Day 12 of the Paddy Power PDC World Championships involves some of the most exciting matches of the tournament so far, with the most notable match being one of the tournament favourites Michael van Gerwen against one of the tournament fan favourites Stephen Bunting – a very interesting day ahead for sure.

Afternoon Session

First up to kick off the day of darts is Damon Heta vs Berry van Peer. At the start of the tournament it would be expected that the Australian would ease through to the next round however Van Peer has shown throughout that he is capable of an upset. The World Championship debutant saw past Luke Woodhouse in the first round winning 3-2 and then followed that up with a 3-1 win over World No.23 Josh Rock proving that he cannot be underestimated. Although Damon ‘The Heat’ Heta is still the bookies clear favourite going into the match at 12:45 GMT.

The days second match up features Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski. Both players made their introduction to the 2024 Paddy Power PDC World Championships with a 3-1 win against their opponents. The Welshman faced Steve Lennon in his first match where he didn’t perform to ‘The Ferrets’ usual standard seeing him average 88.45 against the Irishman. With only picking up two 180’s and a 28.21% checkout percentage the World No.9 will be hoping to improve on his first game. ‘The Polish Eagle’ also produced a very similar average to Jonny Clayton when he averaged 89.82 against Jamie Hughes. However he showed more strength than today’s competitor when it came to checking out, finishing the match with 42.31%. Both ranked players will be hoping to improve on their first game at the Palace.

To conclude the afternoon Jim Williams will face Raymond van Barneveld. Not only does the Dutchman have experience on his side today he is also coming into game following up from a strong performance against Radek Szaganski. Averaging 99.81 coinciding with a 55% checkout percentage just shows that the 56 year old should still be taken seriously in the tournament. However Jim Williams’ performances shouldn’t be disregarded either after a convincing 3-0 against Haruki Muramatsu and a 3-0 win against the World No.4 Peter Wright saw him into todays match.

Evening Session

Opening tonight is a strong match up between Boris Krcmar and Gary Anderson as they close the set of the Last 32 fixtures. The Croatian started of his 2024 Paddy Power PDC World Championships with a convincing 3-1 win against Keegan Brown averaging 91.05. This Round One win was followed up with a stunning performance against Dirk van Duijvenbode which saw the 41 year old have a 55.56% checkout percentage and a 96.84 three dart average. Krcmar is more than capable of causing an upset in this one – however nothing is ever easy against the two time World Champion Gary Anderson.

Arguably the most exciting match of the day features the World No.2 Michael van Gerwen face the World No.18 Stephen Bunting. Both players are high on confidence seeing neither player drop a set so far this tournament. ‘The Bullet’ comes into the first Last 16 match  after beating Ryan Joyce and Florian Hempel, however today’s match is expected to cause a lot more difficulty for the Englishman making it less likely to see the crowd ‘Go Bunting Mental’ at the Alexandra Palace.

Concluding the twelfth day is the reigning champion Michael Smith against the winner of the 2023 Masters Chris Dobey. So far both competitors have seen difficulty this tournament especially in their last matches. ‘Bully Boy’ came from a set down to beat Madars Razma, the World No.1 found his rhythm the more he got into the match but he might not have a chance to have a slow start against a more difficult opponent in Chris Dobey. ‘Hollywood’ also found his Last 32 match hard against Ross Smith where he conceded two consecutive sets leaving his great start in danger. However this wasn’t due to a low scoring performance as the man from Newcastle finished the clash with 14 180’s and a 102.36 average.

We are sure to be in for a treat with todays line up!

Fridays Order of Play

Afternoon Session

Damon Heta v Berry van Peer (L32)

Jonny Clayton v Krzysztof Ratajski (L32)

Jim Williams v Raymond van Barneveld (L32)

Evening Session

Boris Krcmar v Gary Anderson (L32)

Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting (L16)

Michael Smith v Chris Dobey (L16)