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For almost a million households in 2009, their Christmas and New Year celebrations included mulled wine, mince pies, visits from the in-laws and the PDC World Darts Championship. The sixteenth hosting of the PDC tournament was the most popular ever and 2010 promises to be another terrific competition.
The prize money at the Alexandra Palace reaches £1million for the first time in 2010 with the winner taking a cool £200,000. Kicking off on Friday 18th December, the tournament runs throughout the festive period with the final on Sunday January 3rd 2010.
When Phil Taylor lost his world title to Raymond van Barneveld in 2007, many of us thought that it was the end of an era. Our opinion was confirmed in 2008 when the Power failed to reach the final for the first time in fifteen years and it appeared very much like the field was once again wide open.
How wrong we were.
Taylor came storming back in 2009 with a series of convincing wins over Co Stompe, Kevin Painter, Michael van Gerwen and Mervyn King on his way to defeating van Barneveld 7-1 in a one-sided final. Taylor’s average in the 2009 final (110.94) is a world record for a tournament final. The twelve time champion is quite simply the finest player ever to pick up a set of darts and, as we approach the 2010 tournament, he remains one of the most short priced favourites in any world sport.
Whilst Tiger might dominate the betting for the Majors, and Federer for the grand slams, nowhere in sport is there a more dominant force than Taylor. He is a 1/3 favourite to take his lucky thirteenth title in 2010 and you can back every single other player in the tournament at a combined 2/1.
Taylor has won 22 tournaments already in 2009 including the UK Open, the World Matchplay, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the World Grand Prix and the European Championships. He is in superb form and it would take a very brave punter to oppose him at the Alexandra Palace.
So what of Taylor’s rivals?
Raymond van Barneveld is once again the second seed although the Dutchman has had a disappointing 2009. Barney declined entries to several high profile tournaments earlier in the year prompting speculation that he was considering retirement from the sport. However, in an interview at the World Grand Prix he revealed he had been suffering from diabetes and that his absence from the game was in an attempt to recover his health.
He is 12/1 for the title but with limited recent appearances and no tournament wins this year I’d rather focus elsewhere.
It is about time that the super talented James Wade made another breakthrough in a major tournament. The Englishman won the 2007 World Matchplay and whilst he picked up the 2009 Premier League darts crown, his semi-final defeat to van Barneveld in 2009 was his best World Championship performance.
Wade is clearly a huge talent and at only 26 years old he has plenty of time on his side. With an easy looking opening match against Steve Brown before likely matches against Michael van Gerwen and Steve Beaton I think this could finally be Wade’s year. He is available at 8/1.
An interesting man to watch could be Terry Jenkins, available at 50/1. Jenkins is currently facing a four month ban from the game after an incident at the Players Championship in Nuland in October. The ban was due to start before the World Championships but Jenkins’ appeal means he can play at the Alexandra Palace.
Jenkins is the sixth seed, although he faces a tricky opening match against the in-form Australian Paul Nicholson. He’s lucky to even be in the draw and may want to make the most of this opportunity before he has to take a forced break from the sport.
At 70/1 it may also be worth a small each way investment on Colin Osborne. Osborne has been in decent form this year and sits in the easier, opposite half of the draw to Taylor. He won the Championship League darts final in October to add to his three other titles this year and could be the once to come out of the chasing pack to challenge Taylor in the latter stages of the tournament.
2009 saw the first World Championship nine dart finish in nineteen years. Raymond van Barneveld’s perfect nine-darter against Jelle Klaasen in the quarter finals was the first in the history of the PDC championship.
It’s 2/1 against there being a nine-darter at the Alexandra Palace this year but with the quality of the darts on show increasing year on year, it is certainly a possibility.
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