PDC World Darts Championship: Day 2 Betting Tips - Afternoon Session

Wesley Plaisier vs Ryusei Azemoto

Wesley Plaisier is making his debut at this year's World Championship after finishing so high on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, so he's coming here with a big reputation.

He’s had a superb season as a Non-Tour Card holder reaching three finals in Players Championships events and winning one title. He will also gain his Tour Card for next season after finishing 2nd on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit where he won two titles this season.

The Dutchman also defended his WDF World Masters crown after beating Kai Gotthardt 7-3 in the final. He has a seasonal average of 94.25 and a win rate of 61% making him very dangerous at this event.

Ryusei Azemoto is another player who is making his debut at this event after finishing 4th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has won four events this year on the Asian Tour including back-to-back events in Manila. The 29-year-old averaged 98.36 at the 5th event of the season, his highest of the year.

Azemoto certainly has ability and the Japanese have caused upsets in the past at Ally Pally so I certainly wouldn't rule him out. However, Plaisier is coming here bang on form, the only question mark is perhaps his TV game as he hasn't played too much in PDC majors so far in his career. If the Dutchman settles quickly he could roll his opponent over but I think he could be a little nervous so it may be closer than the odds suggest.

Luke Woodhouse vs Lourence Ilagan

Luke Woodhouse comes to Ally Pally on the back of another solid season and is knocking on the door of the World's top 32. He has a seasonal average of 93.20 and a 55% win ratio, a very respectable return.

His TV game is what he's lacked at times but ‘Woody’ has started to put that right after gaining more experience on the big stage. He had a run to the last 16 of the UK Open earlier in the year and recently in October, he had a deep run to the Semi-Finals of the European Championships.

There are still signs of frailties though after round 1 losses at The Matchplay, The Grand Prix and the Players Championship Finals. If Luke manages to keep his cool he could be due a deep run at this year's World Championships.

The highly entertaining and unpredictable Filipino, Lourence Ilagan is back at Alexandra Palace for his 9th appearance. He qualified by virtue of three wins and four runner-ups on the Asian Tour this season and finished 2nd on the Order of Merit.

There's no doubt Ilagan is a very good dart player and also has a lot of experience here, but he's never really shown his best at the World Championships and that's certainly a big concern.

As much as Lourence Ilagan remains very dangerous, I can't see him troubling the very steady Luke Woodhouse and I expect Luke to deal with him quite easily and set up a second-round contest with the World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker.

Alan Soutar vs Kai Gotthardt

The ever popular Scot, Alan Soutar will be making his 3rd appearance here and comes to this year's World Championship after back-to-back runs to the last 16 at Ally Pally. Unfortunately for him though he's not coming here in great form and has plummeted to 50th in the World Rankings.

To make things even tougher, he's defending £35,000 on his rankings after his last 16 runs two years ago, so will be under immense pressure to have a run. He did however win his first Players Championship title in June in Hildesheim beating Daryl Gurney in the final.

Kai Gotthardt is a player I really rate and he has qualified for his Debut at the PDC World Championships by winning the German Super League. He has played in a lot of different events this season mixing PDC with WDF as he does not currently hold a PDC Tour Card.

He’s made two last 16s on the Pro Tour, played on the Euro Tour and played on the Challenge tour this season. He also made the final of the WDF World Masters this season losing out to Wesley Plaisier 7-3.

This is a very interesting encounter and I suspect it's going to be very close. As I said before I rate Gotthardt and at just 29 years old he has a lot of time to improve.

He hits a lot of 180s and even though it's his debut here I think he may have a little too much for the struggling Scot. Soutar has always done well at Ally Pally and may well settle quickly but I think he's under too much pressure because of the amount of money he's defending.

James Wade vs Jermaine Wattimena

James Wade returns to the Palace for another shot at completing his darting CV and winning his first World Championship title. This is the 21st appearance for the 11 time major winner and he’s made it to the semi-finals on four occasions. ‘The Machine’ has had a pretty solid season and had runs to the Semi Final of the World Matchplay and a Quarter Final in the World Grand Prix.

He has lost in the second round in the last 2 years at the World Championship and he faces a really stern test here to stop it becoming a hatrick of early exits. You can certainly never write Wade off though, he's constantly steady and has looked back to his best at times this year.

Teetering at the prospect of losing his place in the top 16 in the world, he needs a good run here to get himself back up the rankings. 

Jermaine Wattimena proved why he is being tipped by many as a dark horse in this World Championship with a very impressive 3-0 victory against Stefan Bellmont in the first round. He averaged 98.54 and had a 45% checkout rate, a very solid opening display. If he plays like that again tonight he has a great chance of taking out the 16th seed.

James Wade won't be too pleased with this draw, he could have had something a lot easier. He's also not had the best few months leading into this World Championship but it's so difficult to write him off.

This isn't an easy game to call, however, I'm going to side with Jermaine Wattimena in this contest because he looked really impressive last night and I think he’ll inflict another early exit at Ally Pally on Wade.