Potrter (96, 79.76) v Schweyen (17, 85.94) or Cassar (24, 84.75), Turner (44, 81.53) v Raman (17, 86.44) or Groeneveld (24, 82.68) - Porter is the one seed how? Obviously there's a stack of Australasian based events that he's been able to win cheaply, although he's clearly not had to play that well to win any of them. Schweyen is one we've seen on the Euro Tour, while Cassar actually has a win over Porter in what limited data we have on him. On the other side, Turner has pretty much all his data from the last worlds and seems to be accumulating minor finishes, while Raman is someone we know and Groeneveld is mainly known for a good World Masters run. There's a few decent shouts but I don't think either seed wins their opener. Let's go Raman who's had the higher peak of anyone here.
Pratnemer (20, 81.12) v Wilkinson (28, 79.98) or Taylor (156, 88.06), Junghans (86, 79.15) v Beeton (59, 83.28) or Kirk (21, 83.03) - Benjamin's a name we know from a PDC worlds where he gave Justin Pipe a good game, but has done his best work of late in events that aren't on Dart Connect, so hard to say where he is at. Wilkinson's been around for a while now and perhaps is unlucky not to be seeded here, while Taylor we have a lot of data on from the CDC circuit. Thomas had an OK run last year and is fairly well known, but didn't even make the Euro Tour event in Switzerland which was a shocker, while Beeton had a good run in Ireland recently and has been seen on the Dev Tour for a while now, while Kirk isn't an unfamiliar name but I know less about him. Another one where I think the seeds could be in trouble, although both I think have better chances than in the first section, but will still go Taylor just based on the raw numbers.
Weening (300, 82.78) v Brooks (25, 71.60) or Matsuda (none), Torbjornsson (18, 83.76) v Barilli (18, 72.33) or McGuirk (77, 87.65) - Brandon has got a lot of information in my database from extensive play on the DPA circuit, and looks to be pretty solid, Brooks meanwhile is the opposite and Matsuda is even less known of late with all his qualifying points coming from 2023, so I'm thinking Weening ought to be somewhat OK. Edwin only has data in my database from the last worlds with, again, the majority of work done in 2023 or in non-DC events, although may benefit from the general progression in the Swedish game of late. Barilli has been around for years but of late has mostly been an accumulator, while McGuirk we know from solid Challenge Tour play (and Pro Tour call ups) and looks like pick of these. McGuirk to advance.
Machin (62, 79.65) v Gillet (35, 75.44) or Smith (none), Prior (19, 80.68) v Walters (7, 69.52) or Brown (none) - Peter's been around for a bit, probably best known for a bink of the old World Trophy which got him in the Slam, but we've not heard a huge amount since and again is probably seeded just based on location. Mike's also been around for a bit but I can't recall the last time he did much of note, while Ky is a previous PDC worlds competitor but has dropped off the radar again. Cliff got a good win at the Welsh Classic but I don't really know too much about him, Scott is a name I'm aware of but drawing blanks, while Craig I've never even heard of. Tough to call who'll take this section as there's no real standout name, Peter probably has the most big stage experience but Prior I think might be playing the best right now, although there's not much in it.
van Schie (300, 90.31) v Kovacs (40, 80.78) or Lejon (none), Hogarth (21, 85.36) v Edgar (19, 83.39) or Bottenberg (95, 83.34) - Jimmy's the favourite and for good reason, unfortunate not to be at Ally Pally, a top 10 Challenge Tour finish, him picking up a card in January seems more likely than not. Patrik has been round for some time, we've seen him in Euro Tours and World Cups and seems competent, while Lejon is a complete unknown, although at least he's looking like he's been doing his best work this year rather than last, albeit in non-tablet events. Ryan has been around for come time as well, has a Dutch Open final on his resume although this year feels moderately quiet. We all know Matt and what he's done, while Jarno of course does have the Dutch Open bink and a few lines of data from PDC secondary tours, but not much else on the WDF circuit. van Schie seems like the easiest pick to move on to date.
Leung (25, 79.32) v Blom (49, 82.73) or Lim (73, 82.21), Stone (53, 87.27) v Nilsson (113, 83.34) or Jones (34, 78.05) - Kai is a former card holder and Ally Pally participant who we know fairly well, but another one whose best counting result was in 2023. Blom is moderately experienced at this stage but still young enough to have played Dev Tour this year, and did get a win on the Euro Tour. Paul is Paul, obviously. Gary might be playing the best in terms of numbers in his life, maybe better than when he was in the PDC, but has never really done a great amount at this level. Dennis has decent course and distance with a semi final last year (and is the only semi finalist to return, with the rest getting onto the PDC circuit) and will always be a threat, while Howard is the one I clearly know least about, getting the majority of his ranking points from one event last February. This one seems wide open, Gary may be putting up the best numbers but I don't buy him being able to get through and will gamble on Blom to make a big step up, although Nilsson repeating a run from last year wouldn't be ridiculous.
Duff (74, 84.62) v Johnson (46, 78.16) or Colley (120, 86.87), Copeland (31, 83.79) v Turner (17, 72.12) or Springer (91, 85.39) - Looks a fairly strong section. Neil's obviously got a previous bink, but it kind of feels like his 2024 is not as strong as previous years have been. Darren has all the experience in the world and can probably still bang if needed but his best days are probably behind him, while Reece is still developing and with his recent World Open win, he might have taken the step he might have been waiting for at senior level. I can't work out why Barry is seeded, unless he's just had a ton of points drop off he's surely too far down in the rankings but the numbers seem OK, while Aaron feels like a make up the numbers sort of player, with Jeff has some good data from the CDC and doesn't look too bad. I'm going to go with Colley to build on his recent big win and make further progression, although I think a case for anyone outside of Johnson/Turner can be reasonably made.
Maendl-Lawrance (63, 79.74) v Gijbels (12, 76.46) or Luke (6, 62.17), Brandon (41, 87.50) v Kadar (8, 78.67) or Schnier (9, 89.37) - Liam I think is best known from his European Tour adventures, which he's not been able to really repeat this year and similarly most of his best WDF results were from 2023 so has maybe taken a step back. Sybren had a bit of a Dutch Open run but we know limited things about him from that, while Luke is just a name I know but don't really know his name. Jason went alright in the World Masters and is someone we've seen on occasions in the CDC, Laszlo has been here a couple of times but has never really threatened to go very deep in a big event, while Hannes is also pretty experienced having played in a PDC worlds over fifteen years ago now. Hard to call but I'll take Brandon to come through, I think this is the only section where it's just going to come down to the seeds.
So in terms of outright prices, I've got Raman at 33/1 (just using 365 for consistency), Taylor 14/1, McGuirk 9/1, Prior 50/1, van Schie 7/2, Blom 100/1, Colley 66/1 and Brandon 18/1. Make of that what you will.