2018 PDC World Championship- Alexandra Palace, London-14th December 2017- 1st January 2018

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

Solid two sets there to make it 2-2, though Keegan seems to be losing focus, Zoran to win from here I'd say.

[ssjsa]

Solid two sets there to make it 2-2, though Keegan seems to be losing focus, Zoran to win from here I'd say.

13/10 in running with Coral.
Still think Brown will win but I wouldn't take the 4/7 on him.

[ssjsa]

Keegan using up quite a few of his 9 lives. Zoran could live to regret these spurned chances.

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

With the way Keegan is reacting on stage I really can't see him hitting the winning double, unless the people who he's looking to can throw it in for him.

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

With the way Keegan is reacting on stage I really can't see him hitting the winning double, unless the people who he's looking to can throw it in for him.

Ooooops

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

Taylors getting a nice run here if Keegan throws like that again.

[ssjsa]

With the way Keegan is reacting on stage I really can't see him hitting the winning double, unless the people who he's looking to can throw it in for him.

Done brilliantly to take that match winning 108. Not a great quality match, but Keegan into the last 16. Will need to up his game somewhat to even win a set against Taylor.

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

With the way Keegan is reacting on stage I really can't see him hitting the winning double, unless the people who he's looking to can throw it in for him.

Done brilliantly to take that match winning 108. Not a great quality match, but Keegan into the last 16. Will need to up his game somewhat to even win a set against Taylor.

Lots of nip and tuck sets, thats the way it should be

Now roll on this next match

[ssjsa]

William Hill World Darts Championship
Preliminary & First Rounds
Second Round
Saturday December 23
Afternoon Session (1pm)

Keegan Brown (87.65) 4 (7) 2 (87.10) Zoran Lerchbacher
Michael Smith v Rob Cross
Steve West v Jermaine Wattimena

Evening Session (7pm)

Daryl Gurney v John Henderson
Phil Taylor v Justin Pipe
Raymond van Barneveld v Kyle Anderson

[ssjsa]

Christopher Kempf, the new statistical analyst of the PDC, reviews the first round of the William Hill World Darts Championship.

BY the end of the second day of action at the Alexandra Palace, three of the six highest first round averages in the history of the William Hill World Darts Championship had been set, as well as the highest first-round average by a losing player.

If any indication was needed of the talent and determination of the World Championship field, it was supplied in the first 24 hours of darts.

It is harder than ever to advance to the second round, especially for the top 32 players who can no longer count on drawing an easy opponent from a less darts-obsessed corner of the globe than theirs.

Little-known qualifiers from Brazil, Japan and Germany all pushed their seeded opponents with an average above 90, and the German left-hander Kevin Munch achieved one of the great first round upsets by eliminating two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis.

Unseeded players won a remarkable 23 set-deciding legs - in which experience is typically expected to prevail - in the first round, nearly besting the seeds' 25.

Two of those deciders were won by 63-year-old Paul Lim, who broke a 17-year streak of first-round eliminations in World Championships.

Lim hit three doubles with three darts, all in combination checkouts, to win the deciding legs, scoring more maximums than he had in his past 20 years of World Championship play.

Four other unseeded players, by virtue of facing a fellow outsider in the second round, are guaranteed to reach the last 16 at Alexandra Palace.

For all the tenacity of the unheralded World Championship challengers, the spotlight rightly shone on some extraordinary performances from the tournament favorites.

In a blistering four-leg set against Jeff Smith, world number three Gary Anderson hit treble 20 with 22 of 29 darts, nearly breaking his own World Championship set average record by posting only the second 130+ average in the event's history.

In spite of hitting better than 60% of his treble 19s, defending champion Michael van Gerwen lost one set to an unexpectedly ferocious Christian Kist counterattack while nearly averaging 120.

Kist, whose 2017 has been dogged by an arm problem, is now the only player to lose in the first round with a 100 average.

In many matches, a high doubles percentage has been as responsible for high averages as heavy scoring. But because only seven first-round matches were contested over five sets, and the absence of pressure may have improved players doubling accuracy.

While players hit 50% of doubles when their opponent is not on a finish, that percentage drops over ten points as the opponent becomes more likely to win the leg in the next visit.

Closer matches may serve to drive down doubles percentages in the forthcoming rounds, but don't tell that to Zoran Lerchbacher, who hit exactly 50% of his doubles despite an early 2-0 deficit in sets to eliminate Mervyn King.

Players are on track to break the record of 708 180s thrown at the 2017 World Championship, even though more legs were played by the end of the first round last year (598 in 2017, 593 in 2018).

In the first 40 matches of the tournament, 251 maximum scores were recorded by everyone from Michael van Gerwen to Chinese teeanger Xiao Chen Zong, compared to 244 at the same point last year.

The World Championship contestants are also becoming more proficient at hitting other three-treble scores, such as 177 and 171, as well as the 170 checkout. New records in both categories are well within sight.

With the second round's best of seven set format, the pressure becomes more intense on the unseeded players.

While the average match length in the first round is around 16 legs, the second round will require players to contest, on average, nearly 25 legs, which for many will be the longest match they've played in their careers.

If their first round record is any indication, however, this year's crop of qualifiers and challengers is the best-poised in more than a decade to shock the world.

Stats Following Preliminary & First Rounds
Top Ten Averages
106.17 Michael van Gerwen
104.17 Dimitri Van den Bergh
104.12 Rob Cross
102.00 Raymond van Barneveld
101.55 Gerwyn Price
100.93 Gary Anderson
100.51 Daryl Gurney
100.23 Christian Kist
98.90 Vincent van der Voort
98.67 Robert Thornton

Tournament Most 180s
10: Paul Lim, Kevin Munch, Michael Smith
7: Gary Anderson, Daryl Gurney, Jamie Lewis
6: Rob Cross, Chris Dobey, Steve Lennon, William O'Connor, Robert Thornton, Vincent van der Voort

[nikkiboy]

Keegan using up quite a few of his 9 lives. Zoran could live to regret these spurned chances.

Bastard must have known I had a bet on him gave that one away

[ssjsa]

Relatively straight forward 1st set for Bullyboy.

Early days but if Cross loses the next set on throw, he is in big trouble, as when Michael goes on a roll he can run sets in jig time.

[ssjsa]

Big screens malfunctioning during this match.

Chants of "we want our money back".

The list, the list.

[nikkiboy]

Big screens malfunctioning during this match.

The list, the list.

Amateurs, Matt Porter should resign!

[tapsa]

Why some say crowd doesn't pay attention for game. They sure do now...

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

Big screens malfunctioning during this match.

Chants of "we want our money back".

The list, the list.

What!!! You've bought a ticket at the back and you can't see the Dartboard

[ssjsa]

Game on. Level at 1-1 and both over a 100 average.

Think there might be an extended breaknwhilst they try to fix the big screens.

[ssjsa]

That 164 checkout from Cross was the 100th ton plus finish of the tournament.

[nikkiboy]

Game on. Level at 1-1 and both not far off 100 average.

Think there might be an extended breaknwhilst they try to fix the big screens.

Someone tweeted they saw a pensioner in a blue jacket messing with the cables....

[Wubbalubbadubdub]

Game on. Level at 1-1 and both not far off 100 average.

Think there might be an extended breaknwhilst they try to fix the big screens.

Both played better when the screens were off. Should be another up and down match, hoping Smith doesn't switch off .