AT this time every year, it’s fair to say I experience something of a slump, with no more Ant and Dec taking the hand out of ‘celebrities’ in the jungle, and the Christmas turkey still a couple of weeks away.
The gloom is perhaps even a little deeper this term due to a nagging feeling that just won’t go away, one that says Manchester United are going to get relegated, leading to my departure for a distant place where not even two pint-sized Geordie TV presenters could find me.
I know that’s unlikely to happen but something is badly needed to change the mood.
Thankfully the very thing looms large on the horizon this weekend as the Paddy Power World Darts Championship blasts into action at Alexandra Palace in London.
In this era when even the people chewing on camel anus look shiny and fit, there is something very comforting about watching sportsmen on the telly who could just as easily be sitting beside you on the sofa, covered in Pringles crumbs and Quality Street wrappers.
That is not to say these aren’t highly-skilled operators, with darts continuing to reach new levels both in terms of interest and the calibre of player taking to the big stage.
In total 96 players will approach the oche between this Sunday and December 23, before the final 32 return after Christmas to do battle for the biggest prize in the game.
Of that 96, seven contenders hail from these shores, all of them delighted to be pitted in the other side of the draw to the two biggest hitters at present, Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.
Humphries returns to Ally Pally as defending champion and world number one, but he has been overshadowed throughout 2024 by Littler, who rampaged through the draw 12 months ago as 16-year-old qualifier, leaving established names like Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross in his wake before coming up short in the final, losing 7-4.
The pair have shared 17 titles this year, with Littler clinching 10 of them, including the Premier League and last month’s Grand Slam, although he did lose out to the understated Humphries in the Players’ Championship decider three weeks ago.
They dominate the betting for World Championship glory, with Littler generally a 2/1 shot, while ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries can be backed at 10/3 with Unibet.
It is highly likely one of them will make off with the Sid Waddell Trophy come January 3, and I’d probably edge towards Humphries, who tends not to get too excited about anything and sticks to his prodigious scoring and hitting doubles.
He does, however, have to defy recent history as not since Gary Anderson in 2016 has anyone successfully defended the title, and a number of hugely talented men have tried.
Humphries looks to be cut from a different cloth, however. Perhaps even a cut above Michael van Gerwen, a three-time winner who hasn’t been able to go back-to-back.
Whether you want to get involved in a 10/3 shot who has the game’s other leading exponent as a possible semi-final opponent is up for debate, and it is worth exploring other routes to profit over the next few weeks.
It is very hard to see anyone other than Humphries and Littler facing off in one semi, which leaves the way open for someone else to navigate the bottom half and find themselves in the decider.
Old hand Anderson can turn back the clock
In the outright market, the presence of the ‘big two’ has created bigger prices elsewhere, with some of the quotes looking ridiculous at first glance.
Van Gerwen, the dominant force for much of the last decade, can be backed at 12/1 and will certainly feel he still merits being discussed in the same breath as Humphries and Littler.
The emergence of the teenage sensation seemed to bring out the best in MVG at the start of 2024, but he has faltered in the second half of the campaign, and he also has a major stumbling block to clear in the fourth quarter in the form of the aforementioned Anderson.
The 53-year-old Scot has been in scintillating form in the last few months, winning three minor events and surging to the semis of the Grand Slam before losing out in a classic to Littler, 16-15.
Indeed, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ has scored better than anyone over the course of 2024, and could justifiably argue he is the only player around whose best at present can live with the top two in the betting.
A double world champion in 2015 and ‘16, a finalist as recently as 2021 and a semi-finalist a year later, Anderson just needs to maintain concentration to have a proper run again.
He is the likeliest man to reach the semis from the bottom quarter, and would go in as favourite against anyone in the last four so he makes huge each-way appeal at 10/1 with Paddy Power, who like all firms are paying half-the-odds for a top-two finish.
The sponsors are also dangling 4/1 about Littler, Humphries and Anderson all reaching the quarter-finals, and that definitely catches the eye.
The third quarter looks wide-open, with Chris Dobey, 2021 winner Gerwyn Price and Broughshane’s Josh Rock all probably fancying their chances of a run to the last four.
Price has the pedigree but not really the form, which could also be said for 2023 winner Michael Smith, but I just can’t get away from him at 33/1 with Ladbrokes.
When ‘Bully Boy’ saw off Van Gerwen in a final for the ages less than two years ago, he looked certain to become a multiple world champion.
The emergence of Littler and Humphries has changed all that, while Smith’s form has dipped in 2024, although not alarmingly so, having won the World Cup for England alongside Rob Cross.
He also reached the World Series final in September, losing to Littler, and the semis of the World Matchplay in the summer.
Admittedly, Smith’s last two TV appearances at the Grand Slam and Players’ Championship Finals have been underwhelming, but he has Ally Pally pedigree coming out of his ears, having lost two finals before getting over the line at the start of 2023.
Dobey is possibly the biggest danger in the third quarter but he has demons to slay after throwing away a 4-0 lead in the last eight a year ago against Cross, while Rock has all the potential in the world and has won three titles this term but is still to really shine on the big stage.
Smith is proven to be one of the best around when on his game so should be backed at 5/1 to win his quarter, while he would have no fear of Anderson in the last four so the 33/1 has each-way appeal as well.
Whether Anderson or Smith could get the better of one of the Lukes in the final is open for debate, but neither would be a pushover either.
Roll on Sunday so the countdown to Christmas can really begin.
PADDY POWER WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTIONS
Gary Anderson, e/w, 10/1 (Paddy Power); to win fourth quarter, 9/4 (Ladbrokes);
Michael Smith, e/w, 33/1 (Ladbrokes); to win third quarter, 5/1 (Ladbrokes);
Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson all to reach quarter-finals, 4/1 (Paddy Power)
