Sunday's World Darts Championship tips

Steve Beaton v Fallon Sherrock

Only one place to start and that’s Sunday evening’s huge first-round clash between Fallon Sherrock and 1996 world champion Steve Beaton – making a record 31st appearance at the World Championship.

Sherrock was crowned ‘Queen of the Palace’ with her history-making two victories on the Ally Pally stage two years ago, and although she didn’t qualify last year she’s been blazing a trail for women’s darts ever since.

Overall she’s won seven of her 15 games against the men on TV, reaching the quarter-finals at the Grand Slam and producing a miraculous comeback from 7-1 down to beat Dimitri van den Bergh to make the Nordic Darts Masters final.

She’s thrown a record TV average for a woman of 101.5 and nailed a 170 checkout, but perhaps most impressive was going toe-to-toe with Peter Wright in the Grand Slam in a long match that the 2020 world champion edged 16-13.

Both that and her previous efforts on this stage make her the 1.9 favourite here, with Beaton cast in the role of slight outsider at 2.08.

The big question will be how Sherrock responds to being favourite and dealing with the expectation, which is a whole new ball game to having a free hit, while Beaton with all his experience will be able to take advantage of any nerves – even if his season hasn’t been great.

We’ve not seen anything yet from Sherrock though to suggest she’d crumble under pressure, so we’ll back her to win, but Beaton knows how to throw a 180 so it’s worth a punt on him to land most maximums at 2.82.

Tip: Back Sherrock to win at 1.9

Jonny Clayton v Keane Barry

The well-fancied Jonny Clayton enters the tournament on Sunday as the 11.0 fourth-favourite in the outright betting after a stellar 2021 containing four big TV tournament wins.

The Welshman’s not been beyond the third round during his five visits to Alexandra Palace, but after taking a big leap in terms of victories, it could be his year for a deep run.

Clayton won the Premier League on his debut and battered Gerwyn Price 5-1 in the Grand Prix final, so has the big game for the big stage. He now just has to deal with the added expectation after such a trophy-laden season.

Clayton faces double world youth champion Keane Barry, who edged a 3-2 victory over Royden Lam in the first round.

Barry’s a huge 6.4 outsider with Clayton the red-hot 1.11 favourite, and Barry will have to raise his game a few levels to stand a chance, but having that first game in the bank often helps and he can take a set here.

Tip: Back over 3.5 sets in the match at 1.89

Third-favourite Jonny Clayton is in a different half of the draw to second-favourite Michael van Gerwen (pictured), with Gerwyn Price leading the field

Martijn Kleermaker v John Michael

Martijn Kleermaker was due to make his Alexandra Palace debut last year but had to pull out after testing positive for Covid, so this will be his actual World Championship debut 12 months on.

He’s risen to World No. 50 on his second year in the PDC after reaching the Last 16 of the UK Open and European Championship, and he’s expected to start climbing up the ranks.

Cyprus-born Greek thrower John Michael has won plenty of lower tournaments on the PDC Europe Tour but has never really made an impact in a major PDC event.

Kleermaker is a clear 1.4 favourite and should get the job done, but you get a bit more value on the Dutchman hitting more 180s than his lower-ranked opponent.

Tip: Back Kleermaker most 180s at 1.94

Florian Hempel v Martin Schindler

This is a close-run all-German affair between World No.69 Martin Schindler and World No.87 Florian Hempel.

Hempel is the slight 2.24 outsider with Schindler, who has a few more years of PDC experience, the favourite at 1.77.

Both have taken a couple of big scalps in recent events, with Hempel beating Peter Wright on his PDC TV debut at the European Championship, and Schindler beating Gerwyn Price in a group game at the Grand Slam.

Former handball player Hempel powered through the Pro Tour with a 94 average and although Schindler has found some form too, the outsider of the two is worth siding with.

Tip: Back Hempel to win at 2.24