[tso]

As requested a new thread

World Championships 1st round draw
Phil Taylor v Muramatsu/Nilsson
Mark Dudbridge v Dave Chisnall
Vincent van der Voort v Mark Hylton
And Hamilton v Antonio Alcinas
Raymond van Barneveld v James Richardson
Brendan Dolan v Kim Huybrechts
Paul Nicholson v Mensur Suljovic
Alan Tabern v Burger/Perez
Simon Whitlock v Dennis Smith
Steve Beaton v Magnus Caris
Mervyn King v Geoff Kime
Colin Osborne v Michael van Gerwen
Gary Anderson v Jyhan Artut
Steve Brown v Petersen/de Sousa
Colin Lloyd v Darin Young
Andy Smith v Scott Rand
Adrian Lewis v Nigel Heydon
Robert Thornton v Ian White
Wayne Jones v Barham/MacKenzie
Jamie Caven v Roland Scholten
Wes Newton v Kurt van de Rijck
Justin Pipe v Sean Reed
Terry Jenkins v Cullen/Ferenc
Co Stompe v Michael Smith
Mark Webster v Richie Burnett
John Part v John Henderson
Mark Walsh v Finnan/French
Kevin Painter v Arron Monk
James Wade v Laursen/Korte
Peter Wright v Jelle Klaasen
Ronnie Baxter v Steve Farmer
Denis Ovens v Munch/Choon Peng

[Terrence Chant]

Van Der Voort v Hylton
Part v Hendo
Osborne v Van Gerwen
Nicho v Suljovic
Webster v Burnett
Wright v Klaasen
Dudders v Chizzy

the pick of the ties for me....especially the all Welsh battle

[staceyxxx23]

Hopefully Paul Nicholson wins the whole thing with Mark Dudbridge a close second

With Mark Walsh and Michael Van Gerwen in the semi finals along with them

[Psycho_Ned]

Some very nice encounters there for a first rounder!

Dudders V Chizzy, VDV V Hylton, Ozzy V MVG, Webby V Burnett, Part V Hendo, Wright v Klassen all look very competitive games.

[Caltonfan]

a few interesting matches in the first round

Dudbridge v Chisnall
Van der Voort v Hylton
Osborne v Van Gerwen
Beaton v Caris
Webster v Burnett
Part v Henderson
Wright v Klaasen

also think Nicholson has a potential tricky tie against Mensur Suljovic

[Xavier Quebeck]

I will def have a wager on Hylton beating Van der voort. I reckon he could be a slight underdog.

[Terrence Chant]

Originally Posted by staceyxxx23

Hopefully Paul Nicholson wins the whole thing with Mark Dudbridge a close second

With Mark Walsh and Michael Van Gerwen in the semi finals along with them

Nicho and Dudders are in the same quarter of the draw so I'm afraid that won't happen Stacey....plus it's a certain Mr Taylor's part of the draw!

[Terrence Chant]

In fact that top quarter looks a bit of a 'quarter of death'....loads of good players there, Taylor, Chizzy, Barney, Nicho, Hamilton, VDV, Hylton....nearly everyone!

With Whitlock below par atm you'd have to fancy Gando to emerge as the second semi-finalist. Several players on the wane in his section.

Think the draw has been kind to Lewis too in his defence of the title, as I have a gut feeling its something he'll defend poorly. Wayne Jones could upset him in the last 16 or maybe Newton in the QF though,

One of the big questions for me is: will Wade actually perform at the Pally for once? Looks to have a reasonable draw up to the quarters to my eyes as Baxter's on the wane as is Klassen, Ovens never performs in the Worlds and Wright is a good player but not in the same class.

[Lordy Lordy]

Suljovic is no mug and can give anyone a good game on his day, so Nicholson had better watch out.

Still can't see past the Power though!

[Xavier Quebeck]

Anyone heard any news on whether any BDO players will jump ship? There were rumors that Hankey will move if he gets a PL spot

[Terrence Chant]

^ Nothing to report, although I'm sure if you played around with the internet enough you'll find some unsubstantiated rumour or other

[Caltonfan]

Originally Posted by Xavier Quebeck

Anyone heard any news on whether any BDO players will jump ship? There were rumors that Hankey will move if he gets a PL spot

didnt bristow say a couple of weeks ago that he expects players to join from the BDO but after the World Championships, I assume he meant the BDO world championship

[degsyhufc]

I know there's some prelims and such but this draw looks soo much bigger than the BDO draw. I know when they get down to it they have the same structure but it has to be nice for those prelim/first round players to get on stage and on tv.

[The Naitch]

Some very tantalising matches in the 1st round there. I'm eager for them to release the order of play as I'm not going to be able to watch any action on the 19th or 21st of December.

[Darren Lethem]

Go on tso, how many players do we each have from the tipping comp in at Ally Pally

[tso]

Originally Posted by Darren Lethem

Go on tso, how many players do we each have from the tipping comp in at Ally Pally

still got the transfer window yet so nothing definite

[Terrence Chant]

Bump for the Worlds!.....

[tso]

Xmas officially starts in 40 minutes

[degsyhufc]

In a few years time it'll be kicking off at the end of November

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

In a few years time it'll be kicking off at the end of November

I suppose it wouldn't be a genuine world championship without having an interminably long and drawn-out first round, would it?

In all seriousness, the opening stage of the WC is always a bit like the phony tournament before things really gets going after Christmas, but it does have the appeal of getting to see all the unfamiliar players from around the world and what they can do - particularly in the preliminary matches, which have really grown in quality as the years have passed.

I think it's quite a good opening night line-up, in all honesty; aside from seeing whether Adrian Lewis shows signs of title-defending form, you've got the all-Welsh former champions clash and Scholten v Caven to open up with, which is a bit like the battle of PDC past and PDC future.

Oh, they've just stuck an advert on to get people to buy tickets for the championship; is that a sign that sales have been slower than they would've hoped?

And we've got the mad Italian Ladbrokes guy in every break bumper for the next fortnight - marvellous.

[The Naitch]

Here we go... I am so excited!

[EPY]

Christmas has begun.

[Hayden]

Phew - just in time

Probably along with the Snooker Worlds, my favourite sporting event of the year,

[degsyhufc]

Preliminary (P) and First Round
Thursday December 15
7.10pm Jamie Caven v Roland Scholten
8.15pm Paul Barham v Scott MacKenzie (P)
9.00pm Mark Webster v Richie Burnett
10.00pm Adrian Lewis v Nigel Heydon
11.00pm Wayne Jones v Barham/MacKenzie

[degsyhufc]

Just heard that Chizzy could meet Taylor in the second round. I picked Chizzy for the Kirk Shepherd award. Oh Balls!