PDC World Darts Championship: Day 9 Betting Tips - Afternoon Session

• Under 5.5 180s : 4/5 StarSports
• Over 3.5 Sets : 4/6 BetVictor

The ultra-consistent Krzysztof Ratajski has once again had a pretty solid season and has a seasonal average of 94.33. ‘The Polish Eagle’ has had 2 quarter-finals and 2 semi-finals in the Players Championship floor events this season.

He hasn't had the best of years on TV, with his best being a 5th round run at the UK Open in March. 2nd round exits at the World Matchplay and the recent Players Championship Finals won't fill him with great confidence.

This will be Ratajski’s 8th appearance at the PDC World Championships with his best run being a Quarter Final in 2021, although you’d have to say he was a much better player back then. He will still cause anyone problems because of his consistency and could probably do with a good run here after slipping to 24 in the World Rankings.

Alexis Toylo was very impressive on his Ally Pally debut as he swept aside Richard Veenstra in straight sets 3-0. He set his stall out early by hitting 3 180s and a 98.30 average in the first set and although finishing with an 86.03 average, his performance looked better than that.

The Filipino certainly lived up to his form from this year after finishing top of the Asian Tour order of merit and will no doubt cause Krzysztof Ratajski some problems.

I think Ratajski will be too solid in this game and will lean on his experience to get himself through to the next round but Toylo will certainly cause him problems. The value here in my opinion is backing under 180s as Ratajski has never been a big 180 hitter and has hit them at a rate of 0.19 per leg this season.

Alexis Toylo did hit 3 in his first match but they all came in the first set and based on his stats on the Asian Tour this season he has only hit them at a rate of 0.18 per leg.

• Andrew Gilding to win: 5/4 Ladbrokes
• Andrew Gilding over 3.5 180s: 1/1 BoyleSports

Andrew Gilding starts his 6th World Championship campaign as the 21st seed but faces a very tough opening match against the recent Grand Slam Finalist, Martin Lukeman. He lost in the 2nd Round last year 3-1 to Luke Littler but he certainly pushed the teenage sensation.

He doesn't boast a very good record at Ally Pally and has failed to get past the 2nd round in all 5 of his previous appearances and has been once again drawn in the same Quarter as ‘The Nuke’. Gilding has had a decent season in 2024 but it certainly hasn't been spectacular.

On the Players Championship floor events he failed to get past round 4 in 26 of the 30 tournaments he entered but did have 2 Quarter Finals and a Semi Final. On the European Tour he qualified for 12 of the 13 events but failed to get past the third round in all of them.

‘Goldfinger’ did however have a few good runs in Majors, with a 5th round exit at the UK Open and a Quarter Final at the World Matchplay.

Martin Lukeman really struggled in his opening round match but he did admit he had been under the weather for a week leading up to the World Championships.

He beat Nitin Kumar 3-1 with an 86.66 average, something he will really need to improve if he’s to get past the solid Gilding.

With 2 180s and just a 28% checkout rate, it really was an underwhelming performance from the Grand Slam Finalist. I wouldn't read too much into it though as like I said he had been ill so I expect him to be much better today.

Both these players have never progressed further than the 2nd round at a PDC World Championship so this could well be a nervy affair.

Looking at the odds I can really see the value in backing Andrew Gilding, he's more experienced at Ally Pally and got to the 3rd round of the recent Players Championship, averaging 97.14 and 100.07 in wins against Kevin Doets and Dave Chisnall.