2026 PDC WC Day 15 Preview

James managed to land one winner on what was a tough Day 14. His 2026 PDC WC Day 15 previews and tips are below.

Afternoon Session

Martin Schindler vs. Ryan Searle

Schindler will be trying to reach the fourth round for the first time in what is now his seventh World Championship. It has just never quite clicked for him at Ally Pally.

He has played well so far, averaging 99.14 in a 3-1 win vs Stephen Burton and 96.16 in a 3-0 win over Keane Barry. All good stuff and a significant improvement on some very average form coming into this event. He was hitting a lot of sub-90 averages, so to be in the high 90s is a good turnaround.

Perfect So Far

Ryan Searle has not dropped a set yet with 3-0 wins over Landman and Dolan, averaging 93.29 and 98.67 respectively. Searle’s Ally Pally record is a little better than Schindler as he has reached the fourth round in three of his seven previous World Championships, but he has lost his last three third round matches.

Like Schindler his form is an uptick on some rather inconsistent performances coming into this. He was playing better than Schindler, but still very hot and cold.

Their H2H record is 3-2 to Searle. They have not played in 2025. Four of their matches have been on the Euro Tour, which is Schindler’s happy place, and Searle’s not so happy place. Searle still manged to win two of their Euro Tour matches.

They last met in the final of the Swiss Darts Trophy in late 2024 and Schindler won that 8-7. Both averaged 93 in that match, but Searle lost his doubling radar, missed twenty two doubles and it cost him his first Euro Tour title. Searle remembers it well, as does Schindler I would imagine.

Heavy Metal Fav

Searle is the 1.80 favourite, Schindler 2.10. It is hard to argue with those odds. Both are decent 180 hitters and have hit twenty between them in the first two rounds. However, in the total 180s market they would have to hit fourteen or more to get odds of over evens. In that Euro Tour final last year they hit just three from fifteen legs.

Two of the six matches yesterday saw over 13.5 maximums and even two matches that went to a deciding set still finished with under 13.5. There is a decent argument for under 13.5 and over 13.5, and the length of the match is likely to be the deciding factor.

Schindler has been better on the 180s so far with 0.46 per leg, compared to 0.33 for Searle. Schindler is playing above his seasonal average, Searle pretty much bang on his. If Schindler can keep his eye in, it will increase his chance of winning the match.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: 1 point Schindler to hit the most 180s @ 2.14 with Livescorebet

Damon Heta vs. Rob Cross

This is a nightmare to call. Two players who have been in poor form for months but have negotiated their way to a third round match.

Neither have impressed. Heta’s tournament average is just 91.35, Cross’ 91.27. Nothing to separate them there. Neither has had much coming back at them in terms of heavy scoring, but Heta was taken close by Steffan Bellmont who averaged just 88.32. Cross has dropped just one set, against Ian White who averaged 85.78.

A Grind

This has the look of a poor, low scoring grind, but somebody will be through to the last sixteen. Their H2H record is 5-3 to Cross. They have not played in 2025 and half of their matches have been in the World Series event, which are non-ranking exhibitions.

Heta got his big break when he beat Cross in the final of a World Series event in Australia in 2019. That was enough to get him to up sticks and have a crack at professional darts in the UK, and he hasn’t done too bad.

Cross says he decided to come off some medication he has been on to treat depression. It is hard to say if that will improve his game, but there were no signs of it in the first two rounds.

Heta won their two matches in 2024, both close affairs. This could be another. Cross is the 1.83 favourite, Heta 2.00. I can see no value in those odds and thought I would take a chance that we do get a longish match. However, over 5.5 sets is just 1.61. This is easily passed over. No Bet.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: No Bet

Gary Anderson vs. Jermaine Wattimena

This should be the perfect antidote to the previous match.

Anderson has come through a couple of scraps to get here. He beat Adam Hunt 3-2 in the first round and Conor Scutt 3-1 in round two. His tournament average is 100.30 and he has won five of his last ten matches. He has been playing well and losing too many matches coming into this event, so we should be wary that those big averages may be a bit misleading.

Wattimena has not played his best stuff so far and has required deciding sets in both his two opening matches. He has only averaged 91.59 across his two matches, but he was decent against Scott Williams in round two with a 95.91 average. Wattimena has won eight of his last ten matches and he is a much more confident player these days.

Their H2H record is 6-0 to Gary Anderson, but they have not met since 2021, which is a surprise. Wattimena has improved since then. They met at this stage of the tournament in the 2019 championship and Anderson won that 4-3.

Anderson is the 1.67 favourite, Wattimena 2.25, and it is the Dutchman who is attracting the money.

Anderson has won thirteen third round matches here and in 46% of them, he won 4-3. Four of his last six third round matches here he won 4-3 and one was against Wattimena.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: 1 point over 5.50 sets @ 1.67 with Boylesports

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: 0.5 point Anderson to win 4-3 @ 5.50 generally available

Evening Session

Gian Van Veen vs. Madars Razma

Van Veen was impressive in his first-round win over a very competitive Cristo Reyes, and he was even better when beating Alan Soutar in round two. It was a tournament best 108.28 average against Soots. Van Veen has had two good workouts in his opening matches and performed very well.

Madars Razma was a bit lucky to get a 3-1 win over Darren Beveridge. We were on over 4.5 sets and with Beveridge 2-0 up in the fourth set, it looked good, but Beveridge failed to take out a 45 finish to win the set and Razma cleared up the next three legs to win the match.

Razma averaged 97.10, his best for nearly three months. He has now won seven of his last ten matches and has hit some good form at just the right time. However, he is now up against a big hitter and there is a difference in class here.

Their H2H record is 3-3, with Van Veen winning the last three, and their last match was a 7-1 win for the Dutchman in a Players Championship semi-final in March.

Gian Van Veen is the 1.08 favourite with Razma 9.00. Razma has lost at this stage for the last two years, both times 1-4. Van Veen has dropped a solitary set in his opening two matches.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: 0.5 point Gian van Veen to win 4-1 @ 3.40 with Betfred

Luke Humphries vs. Gabriel Clemens

Humphries has now won eight of his last ten matches and is looking in top form. His tournament average is 97.85 and in his last ten he has had only one sub-95 average and seven 97+.

Gabriel Clemens will be delighted to have got this far. He has been struggling for form for a while now and picking up £30K in prizemoney will steady the ship a little. His tournament average is just 90.39 and the fact that he beat Nijman 3-0 was as much down to Nijman’s failure to get going on the big stage again, as it was to Clemens’ performance.

Their H2H record is 5-3 to Humphries. They have not met this year but in 2024 it was 3-1 to Humphries, including a 6-2 win on TV.

Humphries has won all five of his third round matches here and last year’s 4-0 win over Nick Kenny was his first to nil.

Humphries is the 1.08 favourite, Clemens 10.00. There noting in the way of value in this match. No bet.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: No Bet

Michael van Gerwen vs. Arno Merk

Some of the chaff always get through with the wheat and that is the case with Merk. He did well enough to beat Kim Huybrechts in round one, and then he faced an abysmal Peter Wright in round two. Wright could only manage a 79.20 average and it was an easy 3-0 win for the German. He has averaged 90.95 across his two matches, and that is unlikely to bother MVG, now that we are into the longer format.

Van Gerwen was very poor in round won but got a 3-1 win over Mitsuhiro Tatsunami, but he averaged 100 when beating a disappointing William O’Connor 3-1 in round two. That match vs. O’Connor was a dangerous one for MVG, but O’Connor ran up the white flag far too soon, again. Van Gerwen always looked to have an easy run to the fourth round and so it is proving to be.

MVG is the 1.10 favourite, Merk 9.00. Much like the match above, there is no real betting interest. Maybe Merk can win a set, but MVG has won four of his last seven third round matches to nil and Merk fits the bill of another victim. Odds of just 2.63 are of limited interest. No bet.

2026 PDC WC Day 15 Tip: No Bet

-JamesPunt