2025 PDC WC Sunday Evening Preview

James Punt kept things ticking over with another winner this afternoon but Callan Rydz scuppered our bet on Dimitri Van Den Bergh. We try again tonight, check out James Punt’s 2025 PDC WC Sunday evening preview and tips below.

Ricky Evans vs. Robert Owen

This is a great opportunity for one of these two players to reach the fourth round and earn another £10k in prize money. Robert Owen made the big mistake of thinking that he had retained his tour card when he beat Gabriel Clemens in the second round.

It did move him up to 64th place, the final cut off point to retain cards but, ironically, when his fellow Welshman Nick Kenny won his second round match, it moved him into the top 64, and pushed Owen back down to 65th.

It is now a simple equation for Owen. Win this and he is into the top 60 and keeps his card for 2025. Lose, and it is back to Q school, and starting the whole thing from scratch. No ranking money, nothing, and that is if he can win a card. It is a very big deal for his future.

No Pressure On Evans

Ricky Evans has no such worries. He just wants another win. He has won two matches so far, and that ended a run of nine straight defeats. Both his matches went to a fifth set and it has all been very nervy. His 3-2 win over Chisnall went to extra legs, so Evans has put a bit of a shift in to get here. Owen won his two matches 3-1 and averaged 91 and 96.

Their H2H record is 3-2 to Robert Owen and in 2024 it is 2-1 to Owen. They have never met on TV before, and that is important. Evans is the better known player and something of a crowd favourite. The largely English crowd will be hostile towards Owen.

Abuse

He has had the abuse here before, so he knows what he is going to get, but 3500 pissed up punters calling you a sheep shagger is not going to help his mood. If he can go a couple of sets up, the crowd will shut up, and head to the bar for another jug of overpriced, pissy lager.

Owen has been the better player so far, but not massively so. Evans effectively has home advantage and much more big stage experience. Owen is fighting for his very future, which brings a lot of pressure, but he could have been facing a tougher opponent than Ricky Evans.

Owen has played well against Evans in their three matches this year. Averages of 101.50, 98.64 and 95.66 are all well above his seasonal average of 90.67. That suggests that he likes the pace of play, but the question is, can he play as well, on the big stage, with a very hostile crowd…and his career on the line?

Evans is the 1.73 favourite, Owen 2.20. Owen has played well so far, and so long as he can keep his head screwed on, ignore the abuse and handle the pressure of playing for his tour card, he can win. We have to remember that Evans has lost eight of his last ten matches, so his confidence will be very fragile.

2025 PDC WC Sunday evening tip: 1 point Robert Owen to win @ 2.20 generally available

Jonny Clayton vs. Gerwyn Price

The remaining two Welshmen follow on from Robert Owen in the evening’s opener. These two are good friends and their H2H record is 21-11 to Price but, more importantly, he has won nine of their last ten matches. They have met once on this stage, back in 2017, and that was a 3-1 win for Clayton.

Clayton came into this tournament in good form, scoring well and consistently, but he has struggled in his opening two matches, averaging 92.45 and 90.11. He very nearly blew a three set lead against Daryl Gurney in the second round and it hasn’t been an impressive start for The Ferret.

Sudden Death

Gerwyn Price also lost a three set lead against Joe Cullen in his second round match and that one went all the way to a sudden death leg. Price looked exhausted after that but he only had himself to blame. It was one of the worst displays of double tops finishing as you will see from Price, usually a very good tops hitter. He was missing time and time again, but pig headedly stuck at it. It was ironic that his match winning dart was a double 20.

Neither player looked great in their last match and both need to up their game, but that H2H record suggests that Price has Clayton’s number. Price is the 1.58 favourite, Clayton 2.50. Both players look a bit dodgy to me and this is a no bet match.

2025 PDC WC Sunday evening tip: No Bet

Luke Humphries vs. Peter Wright

Snakebite was the surprise winner when he faced the in-form Jermaine Wattimena. It was a 4-2 win with a 96 average, and he deserved to win. Wright was sick with a cold and was coughing and spluttering all the way through the match. He has had a couple of days to recover, but he is unlikely to be fully fit for this.

As usual, Wright has tried to play mind games coming into this match but the reality is that he has lost seven of his last ten matches and dropped four sets in his first two matches.

Humphries has not got out of second gear so far in his two matches, but he won both to nil and he looked good vs. Nick Kenny, averaging 98.59. Something similar will be far too much for Wright. Humphries has won his last nine matches on this stage, so he will be feeling very confident. He is taking nothing for granted and will be well prepared.

Their H2H record is 7-6 to Humphries, and the last four have all gone Luke’s way, all in 2024 and all in the Premier League. Wright was never good enough to be meeting Humphries anywhere else in 2024.

Humphries is the 1.14 favourite, Wright 7.00. I’ll take Humphries to make Wright eat his words and do a number on him, but I won’t be greedy and will make it a handicap bet for a little bit of wriggle room.

2025 PDC WC Sunday evening tip: 1 point Luke Humphries to win -2.5 sets @ 1.70 with Ladbrokes

-JamesPunt