With what form will the top Dutch darters enter the World Darts Championship?

Twelve Dutchmen will hunt for the world title at the World Darts Championship starting December 15. Four of these twelve Dutch participants will enter the tournament from the second round.

Due to seeding inside in the top-32 of the world rankings, Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Raymond van Barneveld have a first-round exemption. With what form do they advance to the World Darts Championship?

Michael van Gerwen was in the final of the 2023 World Darts Championship on Jan. 3, in which he lost 7-4 in sets to Michael Smith. After that, Van Gerwen was right back in the final of another major TV tournament, the UK Open. This one he lost 11-10 to Andrew Gilding, before he did win the Premier League Darts and World Series Finals.

After (relatively) early exits at the World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix, the Grand Slam of Darts and the European Championship, Van Gerwen returned to form at the Players Championship Finals in November and reached another major final. In this final he hit a nine darter, but lost narrowly 11-9 to Luke Humphries.

Danny Noppert showed his best form this year in the Players Championships, two of which he managed to win this year. On the Euro Tour he was also solid with four quarterfinals and one semifinal.

Noppert's best run consecutive major-tournament this season was at the European Championship, where he managed to reach the semifinals with an amazing comeback against Gerwyn Price. Noppert has participated in the World Darts Championship five times, but has never made it past the third round.

Dirk van Duijvenbode got off to an excellent start this season with three Players Championship titles.In addition, early in the season, Van Duijvenbode made it to his first EuroTour final at the European Darts Open, where he narrowly lost to Gerwyn Price. Subsequently, Van Duijvenbode also reached the final of the European Darts Matchplay, where he again missed matchdarts to take the title.

More recently however, Van Duijvenbode has been struggling with a severe shoulder injury, which has caused him multiple first-round exits at major tournaments. The big question is whether "Aubergenius" will get fit in time for the World Darts Championship.

Raymond van Barneveld achieved solid results on the Pro Tour this year, including three quarterfinals on the floor and his first quarterfinal on the Euro Tour since 2016.These results allowed Van Barneveld to qualify for the World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix and the European Championship for the first time since his return to the circuit.

Van Barneveld did not make it past the first round at these tournaments. At the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, however, he managed to reach the quarterfinals.