Ricky Evans (#47 FRH, 90.27 (#39), 326-322 (50.31%, #62))
Gordon Mathers (#171 FRH, 84.89 (#84), 86-77 (52.76%, #36))
It's been pretty much another year of the same old same old for Dave - currently number 1 in the Pro Tour rankings, what he's not done at levels below TV isn't worth doing, but despite a quarter final run this time last year, he's had another season where he's failed to get that televised title he's been looking at for years, and hasn't really been close, with the raw scoring figures being down on his rankings. As stated, the floor's been great - picking up a brace of titles on the Pro Tour, along with one more final, and he also got a brace of titles at European Tour level, getting two in three events in Leverkusen and Antwerp, which sandwiched his next best run of a semi final. Dave maybe had a few too many first round exits on the floor than he'd have liked, but generally speaking it's been very good accumulation, which shows in him having won more money than anyone off TV in 2024. On TV's been the problem however, where outside of the Masters he's not even made a quarter final, which someone ranked in the top 8 in the world really ought to be doing at least once. Some of it was bad draws - after easy passage to the last 16 in the UK Open he drew Littler, some of it was just poor performances, such as being blown away by Ratajski at Blackpool. There's some in the middle - last 16 at Leicester losing to Dimitri, a whitewash against Michael Smith in the European Championship, finishing bottom of the Edhouse, Scutt and Ross Smith group at the Grand Slam and then a deciding leg loss in round two of the PC Finals to Andrew Gilding all rank somewhere in the middle of those. If he'd done even something on TV, maybe we're talking about him as someone who may return to the Premier League, but it's hard to make the case unless he goes really deep here, and he's not in the worst section, with a quarter final not looking unrealistic. He just has to deliver now.
Ricky's numbers in 2024 have been pretty darned solid, but qualification for here was borderline, only just creeping into the field as the last man in prior to Taylor shenanigans. A popular figure, it looked like he might build on an alright run here last year where he knocked out Nathan Aspinall, as he made a TV-best run of a semi final in the UK Open early in the season, where coming from round three he defeated Lee Evans, Scott Williams, Mike de Decker, Luke Woodhouse and then Rob Cross, prior to being heavily routed by Luke Humphries. However, it wasn't really to be, at least not immediately as he couldn't really break through on the floor, getting three board final wins, before he would get maybe the best chance he'll ever have of winning a PDC title, with a final run in August, drawing an as yet not on fire Mike de Decker, but he'd pick up just a pair of legs as Mike claimed his first title. That might have severely knocked Ricky's confidence, as he has since gone on a 14 tournament floor run with just the one win in that spell. Some of the draws were tough, but that is a big losing streak. The Euro Tour saw just the singular appearance in Austria, and even that was as an alternate where he lost to Richard Veenstra, and while he did get back to Minehead, it was only as one of the last few players in where he lost to Josh Rock in the opening round. Where his game really is, it's hard to say, it's been up and down for sure.
Gordon will make a return here for his fourth appearance, a first since 2022 when he came in as a replacement player and lost in round one to Jason Heaver, having previously lost in opening games to Max Hopp and Seigo Asada. A former tour card holder, but now operating back in his homeland, Mathers finished fifth on the DPA tour (although second through fifth were incredibly tight), but gained his qualification back here through winning the Oceanic Masters, averaging steady 80's throughout and beating Harley Kemp in the final to book his Ally Pally spot. On that DPA circuit, Gordon finished just inside the top 10 in averages, and claimed two titles, defeating Brenton Lloyd and Brody Klinge respectively, but outside of that it was a bit of a struggle, frequently falling short at the quarter final stage, only taking one further tournament past that point. Mathers din't feature in either of the World Series events down under, and either hasn't been entering or hasn't been going deep in any of the WDF events with just one quarter final counting towards his ranking in that system.
The first round game could be an interesting one. Ricky has the far higher scoring and year long is projecting 80/20, but that losing streak is a huge concern, quick players are very often confidence and timing players, and if something is off, then Mathers has more than enough experience and game in him that he can hang around and really pose some questions of Rapid. Chizzy won't be hating this draw too much, getting one of the last Pro Tour players in and avoiding any of the real international landmines, he's only projecting 70/30 if he were to face Evans but it may play out wider than that, and we do have a few days between the games to look at it.
As a side note, I'm now through with previews for everything up to and including Wednesday, there is pretty much zero chance (especially with being at the football tomorrow) that I finish everything for the off, but I think we're well on pace to get all the previews up in time for all the respective first round games. We're about two thirds of the way through and will get some more done today for sure.
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