16/12/2023

Schedule Saturday night at World Darts Championship including Gary Anderson against Simon Whitlock

Four more matches are scheduled for Saturday night during the second day of World Darts Championship play. The crowd-pleaser of this evening is Gary Anderson, who faces the vastly experienced Simon Whitlock.

The evening kicks off with a duel between Jamie Hughes and David Cameron. Hughes managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship in the nick of time, most likely saving his Tour Card. It will be his fifth appearance at the Ally Pally however, only once has 'Yozza' make it to the second round. Opponent Cameron qualified through the North American CDC Tour and is playing at Alexandra Palace for the second consecutive year. Last year, he lost in the first round to Danny Noppert.

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Keane Barry and Reynaldo Rivera make up the lineup for the second match of the evening session. The winner of that duel will take on Michael van Gerwen in the second round. Rivera owes his World Championship spot to his fourth position on the final rankings of the PDC Asian Tour, while Barry has become one of the Pro Tour qualifiers. The Irishman is only 21 years old, but is already embarking on his fifth World Championship participation.

Scott Williams is up against Haruki Muramatsu in the third match of the evening. They will compete for a clash with Danny Noppert in the second round. Both men have played at the Alexandra Palace before. Williams competed for the first time last year and then lost to Rob Cross in the second round. For Muramatsu, it is the fifth time he has been part of the World Darts Championship.

The main event of the evening however is the clash between two-time world champion Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock, the losing finalist in 2010. Just a year ago, Anderson was written off by many people, but last season became the year of his resurrection. That was mostly on the Pro Tour, though, where "The Flying Scotsman" won those titles. Whitlock already has one match behind him during this year's edition. On opening night, he won 3-2 in sets over Paolo Nebrida in the first round. 'The Wizard' did not make the best impression in that match. The Australian endorsed that himself by stating in an interview afterwards that he expects to be slaughtered by Anderson. Whitlock will have to pull out of a different barrel to be able to get Anderson into trouble. Anderson last lost in the second round of the World Darts Championship in 2010. In subsequent years, he always made it to at least the third round.