PDC World Championship darts: Tuesday evening preview and best bets

Our darts expert Matt Hill (@Matt_Hill93) got his tournament up and running yesterday with 9/4, 5/2 and 9/4 winners from six selections.

Here, he tees up the Tuesday evening session and provides two best bets which could be worth a look.

PDC World Championship 2025 betting tips

Jeffrey De Graaf vs Rashad Sweeting

The first match of the evening session is an historic one as Rashad Sweeting becomes the first ever player from Barbados to grace the PDC World Championship.

Sweeting came through the Latin America and Caribbean qualifying route in convincing fashion but admittedly didn’t have much to beat, with a seasonal average of 75 proving enough for him to comfortably outmuscle his counterparts.

He’ll be here to enjoy the occasion and hopefully do better than Norman Madhoo of Guyana did 12 months ago, losing every leg in a 3-0 loss to Simon Whitlock.

Whether or not he can do that against the steady Jeffrey De Graaf remains to be seen, though. The bookies certainly aren’t giving him much hope.

De Graaf, Dutch born but representing Sweden, is an experienced hand and has had a really solid year back on the PDC Pro Tour circuit.

He’s a 1/40 chance to win this game and just 4/9 to win it without dropping a set, which is hardly a working man’s price.

I can’t sit here and advise a bet at 4/9 when I have seen so little of Sweeting. On all of the statistics, 3-0 does seem probable and there is the option of boosting that price by adding things like most 180s, highest checkout etc.

But I think all things considered, there’s no need to force a bet and I’ll give this game a watching brief. Good luck, Rashad!

Best bet - No bet

Ricardo Pietreczko vs Zong Xiao Chen

Ricardo Pietreczko has had an up and down year, to put it lightly. 

On the one hand, he didn’t even make a Pro Tour quarter final in the 30 attempts. Even more notably, he exited 16 of the last 24 Players Championship events in the opening round. 

Yet on the big stage, he reached a Euro Tour final, another semi-final and impressed en route to the quarter-finals of the recent European Championship. 

A wrist injury caused him real problems at the back end of the year but that seems to be a thing of the past now, even though doctors were unable to diagnose the specific issue.

Clearly, he is someone who saves his best for continental crowds — something we already kind of knew from last year. There is a chance he has some scar tissue at Ally Pally though, after blowing a memorable clash with eventual champ Luke Humphries 12 months ago.

Pietreczko was 3-1 up in a race to four before succumbing to a remarkable turnaround but he insists he has taken the positives from what was a largely impressive showing.

His Chinese opponent Zong operates at a very similar level to his fellow Asian qualifier Ryusei Azamoto, who we saw push a very nervous Wesley Plaisier all the way on Monday.

Put simply, the game is all about the favourite. If he plays at close to his best, he’ll beat Zong comfortably. If he starts slow and the crowd get involved, it could get a bit scrappy.

Zong, like Azemoto, isn’t much of a 180 hitter judging by his annual statistics. The Japanese player didn’t manage one in five sets, so that doesn’t bode well for Zong.

Therefore, backing Pietreckzo to win the match with the most 180s looks a no-brainer at EVS with Boyle Sports. Two-point win and my NAP of the night.

Best bet - Ricardo Pietreczko to win and hit the most 180s - EVS (Boylesports)

Fallon Sherrock vs Ryan Meikle

Fallon Sherrock will be looking to avoid a first-round exit for the fourth year running and I give her a better chance of upsetting Ryan Meikle than the market does.

Meikle has had another pretty mediocre season on the Pro Tour but did register an impressive win over Gary Anderson at the Players Championship Finals last month. 

He crashed out in the very next round though, failing to build on the opportunity — something that kind of tells the story of his career to date.

There’s no doubting the 28-year-old’s got talent but he really lacks consistency and paired with a bit of an awkward, unconventional throw and a slow pace, he doesn’t really have a legion of fans to call upon.

He’s won two of his six career Ally Pally outings, with the victories comprising of a whitewash win over Fabian Schmutzler and a very nervy, hard-earned 3-2 win over Lisa Ashton.

On that occasion, Meikle held himself together well having been pegged back from 2-0 to 2-2. But there were nerves there and if he thought things were intense playing Ashton, it’ll go up a notch against Sherrock.

Not long to go now until I'm back on the Ally Pally stage.

I can't wait to get started.

Ryan will be a difficult opponent, but my prep has been going well, and I'm feeling confident of getting the win.

Thank you for your support ❤️

See you tonight.@ModusDarts180… pic.twitter.com/4gVZ3m4g1a

— Fallon Sherrock MBE (@Fsherrock) December 17, 2024

The crowd will be heavily involved. And while she has lost her last three Ally Pally clashes, she’s been competitive in all of them, against three solid pros in Steve Beaton, Ricky Evans and Jermaine Wattimena.

Expect Sherrock to live with Meikle in the scoring phase. Then, it will be a case of who holds up under the pressure on the outer ring.

Quite simply, in this unique atmosphere and occasion, I think Sherrock is too big at 10/3. That implies she has a 23% chance of victory — a figure which is probably fair enough under normal circumstances, but not at Alexandra Palace under the lights.

Maybe Meikle will produce something near his best and do a job on her. But it’s a big if, and at the prices, I’ll pay to find out.

Best bet - Fallon Sherrock to beat Ryan Meikle @ 10/3 (Sporting Index)

Peter Wright vs Wesley Plaisier

The last game of the night was one of the masses’ most popular pre-tournament shouts for an upset, as the impressive Wesley Plaisier takes on a toiling Peter Wright.

Plaisier certainly felt the nerves on his Ally Pally debut yesterday afternoon, where he had to dig deep to edge past Japan’s Ryusei Azamoto 3-2.

It was miles short of the level which took the Dutchman to three Pro Tour finals (and one title) despite not holding a tour card this season, though we can forgive him for feeling the pinch a little bit on debut.

Ultimately, Plaisier warmed to the task in the end and a 98 average in set four of that contest suggests he was maybe finding his feet towards the back-end of proceedings.

Wright is an enigma at the best of times but it’s fair to say this feels the lowest his stock has ever been coming into a World Championship. 

Even at three-figure odds, you’ll do well to find anyone predicting Snakebite to win a third world title. He has, aside from a few rare occasions, been abject pretty much all campaign. 

An emotional, out-of-the-blue triumph on the Euro Tour at the start of September appeared to suggest he was back on track but sadly, first round exits at the Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals since hint otherwise.

It would be unwise to completely write off Wright at a venue where he has been so consistently successful. His deliberate throwing technique also means his form can peak and trough far more dramatically than a more flow-based operator.

Then you also have to question how good he’ll actually need to be to beat Plaisier. If the Dutchman is anywhere near his best, Wright needs dramatic improvement on recent showings but yesterday also suggests that is far from an inevitability.

Quite simply, there is far too much uncertainty around this contest for me to be putting up a bet. It’s a watching brief advised for what should be one of the most intriguing watches of the pre-Christmas schedule.

Best bet - No bet

Matt Hill's best PDC World Championship bets for Tuesday, December 17th evening session

• Ricardo Pietreczko to win and hit the most 180s @ EVS (Boylesports)
• Fallon Sherrock to beat Ryan Meikle @ 10/3 (Sporting Index)