William Hill PDC World Darts Championship: Saturday's match previews & free tips

Darts tips, best bets and predictions for the Saturday's matches at the William Hill PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Arena, 12.30pm & 7pm Saturday

Best Bets

Yuki Yamada +1.5 sets v Ryan Meikle
1pt 13-10 BoyleSports
Luke Woodhouse to beat Paul Lim
2pts 4-5 general
Jamie Hughes to win 3-0 v Zoran Lerchbacher
1pt 9-4 Betfair, Paddy Power
Raymond van Barneveld to win 3-0 v Darin Young
1pt 13-8 Hills

Match previews

Raymond van Barneveld kicks off his final tilt at world championship glory at Alexandra Palace – and it’s 4-1 that the retiring Dutchman bows out on Saturday night.

Those are the odds against Darin Young, who plans to send the legendary five-time world champion into retirement at the first hurdle.

Arrers fans would love to see Barney, making his 28th and last appearance at a world championship, to sign off with the title, though even the man himself can’t see it.

“Is it realistic to say that I’m going to lift this trophy? No,” said the 52-year-old.

Darius Labanauskas v Matt Edgar
Head-to-head: Labanauskas leads 1-0

Day two of the William Hill World Championship kicks off with a rematch of a first-round tie from last year which Darius Labanauskas won 3-1 after losing the first set.

The paradox with Edgar is that he’s a natural entertainer, but on the biggest stage of all he retreated into his shell. To that end, and given that his form in recent months has deserted him and Labanauskas is rock-steady, the favourite should take it.

Ryan Meikle v Yuki Yamada
Head-to-head: No previous meetings

The layers make Ryan Meikle a rock-solid favourite against Yuki Yamada but he looks too short given this will be the 23-year-old’s first time on the Ally Pally stage.

Eyebrows were raised when Development Tour prospect Meikle whitewashed Jonny Clayton at the Players Championship Finals last month – he went on to reach the last 16.

But bookmakers may have gone too far in making him a 3-10 chance against another debutant, Yuki Yamada, who has enjoyed a superb year on the increasingly competitive Asian Tour.

Whoever holds it together best should win and Yamada has got the straightest and simplest of throws, which ought to hold up under pressure.

Luke Woodhouse v Paul Lim
Head-to-head: No previous meetings

Talking of Asian arrowsmiths brings us to the grand-daddy of them all, the irrepressible Paul Lim.

Opponent Luke Woodhouse wasn’t even born when Lim made his Lakeside debut and was in nappies when the Singapore Slinger made darting history with the first televised nine-darter at Frimley Green in 1990.

Age looked like it had caught up with the 65-year-old Lim when he went out at this stage to Ross Smith last year, though he continues to flourish on the Asian Tour.

Woodhouse is a player on the up, as he proved last month when toppling defending champ Daryl Gurney at the Players Championship Finals.

Mark McGeeney v Matt Campbell
Head-to-head: No previous meetings

Mark McGeeney reached the BDO world final two years ago and if he brought that form to the Ally Pally stage he’d sweep Canada’s Matt Campbell.

The problem is, the Gladiator hasn’t been throwing well all year and that gives his opponent a chance.

The Ginger Ninja, a welder from Hamilton, Ontario and a strictly part-time thrower, admits he hasn’t a clue what to expect from this unique occasion, so forecasting how well he’ll play is tricky.

Jamie Hughes v Zoran Lerchbacher
Head-to-head: Hughes leads 1-0

Twice BDO semi-finalist Jamie Hughes makes his Alexandra Palace debut at the end of a season in which he has shown flashes of class, and he should be too strong for fading Austrian Zoran Lerchbacher.

Czech Open champ Hughes has gained plenty of big-stage experience this year, which should help a player who isn’t exempt from nerves when the stakes are at their highest.

Lerchbacher’s form has evaporated and it’s questionable whether he’ll be able to exert any pressure. If Yozza starts well, he should win at a canter.

Raymond van Barneveld v Darin Young
Head-to-head: Barney leads 2-0

And so to the big one and the first meeting in more than a decade between two players with vast amounts of experience.

Barney comes into his farewell World Championship in good form after beating Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant to make the quarters of the Players Championship Finals. He still manages to talk himself down too much but the giant Dutchman will surely be up for this assignment.

Young is limited but gutsy. He's prolific in North America, but has no decent form in this competition. Incredibly, this is Young’s tenth visit to the worlds and in the previous nine he has managed just a solitary victory.

The leftie can be stubborn but Barney really ought to win this with bags in hand.

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport