William Hill World Championship: day nine predictions, free darts tips & TV

Betting preview and free tips for day nine of the William Hill World Championship on Wednesday at Alexandra Palace, London.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Arena, from 12.10pm Wednesday

Best bets

Stephen Bunting to beat Andy Boulton
2pts 4-5 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Ricky Evans most 180s v Micky Mansell
1pt 21-20 Betfair

Gary Anderson to win, hit the most 180s and the highest checkout v Madars Razma
1pt 5-6 Betfred, Coral, Ladbrokes

Preview

It's a box-office finale to round two at Alexandra Palace with two-time champion Gary Anderson and former Lakeside winners Scott Waites and Stephen Bunting bringing down the curtain on the William Hill World Championship until after Christmas. Former finalist Michael Smith is also in action.

The players take a three-day break before returning on Sunday for the start of round three.

Stephen Bunting v Andy Boulton

Former BDO champion Stephen Bunting thrashed Andy Boulton 6-1 when they met on the Pro Tour in September to extend his dominance over his friend and rival.

Bunting leads 5-2 in career matches over Boulton and can use those memories positively in their second-round showdown.

Boulton didn't look brilliant fending off the challenge of Deta Hedman in round one and he may not have made it had a crowd been in attendance.

Bunting, even though he continues to beat himself up over his form, is a tougher nut to crack. In fact, Bunting hasn't had a great 2020 but he has still made a pair of semis and a couple of quarters on tour, and knows he has the measure of Boulton.

Ricky Evans v Micky Mansell

The lack of a crowd meant we saw Micky Mansell in a new light in his opener against Haupai Puha, a match he won without dropping a leg.

The Northern Irishman, often a frightened rabbit when the masses arrive, was able to relax into his game and got nothing back from an outclassed opponent.

Ricky Evans is a step up though there's virtually nothing between the two on the Pro Tour this year, both averaging around 91, Evans boasting a 51 per cent win record and Mansell 50.

There is, however, more of a gulf in the 180 stats with Evans averaging one every 4.2 legs and Mansell one every 4.7. Rapid Ricky gets the nod to score more maximums.

Gary Anderson v Madars Razma

The stat of the championship so far is that in a match which went 15 legs, Madars Razma managed just two scores of 140 or more in his 3-0 whitewash of Toru Suzuki.

The Latvian hit 49 treble-19s in a low-quality affair in which Suzuki blew darts to win each of the first two sets.

Razma is happy enough playing on the 19s, never mind switching to them, if he's not happy on the 20s so it's pretty inevitable that he'll lose a maximums matchbet to Gary Anderson. The twice champ is 1-9 to win that market.

Anderson, moving better after a knee problem and a Covid-19 setback, should have far too much firepower for Razma and can nail the match-180s-checkout treble at 5-6.

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