World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Quarter-Finals preview and order of play
The new calendar year starts with a bang as the Quarter-Finals of the World Darts Championship take centre stage at Alexandra Palace.
Ninety-six came, now just eight remain in pursuit of the Sid Waddell Trophy and £500,000 top prize, with the line-up consisting of two former PDC World Champions, four major title winners and two players entering uncharted territory.
The Quarter-Finals are split across two unmissable sessions at Ally Pally, kicking off with a clash between former World Matchplay champion Dimitri van den Bergh and former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton.
The pair previously met in the Last 64 of the World Championship in 2018, with Van den Bergh prevailing with a 104 average on that occasion, but Clayton’s revenge has included victories in the 2021 World Series final and 2022 Masters.
Clayton racked up four televised titles in a landmark 2021, but has been thwarted at the Semi-Final hurdle in four TV tournaments this season, including last month’s Players Championship Finals, and will be determined not to fall short again here.
The tenacious Welshman finished top of this year’s Premier League table before bowing out in the play-offs, but did claim glory at the New South Wales Masters last August – his sole title in 2022.
An impressive opening salvo saw ‘The Ferret’ brush aside Dutch debutant Danny van Trijp in straight sets with a 99.6 average, before overcoming Brendan Dolan 4-1 in a close-run contest which saw all five sets go the distance.
He then secured his place in a first World Championship Quarter-Final by edging out World Youth Champion Josh Rock 4-3 in a thrilling encounter.
Van den Bergh, meanwhile, is appearing in the Quarter-Finals here for the third time since 2018, having dropped just one set in seeing off Lourence Ilagan, Krzysztof Ratajski and Kim Huybrechts so far.
The world number 15 picked up two World Series titles in 2022, while also reaching the Semi-Finals of the World Matchplay and finishing runner-up in two European Tour events, and can expect his first real examination of the event against the world number seven.
St Helens stars Michael Smith and Stephen Bunting then face off in the second tie of the day, as both look to continue their blistering bursts of form.
Newly-crowned Grand Slam champion Smith has charged into his fourth Ally Pally Quarter-Final and is out to fulfil his darting destiny after two near misses in world finals.
Bully Boy is bidding to go one better than a year ago when he finished runner-up to Peter Wright after leading 5-4 in the final, having also lost out to Michael van Gerwen in 2019.
The world number four got off to the perfect start by whitewashing Nathan Rafferty in nine consecutive legs, before surviving a major scare from Martin Schindler as he battled back from 3-1 down to snatch a narrow 4-3 victory.
He then averaged 103.2 in a dominant 4-1 defeat of fellow Premier League star Joe Cullen to set up a first meeting with Bunting on this famous stage since 2014.
Bunting prevailed 4-2 on that occasion on his way to reaching the Quarter-Finals, and this is now The Bullet’s third appearance at this stage of the event.
His best run came behind closed doors two years ago when he reached the Semi-Finals before being denied by eventual champion Gerwyn Price.
The former Lakeside Champion recovered from losing the first set to defeat North American champion Leonard Gates 3-1 in his opener, before averaging 102.2 in a magnificent 4-2 win over Dave Chisnall and going on to dispatch fifth seed Luke Humphries 4-1 with an average just shy of 100.
The evening session kicks off with a show-down between world number one Gerwyn Price and German number one Gabriel Clemens.
Price has continued his strong recent record at this venue by marching into a fourth consecutive Quarter-Final to remain on course to defend the £500,000 title-winning prize money from 2021 against his world ranking.
Runner-up in this year’s World Matchplay and winner of the World Series Finals, the Welshman came from a set down to defeat Luke Woodhouse with a crucial 150 checkout along the way, before thrashing his recent nemesis Raymond van Barneveld 4-0 and powering past Jose de Sousa 4-1 in the Last 16.
Price has won all four of his previous meetings with Clemens – who has made history by becoming the first German player to reach the Last Eight of the PDC World Championship.
Clemens is carrying the hopes of a huge darting nation on his shoulders and will once again be backed by a strong German contingent in the crowd as he vies to pull off the biggest win of his career.
The ProTour event finalist dismissed William O’Connor in straight sets before edging out Jim Williams in a nail-biting last-set decider and dashed the hopes of Alan Soutar with a commanding 4-1 success.
Three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen aims to maintain his emphatic head-to-head record over Chris Dobey when the duo collide in the final match of the evening.
Van Gerwen has won 11 of their 12 previous encounters, however his perfect record was ended by the Tynesider in their most recent meeting at the European Championship in October.
Van Gerwen, World Champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019, has been the dominant force on the circuit this season, storming to Premier League, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals glory to take his tally of PDC major titles to 45.
The Dutch sensation has racked up a further three European Tour titles, two ProTours and a World Series crown this season and put down an immediate marker upon his return to the capital by thrashing Lewy Williams in straight sets with a 101.8 average – dropping just one leg in the process.
He then fended off a spirited effort from a resurgent Mensur Suljovic to clinch a 4-2 victory with a stunning 107.6 average – the highest of the tournament so far and followed that up with another ton-plus average in dispatching Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-1.
Dobey is enjoying his best run in the World Championship to date, having lost in the Fourth Round in three of his last four appearances.
The three-time major semi-finalist followed up a routine 3-0 win over Martijn Kleermaker by knocking out two-time World Champion Gary Anderson 4-1 and took the scalp of another former winner by overcoming 2018 champion Rob Cross 4-2 with a blistering 102 average.
Dobey was due to face MVG in last year’s Third Round, but was handed a bye after the Dutchman tested positive for Covid and was consequently withdrawn from the event.
The action commences from 12.30pm GMT, with Quarter-Final matches to be contested over the best nine sets, best of five legs per set.
Deciding sets must be won by two clear legs, unless the score reaches 5-5, in which case a sudden-death leg will be played.
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World Darts Championship 2022/23 Quarter-Finals Schedule
Sunday January 1
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Dimitri van den Bergh v Jonny Clayton
Michael Smith v Stephen Bunting
Evening Session (7.30pm-11pm)
Gerwyn Price v Gabriel Clemens
Michael van Gerwen v Chris Dobey
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