PDC World Darts Championship: Day 3 Betting Tips - Evening Session

Jeffrey de Graaf vs Rashad Sweeting

Jeffrey de Graaf reached the last 32 at the World Championships last year, beating Richie Edhouse and Jose De Sousa in the opening rounds.

He hasn't had the greatest of seasons but he did have a good run to the last 16 at the Players Championship Finals in November, beating Ryan Searle and Thibault Tricole on route. He topped the PDC Nordic and Baltic Tour to qualify for his 4th appearance at Alexandra Palace.

Rashad Sweeting will make history this year as the first player from the Bahamas to play in a PDC World Championship. He qualified after he topped the Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean Order of Merit.

He won two tournaments on that tour this year but the standard wasn't the best and he has a seasonal average of just 75.12. Whatever happens here it will be a momentous occasion for him and the Bahamas. 

Jeffrey de Graaf has probably been handed the kindest first-round draw of the tournament and should have far too much quality in this contest and unless Rashad Sweeting dramatically improves on his seasonal average then I expect de Graaf to win with ease.

Ricardo Pietreczko vs Xiaochen Zong

It's been a very stop-start season for Ricardo Pietreczko, wins have been hard to come by consistently and that shows in his seasonal average of 90.08 and a win percentage of just 43%.

He has had some success this season reaching a final on the Euro Tour at the Flanders Darts Trophy and then reaching the Quarter Final of the European Championships. His Inconsistency has shown throughout the season though, highlighted by not qualifying for the Grand Slam or the Players Championship Finals.

12 months ago he probably should have beaten eventual World Champion Luke Humphries but he succumbed to a late surge from ‘Cool Hand’. 

Xiaochen Zong qualified for his 4th PDC World Championship after winning the Chinese Premier League. His stats in that event were really impressive with a running average of 88.87 winning 86% of his games. He has failed to win a game in his previous 3 appearances but he did play well against Mickey Mansell last year, losing 3-0 but certainly had his chances.

Zong has represented China 4 times at the World Cup and has played in the World Youth Championships 3 times. He hit the first ever 9 darter on stream in the 2023 PDC China Pro Tour. He's certainly improving as a player and at just 26 he looks like a real prospect for Chinese Darts. 

This is a really interesting match and I wouldn't be surprised if we see an upset here. Pietreczko’s form is a real concern for me but he may well have too much for Zong.

However, the odds are way too big for me and I think the Chinese star could take advantage of the inconsistent German and win his first game at Ally Pally.