Christmas comes early for darts fans, who get to savour the sights and sounds of the PDC World Championship each December, before a break for the Yuletide festivities sees the tournament conclude early in January.
For the three qualifiers from North America, they will be hoping to receive an early Christmas gift by winning through their first-round games.
But they’ll have to do things the hard way after receiving tough draws to get the competition started…
Underdog Status
The World Darts betting odds make the two American players, Stowe Buntz and Leonard Gates, huge +50000 outsiders to lift the famous trophy.
Those darts odds are reflective of their chances, with the favorite – reigning world champion Luke Humphries – a much shorter +300.
But neither Buntz nor Gates are completely without hope, given that they each have some previous on the big televised stages.
Buntz, you might recall, was a shock quarter-finalist at the Grand Slam of Darts in 2023. He defeated former world champions Peter Wright and Stephen Bunting in that event, as well as downing former UK Open winner Andrew Gilding.
At the World Championship, he’ll face Nick Kenny in the first round; a game that both will think is winnable. A potential second round tie with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld will help concentrate the mind of the ‘Neon Nightmare’.
As for Gates, he was last seen at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts, where he won one of his three group phase games. But the Texan won three World Seniors events in 2023, and reached the fourth round of the UK Open in March.
Gates also has a win on the Alexandra Palace stage to his name, but he’ll need to be at his very best to defeat Grand Slam quarter-finalist Cameron Menzies in the first round this time around.
The Long Game
All a player can hope for at the World Championship is an agreeable draw for their first game. Get through that, and who knows what might happen.
That will surely be the mindset of Jim Long, whose tournament odds of +100000 are indicative of his underdog status.
But the 56-year-old can play, as he showed at the World Seniors Championship earlier in 2024. He beat some top-quality players there – including former BDO world champion Martin Adams, before running into eventual tournament winner John Henderson in the semi-finals.
His opponent in the first round of the PDC World Championship, James Hurrell, is a capable thrower, but a world ranking of 89 suggests that Long is no forlorn hope.
Could North America have one – or more – representatives in the second round of the PDC World Championship?
