A LOT of experts and fans have expressed how thrilling this World Darts Championship has been. The fact that the tie-break rule was scrapped to help with curfew restrictions has resulted in a never been seen before amount of last leg deciding sets, and we are all hungry for more as the tournament goes to the last eight.

2021 will begin in style with four matches which will all be worth £50,000 in prize money and a coveted place in the semi-finals and all players have had big stories to tell so far at Alexandra Palace. Some routes have been more comfortable than others, but no player has had it all their own way, so why would that stop now? 

Michael Van Gerwen v Dave Chisnall

The first thing to talk about here is the rest period between matches for both of these players. Chizzy concluded the round 4 action with a limping over the line performance against Dimitri Van Den Bergh. He came out of the blocks in style in that one, but ultimately needed a little bit of fortune not to be taken to a 7th set by the Belgian. 

Dave’s record against MVG is atrocious and this has to be addressed if he is to get that elusive big title that everyone thinks he is capable of. Dave hasn’t beaten MVG in over 7 years on the stage, and in any match he hasn’t found the winning line against the green demon since February 2016. In fact, he has lost 26 of their last 27 meetings, the other result being a Unibet Premier League draw. It doesn’t bode well for Chizzy. 

As for Michael, he has had an extra day off and has had time to compose himself over the new year after that epic last 16 match with Joe Cullen, where MVG dodged two match darts on the bullseye to be eliminated. The way he was able to still average 100, even though he admitted to feeling not 100%, is testament to where he is at, and I cannot make a case for Chisnall in this game. MVG will surely have too much for Dave.  

Tip – MVG to win the 1.5 sets handicap 3/10

Gary Anderson v Dirk Van Duijvenbode

Anderson has been grabbing all the headlines these past few days, not just for his getting to another World Championship quarter final, but for his reactions to situations involving Mensur Suljovic and some other analysts within the sport. Gary hasn’t played his sparkling best in this event yet, but he has been using his experience well to overcome tough challenges. 

The win in the last round against Devon Petersen was routine, and the fact that he wasn’t pushed too much will leave him feeling chipper. By making it this far, he has found his way back to the provisional top 16 in the world rankings again after a plummeting winter, but he now has to find his way past someone who is high octane, 21st century darts in a nutshell. 

Dirk is exactly what we all need when it comes to darts entertainment. His energy on stage, his constant shoulder flexing and love for hard style music translates well to the millennial dart fan, and he is showing who he is on the dartboard now more than ever. 

He will cause lots of problems for Gary in this match, and everyone will think this is a coin flip match based on form and previous tournament experience. Dirk coming out on top on three occasions in close matches will give him huge belief of making the semi-finals and after disposing of two former world champions already, I think he can do a third. 

Tip – Dirk to win in 5-4 at 21/4

Krzysztof Ratajski v Stephen Bunting

I personally think that three of the quarter finals are very hard to call, and this is certainly one of them. 

This has been a breakout World Championship campaign for Ratajski and he is finally in the nitty gritty end of the biggest showpiece event after 3 seasons of being touted as a huge threat. His win against Gabriel Clemens in round 4 could not have gone closer and the relief shown by the Pole in winning that game was massively evident. Like MVG, he will have benefitted from an extra day off to most of the remaining players and it will be key for his chances against Bunting. 

Bunting was never thought of as a potential quarter finalist in this years championship, but he has shown immense composure under the highest of pressure and has already come up shining in peoples eyes. He has made a quarter final previously in 2015, but nothing like that since. He, like a lot of others has been tested and has overcome last set deciders with Ryan Searle and Andy Boulton, a 9-darter from James Wade and maybe his own demons too, but he is walking tall here and will fully expect to make the last 4.

As to whether he will is very hard to predict and this match will surely go deep into the possible 9 sets. 

Tip – Bunting and Ratajski total sets over 8.5 at 13/5. It will be edgy at times and I envisage a leg to be won on double one

Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney

Old foes come toe to toe in the 4th quarter final and even though they get on really well off the oche, all of that will be forgotten when they enter the yellow zone on New Years Day. 

Daryl has been playing inspired stuff and is still very much alive in his quest for a first semi-final appearance at Ally Pally. His wins against Chris Dobey and Vincent Van Der Voort were made comfortable by excellent starts, and even when he was reeled in by William O’ Connor in round two, he still had enough to get the job done. The fact of the matter is, I haven’t seen Gurney play this fresh for a good 2 years. This is a worrying thing for Price who has looked flat so far, even whilst still winning. 

Price came through the tough test of Mervyn King in round 4, and also the last leg decider in round 3 against Brendan Dolan, so he has been pushed, but he still isn’t as jacked up as I thought he would be as second favourite for this title. If indeed he is pacing himself for big things, he is a genius, but he hasn’t convinced me that he is ready to lift this crown yet, this event. I think he is about to prove me wrong though, and each player needs a canvas to paint their best work, and Daryl is that canvas. This will have it all, including lots of 180’s, big checkouts and a lot of sets. It will be the game of the round for sure. I am going for Price because he has only lost 3 from 16 matches against Superchin in his career and he will go up a notch on the first day of 2021. 

Tip – Price to win at 4/11

Also, I think there will be a huge checkout in this match and you can get good odds on over 141.5 at 17/20 or even over 159.5 at 5/2!