2025 PDC WC Thursday Preview

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. James Punt roared back to top form on Wednesday, firing in winners at 2.50, 2.75 and 3.60 for a midweek full house. That should pay for a few Christmas drinks. He’s hoping to empty the bookies’ satchels again this afternoon, check out his 2025 PDC WC Thursday preview and tips below.

Chris Landman vs. Lok Yin Lee

Hardly the greatest line up to ever grace the Ally Pally stage. Unheralded Dutchman, Chris Landman is the 1.14 favourite, with the even less heralded Lok Yin Lee the 6.50 outsider.

Landman won his tour card in January and is up to 84th on the OOM. He needs to be in the top 64 by this time next year if he is to keep his tour card, so a win here is very important, and he will have been happy with the draw.

He comes into this having lost his last four matches in a row. His average over the last three months is a shade under 92 and he is a steady, unspectacular player with limited scoring power, but that shouldn’t be a problem here. He played in the 2022 championship and won his first round match, beating Scott Mitchell 3-0, before going down 1-3 to Ian White.

Lok Yin Lee is a PDC Asian Championship qualifier and the Hong Kong youngster is making his debut. His average over the last three months is 82.83, well shy of Landman’s. His 180 per leg rate is just 0.08 in the last three months, again well shy of Landman’s 0.24.

Landman is 1.53 to hit the most 180s and win the match. You can get 2.37 for match win, most 180s and highest checkout, but while Landman has six ton plus checkouts in his last ten matches, Lok Yin Lee has hit four, so that is where the risk is introduced. I am happy to leave this alone.

2025 PDC WC Thursday Tip: No Bet

Callan Rydz vs. Romeo Grbavac

Rydz is the 1.25 favourite, but he is not in good form, losing seven of his last ten matches. His 3 month average is 92.86, not great but better than Grbavac’s 84.65. The Croatian is better on the doubles at 39% compared to 35% for Rydz.

Rydz is the better player but he does have one big problem, and that is Callan Rydz. Nobody beats Rydz more often than Rydz. He has a huge self-destruct button and he usually pushes it far too soon and it can only take a couple of missed doubles before his head goes.

Grbavac won the PDC Eastern European qualifier to get here. He plays some Challenge Tours and he has played in a three Euro Tour events this year. He took Wessell Nijman to a deciding leg in one, but ultimately lost all three. Grbavac has beaten Josh Rock in a rare outing on the Pro Tour, so he can play, but just not at a level that should beat a player like Rydz.

Callan Rydz has played in five World Championships, reaching the quarter final in 2023. He has won six of his eleven matches at the Palace but has lost his opening match in the last two years, when he was seeded.

I really haven’t seen enough of Grbavac to know if he has what it takes to tip Rydz toward the self-destruct button and I will sit this one out.

2025 PDC WC Thursday Tip: No Bet

Martin Lukeman vs. Nitin Kumar

A good opening draw for Smash. Kumar is the Indian Qualifier once again, having played in the 2019, 2020 and 2022 championships. He lost all three first round matches 0-3.

Martin Lukeman, the Grand Slam runner up (my bet of the year!) has won ten of his last twelve matches, and he should have calmed down since that huge run at the slam. He has averaged 94.58 in the last three months and has hit just one sub 90 average in his last fifteen matches.

Nitin will really need Lukeman to drop down to around 82, if he hopes to compete with him. Nitin did manage a 90 average against Dolan in the 2020 championship, but still lost 0-3. He averaged 97.60 in the final of the Indian qualifier, so his A-game could cause Lukeman a problem. He had to win nineteen qualifying matches to get here, and had one 100 average, a 97 and a 95. Nitin can play…..occasionally.

Lukeman has won both of his first round matches here. There was a 3-0 win over Nobuhiro Yamamoto and a 3-1 win over Haupai Puha last year.

Kumar may, at best, be able to get a set against Lukeman, if Lukeman is a bit off, but this is another, uncompetitive match with a 1.04 favourite. Lukeman is 4.60 to win 3-1, which does make some appeal.

Kumar showed enough flashes of his A game in the qualifiers to suggest he could string a hot streak together for ten minutes and get a set. This is his fourth time to play at the Ally Pally, so he should be a little more relaxed and knows that the world won’t stop spinning if he loses 3-0 again.

2025 PDC WC Thursday Tip: 0.5 Martin Lukeman to win 3-1 @ 4.60 with Betfred

Gabriel Clemens vs. Robert Owen

Owen took a step towards keeping his tour card by beating Niels Zonneveld 3-1 on Monday night. He was the outsider in that one but he held things together to get it over the line.

That win has moved him up to 68th in the world rankings and a win here and he moves to the all-important 64th place. Depending on other results, that might be enough. It is a huge game for him. Owen has lost five of his last ten matches and is not playing with a great deal of consistency.

Clemens is going in the other direction. He has dropped out of the top 32 thanks to his semi-final money from two years ago coming off his ranking. He would need to reach the semi-final again just to regain his place in the top 32. His form in 2024 suggest that he will not do that.

Inconsistent Clemens

His win rate is 55% and he has lost six of his last ten matches and is not playing with enough consistency to think he is going to have a run, but he has hit anything from a 107 to an 84 average in those last ten matches. He has won his last four second round matches at Ally Pally, so he is comfortable on the big stage.

Clemens is the better player, more accomplished in the venue, and not under the same intense pressure as Owen. The German should be too good, or at least better, than Owen. Clemens is the 1.44 favourite, Robert Owen has been getting backed and is into 3.00.

These two have only met once, and that produced a 6-5 win for Clemens in a Players Championship match last October. I will have a go with Owen on the handicap. He will need something like his A game or hope that Clemens has one of his increasingly common low, or sub 90 days.

2025 PDC WC Thursday Tip: 1 point Robert Owen to win +1.5 sets @ 1.90 with Livescorebet

-JamesPunt