was going to give Price a scare in the final match of the night but his class showed in the end. 

I actually predict RVB will cause a few problems, if he wins his first round match he could well give Rob Cross some trouble in the second round - a player of Raymond's calibre with a match under his belt could be very dangerous. 

Obviously I'll be supporting Fallon on Sunday, even though she's playing local legend Steve Beaton. Jonny Clayton has to be one of the favourites for the tournament, it's a shame him and Price have been drawn in the same quarter of the draw. 

Hope one or two of the German guys does well for you too @drahkon

It really feels like Christmas now that the darts are under way!

[darksnowman]

I saw that Price says he can dominate like Phil Taylor.  Steady on there, Gerwyn!

[drahkon]

18 hours ago, darksnowman said:

I saw that Price says he can dominate like Phil Taylor.  Steady on there, Gerwyn!

I really dislike him...incredible player but an arrogant prick on and off the stage.

19 hours ago, killthenet said:

Hope one or two of the German guys does well for you too @drahkon

Thanks.  
As expected, the young talent lost, but he did a respectable job and showed a lot of promise

Anderson showed his class and knocked out Lewis. Great match.

Paul Lim will play tonight. 67 years old and still playing. Awesome  

[drahkon]

  Unbelievable  

[killthenet]

That Borland v Brooks match was definitely the game of the tournament so far, at least it was until last night!

I didn't get to watch the first two matches on Sunday night so can't really comment on their quality but Sherrock v Beaton was fantastic entertainment, I think that's the best Beaton has played for quite a while and, even though the quality of both players dipped as the match went on, Fallon pushed him all the way. 

Clayton v Barry was an instant classic though, both players were terrific and at one point it looked like Clayton was in real danger of going out but those last two sets were astonishing, he didn't look like missing at all! It broke the record for most ton-plus checkouts in a best of 5 set match too, Clayton has started the tournament in great form but Keane Barry definitely has a bright future in the sport. 

Obviously disappointed that Fallon went out first round but things are definitely starting to heat up now, it's been a great tournament already - can't believe we've had two nine darters!

[killthenet]

Despite a few players having to drop out with covid, the tournament has been really entertaining the last few days. Gurney vs Cross and Smith vs Clayton were probably the most high quality matches, the players were able to maintain such a high level for 7 sets, it was just a shame that the likes of Smith and Clayton had to meet before the quarter finals.

Shame for you @drahkon that Florian Hempel couldn't replicate his stunning win over Dimitri, he never looked likely against Raymond Smith and Gabriel Clemens was similarly flat against Jonny Clayton - although to be fair to him, Clayton had been the standout player in the tournament until he lost that thriller to Michael Smith. 

Real shame that MVG's tournament was ended by covid, it does devalue the tournament somewhat as it would have been great to see the very best players in the world go toe to toe in the final stages but there are still some cracking match ups to come - Price is obviously the bookies favourite but he hasn't been entirely convincing so far and faces a tough test against Michael Smith in the QF, so for me the tournament is still wide open, with a couple of past world champions still in the draw and the likes of Rydz and Humphries looking capable of lifting the trophy. Should be a fantastic few days of competition after the new year!

[drahkon]

On 12/31/2021 at 4:19 PM, killthenet said:

Should be a fantastic few days of competition after the new year!

Holy cow, those semifinals.  

I hope the final tonight will be just as high quality as the matches yesterday. Can't wait  

[killthenet]

Yeah, last night was incredible. Wade upped his game as predicted and it was starting to get a bit hairy for Smith but he saw him off in the end. The quality of Wright v Anderson was unreal though, it seemed like Anderson was in the ascendancy and I fully expected him to take it to a deciding set but Wright held his nerve eventually. 

I think I'd prefer Smith to win tonight but I really don't mind who wins, just hope it's as good as yesterday!

[killthenet]

10 sets in and there is nothing to choose between them, it might not be as high quality as the semi finals but it's the most competitive final we've had for years!

Really don't know which way it's going to go, it's going to get very tense soon