2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals taking place? Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd November 2019
Where is the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals taking place? AFAS Live, Amsterdam
What channel is the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals on? ITV4
Where can I stream the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals? The tournament can be streamed via the ITV Hub
Where can I get tickets for the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals? Tickets are available from the PDC Europe website
What is the format for the 2019 Jack’s Casino World Series of Darts Finals? The tournament consists of a field of 24 players. The top eight players from the 2019 World Series Order of Merit are seeded and have a bye into round two. The remaining 16 players are a mixture of invited players by the PDC and qualifiers.
The top eight players from the final 2019 World Series Order of Merit
Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney, Damon Heta, Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson and James Wade.
The top four non four non-qualified players from the PDC Order of Merit
Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Mensur Suljovic and Ian White.
Invited Players
Dave Chisnall, Nathan Aspinall, Simon Whitlock, Jermaine Wattimena, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Danny Noppert, Kyle Anderson and Gabriel Clemens
PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifiers
Jonny Clayton, Krzysztof Ratajski, Wayne Jones and Ricky Evans.
First Round Draw
Michael Smith vs Gerwyn Price
Wayne Jones vs Jonny Clayton
Kyle Anderson vs Mensur Suljovic
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Nathan Aspinall
Ricky Evans v Ian White
Danny Noppert vs Jeffrey de Zwaan
Jermaine Wattimena vs Gabriel Clemens
Dave Chisnall vs Simon Whitlock
Second Round Draw
(1) Michael van Gerwen vs Smith/Price
(8) James Wade vs Jones/Clayton
(5) Damon Heta vs K Anderson/Suljovic
(4) Daryl Gurney vs Ratajski/Aspinall
(2) Peter Wright vs Evans/White
(7) Gary Anderson vs Noppert/De Zwaan
(6) Raymond van Barneveld vs Wattimena/Clemens
(3) Rob Cross vs Chisnall/Whitlock
THE LOWDOWN
A strong field has been assembled for the 2019 World Series of Darts Finals, which take place in Amsterdam from Friday to Sunday when 24 players will fight it out for the trophy and the winner’s prize of £70,000.
This is the fifth staging of the finals with James Wade being the defending champion having defeated Michael Smith 11-10 in the final last year. Michael van Gerwen is the only other previous winner of the tournament having won a hat-trick of titles from 2015 to 2017.
There will be plenty of support for the five Dutch players in the field with national sporting hero Raymond van Barneveld sure to receive the best reception as he nears retirement.
Michael van Gerwen is a short price to win the title in his home country and he will be desperate to make amends after a disappointing first-round exit against Ross Smith at the European Championship. In fairness, Van Gerwen did not play badly against Smith and finished the match with an average of 105 and of course the Green Machine won back-to-back TV tournaments earlier in October.
Van Gerwen does have plenty of potential stumbling blocks in his half of the draw with his first match being against Michael Smith or Gerwyn Price, who are both ranked in the top five in the PDC Order of Merit. Also lurking in the top half of the draw are James Wade, Mensur Suljovic, Daryl Gurney and Nathan Aspinall, who have all won big TV titles.
There is also plenty of competition in the bottom section with recent European Championship winner Rob Cross aiming to add to his growing list of major titles whereas Peter Wright and Gary Anderson are also major contenders to go all the way, such is their pedigree. Dave Chisnall has produced some excellent performances recently and will be in the mix but the chances of Raymond van Barneveld rolling back the years and lifting the title seem very slim.
Van Gerwen will certainly take some stopping but he is not unbeatable and if you are not tempted by his short odds, here are a couple of each-way selections.
EACH-WAY SELECTIONS
Mensur Suljovic – The Austrian has proven pedigree on the big stage and although he had a disappointing European Championship, he has won two tournaments since September which includes a win against Van Gerwen in the final of the Austrian Darts Open. Suljovic has a decent draw up to the quarter-finals and if he gets into his stride, he has the game to go all the way.
Dave Chisnall – Chizzy has enjoyed a real resurgence in form this year and, had it not been for MVG, he might have been lifting his first major TV title at the World Grand Prix. His formidable scoring power was again in evidence at the European Championship when he averaged 109.75 in his win against Jonny Clayton and maybe this will be his weekend.
