2024 has really been the year of the underdog in darts.
The year kicked off with the unseeded and relatively unknown Luke Littler reaching the World Darts Championship Final, and Littler then went onto become the Premier League champion at the first time of asking.
Dimitri van den Bergh went on to win the UK Open despite being unfancied, while Mike De Decker and Ritchie Edhouse upset the odds at the Grand Prix and the European Championships respectively.
| 2024 PDC Majors | Winners |
| World Championship | Luke Humphries |
| UK Open | Dimitri van den Bergh |
| Premier League | Luke Littler |
| World Matchplay | Luke Humphries |
| World Grand Prix | Mike De Decker |
| European Championship | Ritchie Edhouse |
| Grand Slam | Luke Littler |
| Players Championship Finals | Luke Humphries |
Edhouse shocked fans with his European Championship win, and the shocks have kept coming at this year’s World Championship.
Indeed, seed after seed has fallen in the early rounds at Alexandra Palace, and, all of a sudden, the draw has opened up nicely for Michael van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen had a tough draw on paper at the beginning of this tournament, but after a few early shocks, the draw now looks very kind to the Dutchman.
Round Three – Brendan Dolan
Van Gerwen is set to face Brendan Dolan in the third round at the World Championships this year, and this is a game Mighty Mike should win.
Dolan beat Van Gerwen at the World Matchplay last year, and he does have a decent record against MVG overall, winning four of their last 10 meetings.
However, Dolan isn’t in the best of form right now. He lost in the first round of the Matchplay, Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals, while he didn’t qualify for the European Championships or the Grand Slam.
This should be a rather routine win for Van Gerwen.
Round Four – Jeffrey de Graaf
This is where things were supposed to get tricky for Van Gerwen.
This was supposed to be a match against Gary Anderson, but after Jeffrey de Graaf shocked Anderson over the weekend, MVG is now set to face the unseeded Swede.
De Graaf has shown how dangerous he is with his win against Anderson, but the world number 81 isn’t on the same level as Van Gerwen.
The three-time World Champion should come through this game with ease.
Quarter-final – Dimitri van den Bergh
Dimitri van den Bergh is a very capable darts player, and he’s actually had a better year than Van Gerwen in 2024 – winning a major title.
However, on the big stage, Van Gerwen will head into this match as favourite.
Indeed, MVG beat Van den Bergh 6-0 the last time these two met at Ally Pally, and Van Gerwen has actually won 14 of the last 15 meetings between these two players.
| Michael van Gerwen last 10 games vs Dimitri van den Bergh | |
| Wins | 14 |
| Losses | 1 |
If all goes to plan, Van Gerwen should have a safe passage into the semi-finals here.
Semi-final – Jonny Clayton
It’s actually very hard to pick who will come through this quarter of the draw, but, at the moment, Jonny Clayton would potentially be the favourite.
Clayton is the highest-ranked player in this quarter of the draw, but, even then, he only averaged a shade over 91 in his first match.
This quarter of the draw isn’t full of talent. Clayton has even admitted that he hasn’t played well this year, but due to the lack of depth in this quarter of the draw, the Welshman may be setting up a date of destiny with MVG in the semi-finals.