MonthlyJoyride

Peter Wright won this event in 2021 and made the semi-final the year prior in 2020. He has also won the European Championships 2 times as well as the UK Open, which both have the same final day schedule as here with the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final all taking place in one day. He's been showing more positive signs of late, making a quarter-final in the last European Tour event of the season where he was only edged out in a last leg decider by beaten finalist van Duijvenbode. He could have a freshness advantage for this event as well as added motivation, as unlike most others in the field, he did not qualify for the upcoming Grand Slam of Darts. So he will be firmly eyeing up this event as his main World Championships warm-up.

2nd seed for the event and arguably in the top 5 form players in the world right now, Wessel Nijman has yet to bring his floor game to the TV stages. But when he does, he will be a contender for years to come. In the last 12 Players Championship events, he has 2 title wins, 3 semi-final defeats, and another 4 quarter-final defeats, which is an incredible level of consistency. He's showing signs of edging closer to being able to convert on the stage as well, having recently made a quarter-final on the European tour.. This is an event where youth and stamina can be an advantage, with the final day being a potential 3-day marathon of quarters, semis, and then the final. He may also benefit from a couple of rounds playing on Stage 2 through the event, as up until the quarter-final stage, roughly half of the games will be on the main TV stage. Possibly, he can do some damage in the slightly more secluded Stage 2. Overall, I think we have a great price for a No. 2 seed here.

A former World Champion and a multiple-time major winner outside of that as well, Gerwyn Price is looking close to returning to his best this year, as well as looking in great shape physically. Obviously, defending champion Luke Littler is going to be the near even-money favorite to successfully go back to back. But Price is one of the very few players who do not have a losing head-to-head record against Littler, with them currently standing at 7 wins each against each other. He is also one of the rare two or three players who can stay with him in bursts of scoring. So at double-digit odds, I think he represents value to claim his own second World Championship before either Littler or Humphries do.

Josh Rock is emerging as a top 5 player in the world. He has steadily risen since bursting on the scene and has now backed up his haul of floor titles with a couple of European Tour titles on the stage. This year, he won the World Cup alongside Gurney for Northern Ireland. He is also starting to make serious headway in major TV events with notable wins over the likes of van Gerwen and Price. I think he will finish the year strongly and come the time of the World Championships, he could well enter the event as 3rd or 4th favorite at odds in the teens.