PDC World Darts Championship 2019 preview - Monday December 17 session

It's highly, hugely unlikely. But technically, this could be the last time we see Raymond van Barneveld at the PDC World Darts Championship.

More on that later. First of all, a compatriot of his appears in the first of just four games being played today. Vincent van der Voort was excellent at last year's World Championship. Dave Chisnall and Steve Beaton, both seeds were whitewashed before Barney stepped in to stop him. This time, his campaign kicks off against a bona fide world champion. Lourence Ilagan is the former soft tip world champion; he has also played at the PDC's top competition twice before. Van der Voort will underestimate the Asian Tour qualifier at his own peril.
There's always a party when Devon Petersen is around. The dancing South African will bring his liquid moves back to the Alexandra Palace stage. Oche showings have been a bit less smooth in recent times, with Petersen losing in the first round on each of his previous two visits. He takes on a former World Championship semi-finalist in Wayne Jones, who appeared in 11 successive tournaments but is back for the first time in four years.

Something old, something new

Anastasia Dobromyslova has attracted a lot of attention going into her second PDC World Championship. The three-time Lakeside champion was at the Ally Pally a decade ago - it didn't go so well. Now the 2018 women's world runner-up is back for another shot. Her World Championship and Grand Slam outings make her much more experienced than debutant Ryan Joyce. With the crowd most likely to be heavily on the Russian's side, that could make things tricky for Joyce.
Eye of the Tiger will blare out across the Alexandra Palace once again. With it, Raymond van Barneveld will ascend to an oche he considers a second home. The darting legend is well into the sunset of his career. He may be treating this as his last outing here, though he must be confident that a 2020 spot can be secured. For now, it does mean that Darius Labanauskas could write their name in bold on the final chapter of one of the most remarkable stories in this sport. Barney tends to find his best here, however; three semi-finals and a quarter final in the past four years attests to that. Should it all go with the form book it'll be Adrian Lewis next for van Barneveld, and then Michael van Gerwen. Wouldn't that be something.
Click here for more information about the PDC World Darts Championship, including schedules and the prize fund breakdown.

Monday session schedule

19:10 Vincent van der Voort vs Lourence Ilagan (R1) 20:10 Wayne Jones vs Devon Petersen (R1) 21:10 Ryan Joyce vs Anastasia Dobromyslova (R1) 22:10 Raymond van Barneveld vs Darius Labanauskas(R2)