PDC World Darts Championship: Bates Handed a Tough Draw at the Ally Pally
Rising Devon darts star Owen Bates has been handed a tough draw for the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace in London.
Bates has been drawn against Ireland’s Steve Lennon in the opening round, with the winner of that game facing ninth seed Jonny Clayton in the second round.
The 20-year-old booked his place in the tournament after finishing second on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, just £175 in prize money ahead of former World Cup winner John Henderson.
He will have his work cut out against Lennon, who has previously reached the third round in several major ranking events including the World Championship.
Elsewhere in the draw, reigning champion Michael Smith will begin the defence of his title against either Stowe Buntz or Kevin Doets. Buntz recently reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts and could cause Smith trouble if he gets through the first round.
Three-time winner Michael van Gerwen will take on Keane Barry or Reynaldo Rivera, while 2021 champion Gerwyn Price faces either Connor Scutt or Krzysztof Kciuk.
Luke Humphries, who has won three televised ranking titles over the last seven weeks, has been drawn against Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing.
Online bookmakers have reacted to Humphries’ recent form by installing him as the 4.50 favourite to win the world title for the first time in his career.
While the 28-year-old will be a popular pick among sports bettors, plenty of other players will head into the tournament believing they can get their hands on the prestigious trophy.
They include Australian star Damon Heta, who has reached the latter stages of several major tournaments this season and will fancy his chances of making progress at the Ally Pally.
Several new Australian betting sites rate Heta as a 67.00 shot to win the title, and those odds may tempt punters searching for an each-way alternative to the main contenders.
While Heta has landed in a tough quarter of the draw, it would be no surprise to see him give sports bettors a good run for their money over festive period.
The tournament runs from December 15 to January 3.
PDC World Darts Championship: Bates Handed a Tough Draw at the Ally Pally
First Quarter
(1) Michael Smith vs Kevin Doets or Stowe Buntz
(32) Madars Razma vs Mike De Decker or Dragutin Horvat
(16) Ross Smith vs Niels Zonneveld or Darren Webster
(17) Chris Dobey vs William O'Connor or Bhav Patel
(8) Rob Cross vs Mario Vandenbogaerde or Thibault Tricole
(25) Jose de Sousa vs Richie Edhouse or Jeffrey De Graaf
(9) Jonny Clayton vs Steve Lennon or Owen Bates
(24) Krzysztof Ratajski vs Jamie Hughes or David Cameron
Second Quarter
(4) Peter Wright vs Jim Williams or Norman Madhoo
(29) Raymond van Barneveld vs Radek Szaganski or Marko Kantele
(13) James Wade vs Matt Campbell or Lourence Ilagan
(20) Andrew Gilding vs Christian Kist or Luke Littler
(5) Gerwyn Price vs Connor Scutt or Krzysztof Kciuk
(28) Brendan Dolan vs Mickey Mansell or Xiaochen Zong
(12) Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Keegan Brown or Boris Krcmar
(21) Gary Anderson vs Simon Whitlock or Paolo Nebrida
Third Quarter
(2) Michael van Gerwen vs Keane Barry or Reynaldo Rivera
(31) Kim Huybrechts vs Richard Veenstra or Ben Robb
(15) Dimitri van den Bergh vs Dylan Slevin or Florian Hempel
(18) Stephen Bunting vs Ryan Joyce or Alex Spellman
(7) Danny Noppert vs Scott Williams or Haruki Muramatsu
(26) Martin Schindler vs Jermaine Wattimena or Fallon Sherrock
(10) Damon Heta vs Martin Lukeman or Haupai Puha
(23) Josh Rock vs Luke Woodhouse or Berry Van Peer
Fourth Quarter
(3) Luke Humphries vs Lee Evans or Sandro Eric Sosing
(30) Callan Rydz vs Ricardo Pietreczko or Mikuru Suzuki
(14) Joe Cullen vs Jules van Dongen or Darren Penhall
(19) Ryan Searle vs Ian White or Tomoya Goto
(6) Nathan Aspinall vs Ricky Evans or Simon Adams
(27) Daryl Gurney vs Steve Beaton or Wessel Nijman
(11) Dave Chisnall vs Cameron Menzies or Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
(22) Gabriel Clemens vs Gian Van Veen or Man Lok Leung
