2019 BDO World Championship
January 5th – 13th
Eurosport
There is nothing quite like a darts crowd for the atmosphere at a sporting event. There really isn’t. We saw it recently at the PDC Darts World Championship and we will get to experience the rambunctious rowdiness at the Lakeside when the BDO Darts World Championship kicks off. The tournament starts on January 5th and the final is set for the 13th of the month. Granted while the tourney doesn’t have as much of a draw as the PDC version, it’s a fantastic staple of new year sporting action.
Duzza did it again
Twelve months ago Glen Durrant successfully defended his title at the Lakeside. He is pretty much regarded as the man to beat. On top of his success at the World’s last year, he also got the BDO World Trophy, the Zuiderduin Masters and was runner-up at the Winmau Worlds. So it was yet another powerful season from him in the Majors.
Duzza is the 11/10 outright favourite at leading bookmakers to complete the three-peat at the Lakeside. He’s not the top seed for the tournament though. That honour falls to Mark McGeeney, the man who Duzza beat in a deciding set in last year’s Final. That will probably be a niggle for Duzza, but as he is the second seed, then the two of them are being kept apart in the draw until a potential rematch in the final.
Enter The Gladiator
McGeeney is the world number two currently despite a lack of Major titles. After back to back spots in the final of the Winmau World Masters in 2016 and 2017, plus a runners-up at last year’s World Championships his status has risen in the game. McGeeney had no track record at the World Championships before coming from nowhere to reach the final twelve months ago. In the two prior attempts at the event, he hadn’t gotten past the second round. So he has now set the bar really high for himself. Will he be able to live up to that or even go a step further? He is the 11/1 third favourite at the top bookmakers to pull this off.
PDC pulling at the best
It is worth noting I think that both Duzza and McGeeney, the two players at top of the BDO pecking order, are eyeing up moves to the PDC this year. They have both announced, regardless of what happens at the BDO World Championship that they will be heading to Q-School. So they clearly have their eyes set on bigger prizes that potentially await them over on the star-studded PDC Tour. New rules mean that anyone who is unsuccessful in the Q-School can still compete in the BDO. So Duzza and McGeeney have a foot in both camps and will lose nothing by trying out. But will the definite pull of the PDC distract them at the Lakeside?
The Newer Contenders
There is a reasonable hint that there are players who can cause an upset in this year’s BDO Darts World Championship. You had McGeeney burst into life last season and another one who had an unexpectedly good run at last year’s event was Germany’s Michael Unterbuchner. He made his debut at the Lakeside last year and T-Rex made it all the way to the semifinals where he lost against McGeeney in a competitive match. Unterbuchner had knocked out three seeded players on his way to the final four. That was some run from him. It wasn’t just a fluke performance either. He also made it to the final of the BDO World Trophy when he lost to Durrant in what was the first major final of his career. So the German clearly has it in him and the leading bookies have recognised that, placing him as the 9/1 second favourite.
Third seed Jim Williams goes into the Worlds on the back of a tremendously consistent season at the Major events in 2018. He reached three semifinals last season (BDO World Trophy, Winmau World Masters and the Zuiderduin Masters) and was a losing quarter-finalist at the Lakeside last season. ‘The Quiff’, from Wales, could well pose a threat and isn’t the kind of player anyone wants to meet. He is a bigger 28/1 odds option with the top bookies for the 2019 BDO World Championship which does offer big each way value if nothing else. Williams is in the bottom half of the draw, opposing Durrant. This will be his fifth appearance at the Lakeside.
What history gets created?
Other top names in the draw include Wesley Harms, Scott Mitchell, Scott Waites and Richard Veenstra. Who is going to dominate this year? Duzza will likely be wanting to sign off (potentially) from the BDO with a bang. If he were to win it this year he would be the only other player besides late great Eric Bristow to win the BDO World Championship three times in a row. Will it be McGeeney who gets his first or will the big guns be upset by an outsider at the Lakeside?
