ThunderDan9

Yes, though the first three are more of a "sure thing" than Price (reflected in the outright odds as well). Price/Cross(/Smith?) is not that clear-cut maybe. That said, I like Price to win tonight. Firstly, it is in Cardiff, so a rare home advantage for him (and he won it last time if I remember right), and secondly Littler/Humphries/MVG are on the other side of the bracket. So basically he "only" has to beat Aspinall and Cross to reach the final.

Those three (Humphries, Littler, MVG) seem to stand out right now... the draw should be important in future tournaments, as whoever of these three has a "clear" bracket to the finals would be in advantage compared to the other two. Or am I overthinking it, lol.

Absolutely, Van Veen was my very first instinct... In the previous edition of the tournament the dutch (and belgian, LOL) players dominated, so to speak... let's hope for a similar scenario... it's funny to think back: Van Veen was actually the FAVORITE against Littler in the youth final, and he was a shorter price in the outright market in the worlds too... now Littler is 4,5, while Van Veen is 40. So I'm trying it too, especially as Michael Smith could be beatable in the first round, if Van Veen is in form.

Exactly... I had that weird feeling too that MVG is playing "the man", not the dartboard so to speak... so with all his experience he seemed to have much more of that nervous tension. It has been a trend now that he almost always has a bad game in a tournament, but... this one looked different.

If I remember right, Cross expressed his wish last year that he did not want to play in the PL... in the light of his previous remarks, his inclusion is quite funny.

2024 line up announced: Michael van Gerwen Michael Smith Luke Humphries Gerwyn Price Nathan Aspinall Rob Cross Peter Wright Luke Littler Of course, Wright doesn't fully "deserve" his spot, but it's Peter Wright, so... (Personally, I would have went with Dobey or maybe Heta for some international flavor.) You can't argue with the other seven, really. Yes, Littler was that impressive at the Ally Pally.

I have wondered the same thing... how do you even compete with this kind of performance? Humphries deserved the title... he crowned a really dominant season. I feel his masterful checkouts was the deciding factor, even with the very high average.

And the visual too... so effortless... as if you were watching some video game stuff.

I want a Littler-Williams final!

Please, Chizzy win - so we could get a really exciting final four. 😁

A handicap win for Littler should be the play... Good night, and see you next year.

Littler 1,22 - LOL, it might be value at first glance. How does Dolan win here?

OK, at least the bookies respect Chizzy, the opening odds are 1,54/2,43, seems fair to me. If it goes wider, something in the territory of the Cullen-match odds, I would play Chizzy.

Yes. Chizzy has been his kryptonite this season... but it was the Euro Tour. This is different. I just hope for a ET-form Chizzy, and then it could be another epic match.

OMG, what a match, one of the most epic matches I have ever seen! The comporure of Humphries is really astonishing! How does he even do that... pull out those perfect checkouts on the brink of elimination, over and over... wow.

No, I used the wrong terms: I meant the outright market to win the tournament, relatively of course.

Is he going to be the odds-on favorite by tonight? I guess so.

This is ridiculous... Barnie is playing very well - and you still have the feeling that it's a major achievement he narrowly escapes with ONE SET...

That's NOT what my (or everybody else's) pre-tournament bracket prediction looked like.

I think he should have tried starting at T18 at some point.

A 130 checkout to win his first set (at 2-2), and then a 151 checkout to win his second set.

Gurney is hard to watch... those gestures of his are nonsensical.

First impression for tomorrow: a Chisnall+Clayton+Humphries treble, maybe? Edit: I mean: Chisnall+Cross+Humphries, LOL

OK, that was... quick. Wow.

Huh, Ratajski-Clayton could turn out to be ugly... I actually think Van Peer at 3,75 might be of some value here against Heta. He already beat two decent players, and the pressure is on Heta. And two sets by Van Peer seems to be realistic to me, so I like over 5,5 sets at 1,93. And yes, Jim Williams has to show more of that recent PC form of his, or he might be out... In the HUGE evening matches, I actually like both Bunting's and Dobey's chances...