Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship – JP
Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship Preview
James Punt was out of luck on Wednesday afternoon. Searle and Noppert both chucked away handsome leads, losing to De Sousa and Soutar respectively. Surely we are due a change in luck, Check out his Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship tips below.
Joe Cullen vs. Damon Heta
Cullen is in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches, and he is playing with a good deal of consistency. All ten have seen 90+ averages and half of them over 95.
Cullen has played in twelve previous World Championships but only reached the third round three times, and only won one match. 2022 has been something of a breakthrough year for him and he will be hoping that his rancid Ally Pally form is now a thing of the past.
Frustrating Season
Damon Heta will be glad not to have lost his opening match after a season of frustration in major championships. The only TV event he won was the World Cup alongside Simon Whitlock. He will be hoping things go as well for him as they did for Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright when they won the World Cup.
Heta has only played one third round match here and he lost that 2-4 to Peter Wright. His recent form is decent, winning six of his last ten matches and like Cullen, he is showing good consistency with nine 90+ averages and five 95+. No ton plus averages, which is a surprise given that his 12 month average is 97.5, second only to Michael van Gerwen.
Cullen Edges H2H
Their H2H record is 5-3 to Cullen and they have met no less than six times in 2002 and it is 4-2 to Cullen and 3-0 on TV.
This should be a good match, but based on past experience, it probably won’t be. None of their previous matches have been close. 2-1 in sets at the Grand Prix and a couple of 8-4s in Players Championship finals are the three closest matches they have had.
The market can’t separate them with Heta a marginal 1.91 favourite and Cullen 1.98. Cullen is playing a little better than Heta has been of late and his H2H record with him is favourable. Neither has a record of note at Ally Pally, but for once, Cullen looks the one to back at The Palace on the Hill.
Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship tip: 1 point Joe Cullen to win @ 1.98 with Unibet
Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship tip: 0.5 point Joe Cullen to win 4-2 @ 5.75 with Ladbrokes
Michael van Gerwen vs. Mensur Suljovic
Many people have just about given MVG the title already and this should be a simple task for him to move closer to it. His form is excellent, winning eight of his last ten matches and hitting seven ton plus averages and a low of 95.99. The only surprise is that he has lost two.
Mensur Suljovic has lost five of his last ten matches with five sub 90 averages. He beat the disappointing Mike de Decker 3-0 in the first round. I, like many, fancied De Decker to win that and maybe have a decent run, but he needs to toughen up mentally before he can start to reach his potential.
Poor Ally Pally Record
Suljovic only averaged 88.6 in the match and anything like that and the Austrian will be going home in double quick time. Suljovic has a hate-hate relationship with Ally Pally. He has played in fourteen Championships and never reached the fourth round. He has played 21 matches in total and won just 9. I dare say he has the bag packed and the taxi’s engine is running.
Their H2H record is 19-5 to MVG and he has won their last six, eleven of their last twelve and their last eight on TV. They haven’t met this season and Suljovic’s form has dropped, while Van Gerwen has improved on his form of the last couple of years.
MVG is the 1.07 favourite and Suljovic 11.50. Suljovic looks a bit short at 11.00 to be honest. MVG has won his ten third round matches in a row and four of the last six to nil.
Wednesday Night 2023 PDC World Championship tip: 1 point Michael van Gerwen to win 4-0 @ 2.37 with Ladbrokes
Michael Smith vs. Martin Schindler
Schindler got his first ever Ally Pally win against Martin Lukeman in the second round. It was a 3-1 win with a 93 average. It is likely he will need more here.
Smith kicked his campaign off with a 3-0 demolition of Nathan Rafferty. The Natural didn’t really turn up but Smith stuck to his task rather than switch off, which many do.
Schindler is in good form, winning seven of his last ten. He is showing good consistency with all ten 90+ averages but only three above his seasonal average of 94.8.
Smith On Song
Michael Smith is in better form, winning eight of his last ten, including winning the Grand Slam. All ten have been 90+ averages and five above his seasonal average of 97.0.
Their H2H record is a comprehensive 9-1 to Smith and he is the 1.20 favourite to make it 10-1. Smith has played in seven 3rd round matches and won six, four of them 4-2. Another 4-2? Why not.
Schindler is perfectly capable of winning sets against the better players. More sets played means more legs played, means more chances for 180s. Both are in the top 10 for 180s per leg and it could kick off in that department and if they start bouncing off each other, it could be very entertaining.
