Jimmy van Schie (163-131, 89.30) v Alex Williams (13-19, 76.31) or Romeo Grbavac (2-9, 96.00) - Not really seen much of anything out of Romeo since what was a decent worlds showing last year, albeit in convincing defeat, maybe Alex has a bit less ring rust (got to guess Grbavac got in on events not on Dart Connect) but I think there's probably a decent differential in quality here. Both in the first round game, and the second, where Jimmy should have few problems.
Paul Krohne (14-27, 86.61) v Marko Kantele (89-86, 82.33) or Dalibor Smolik (3-6, 88.52) - Few familiar names here. Dalibor I assume popped up from getting through an ET qualifier, those aren't awful numbers so got to assume he's got something about him. Marko has been around forever and knows what he's doing, while Paul's a moderately new name but mainly through getting a card, giving it back, and it actually working for him. This is a really hard section to call.
Corne Groeneveld (31-17, 83.33) v Ryan Hogarth (17-23, 81.90) or Jonas Masalin (39-32, 86.98) - Interesting one. Corne's been showing up in quite a few WDF events over the past couple of years, but the numbers don't seen convincing, but there's some value in having got wins on the board. Hogarth showed up a few years back for having got deep in some events but never really kicked on, while Masalin is someone we've seen on the SDC circuit with respectable results, and may well be better than Hogarth as of right now, and could well have the game to push Corne - should he get there.
Stefan Schroder (no data) v Shane McGuirk (80-42, 88.78) or Petri Rasmus (0-5, 79.43) - Such a silly section where the defending champ enters in the preliminary round. Rasmus isn't a completely unknown name but certainly not a big name from the area, while Schroder getting the ninth seed is extremely bizarre, can only assume he binked something big that wasn't on DC. Still, got to look at Shane to get through here regardless of Schroder's pedigree.
James Beeton (72-77, 84.87) v Dennis Nilsson (26-34, 79.33) or Shane Sakchekapo (no data) - Now we get to the first player I have never heard of. Know nothing about Shane. As such, can't look past Dennis, then we get a real interesting one between a young player we've been tracking for a while, and a veteran who can up his game on this sort of stage. Would think James would have the edge, but it not be a trivial game.
Liam Maendl-Lawrance (51-66, 80.25) v Caleb Hope (no data) or Darren Johnson (13-19, 78.03) - And we go two for two in consecutive sections. No idea who Hope is. Johnson has all the experience in the world but how much he still has in the tank at this stage is in question. How much he will need is also in question. Liam we've seen for a couple of years, this year seems quieter but is still clearly a competent if deliberate operator, and ought to have the quality to require Darren to up his game to get through.
Benjamin Pratnemer (27-32, 84.95) v Karl Schaefer (26-28, 81.48) or Daniel Bauerdick (10-11, 79.81) - Don't know a great deal about either of these first round players. Karl's numbers seem a tad better although over a limited sample, and I think that he's probably playing a higher standard of player in general which might give him the edge, but I can't look past Pratnemer, clearly doing enough at a decent level to get the seeding and with decent results in the past.
Dave Pallett (55-61, 83.58) v Kevin Luke (19-21, 78.92) or Sybren Gijbels (26-31, 80.24) - Back to players we know stuff about. Kevin's been around on the US circuit for a while, albeit being more or less a player making up the numbers when it gets to the higher levels of that circuit, ahile Gijbels has shown flashes on the Euro Tour and in the WDF events so is probably the round one pick. Pallett's done a nice job of reshaping his career after being in the PDC for quite some time and still has the quality to put aside either of these, at least you'd think so.
Jason Brandon (116-128, 84.04) v Mitchell Lawrie (38-19, 94.15) or Tomoya Maruyama (3-4, 87.03) - Much as it was the Australians last year who were severely overseeded, this year it might be the Americans. Not that Jason is a bad player, but he's not a number 2 quality player (seeding, not that sort of number 2). This seems quite trivial to call, Maruyama I've never heard of despite him being in my database, Lawrie is the next big thing, and barring any sort of big stage meltdown this should be the exciting young Scot's to take.
Andy Davidson (13-11, 84.86) v Bradley Kirk (7-11, 78.21) or Jeff Springer (unclear) - I really don't know if Jeff Springer and Jeff Springer Jr are distinct players. It's really something I should get to the bottom of. Whichever way we look at Jeff, he'll likely have just enough to see off Kirk, who's a name we've seen around for a while but nothing more than just a name we've seen around for a while, and Davidson, who again seems somewhat unspectacular, might just be that bit better again.
Matt Clark (7-17, 81.03) v Vince Tipple (9-3, 81.86) or Haruki Muramatsu (21-24, 85.19) - Can't really look past Haruki here, who has a wealth of experience and will be perfectly comfortable with either of these. Tipple must have binked a silver event somewhere to get that won-loss record, but while not an unfamiliar name has a feel of making up the numbers, while Clark has a huge amount of experience but whether it can translate into wins at this level is very much in question.
Francois Schweyen (64-62, 83.77) v Brian Raman (48-36, 86.99) or Jeffrey Sparidaans (97-91, 86.37) - This is a super interesting section of the draw featuring a bunch of good European players. That first round match could legitimately have been a quarter final, Raman and Sparidaans both being ex card holders with legitimate WDF credentials that'll be too hard to call. Schweyen completes the section and is certainly no bad player but I think is a clear third best here, although with more than enough game that whoever wins the opener will have to work to make the last sixteen.
Neil Duff (60-46, 83.56) v Ben Robb (78-83, 84.55) or Johan Engstrom (110-115, 86.34_ = Really fun mini section. You could make a reasonable argument that any one of these three possible matches would not look out of place in the last 16, if not further into the event. Robb I'm a little surprised to see here, I would have thought that even though Jonny Tata got the main NZ spot for Ally Pally that Ben could have got there as well with the expansion but I guess not, known really solid competitor who's never quite cracked it at the PDC worlds level but here could be a dangerous opponent. Johan's been around the SDC circuit and we know plenty about him and has to be taken seriously at this level, while Duff has course and distance and is doing enough on the circuit to secure the number 3 seed, so is another one who clearly can't be dismissed. Would not be surprised to see any of these three get out of this section, it ranks very closely for me.
Thomas Junghans (38-38, 81.57) v Jim McEwan (9-1, 91.00) or Stephen Rosney (4-6, 80.42) - A somewhat less interesting section now. McEwan has been around the block and knows how to play, while Rosney was a new name to me only very recently on account of good runs in Killarney, and then clearly in the qualifier to get here in the first place, so while Jim has the experience, Stephen might have the form and be hitting this event at the right time. Junghans isn't bad by any stretch but is one of the weaker seeds for sure, and while he'll make them work it really souldn't surprise me if whoever won the first round game turned him over here as well.
David Fatum (32-36, 82.34) v Jenson Walker (73-78, 84.96) or Jiri Brejcha (0-6, 78.21) - Few different things going on here. Walker seems like someone who is definitely just passing through the WDF system and will eventually end up with a tour card and might already be the best player of the bunch. Jiri's from a rising area who I assume from that record we did see on the Euro Tour last year, albeit briefly, and I get not awful but just making up the numbers vibes. Fatum on the other hand is the veteran who's had maybe the best run of his life with the Dutch Open final and can't be taken lightly. Think Jenson will squeeze home but it could be a close one.
Raymond Smith (156-75, 85.46) v Cliff Prior (36-33, 79.63) or Clint Clarkson (9-4, 76.94) - Pretty trivial section compared to most. Clint I know nothing about, but is at least in the database, wile Cliff I know not that too much about but is at least a familiar name and doing better numbers so the home player I think should be fine, while Raymond (who's another from his area that I'm surprised couldn't get a PDC worlds spot) is one of the known good players in the field, even if the numbers quoted look a bit pedestrian, and should easily defeat whoever does actually come through round one.
From there? I think it's a case of identifying the known "good" players (and I'm not trying to be disparaging by implying the rest of the field is shit, by good I'm basically meaning wouldn't look out of place on the PDC circuit) and identifying if and when they might be stopped. van Schie is one of them, should have no problems in the last sixteen, but then McGuirk or maybe someone like a Groenefeld might ask some questions at the quarter final stage. Second quarter I don't think has anyone - Pallett may have been there in the past, Beeton might be there in the future, but for 2025 I'm not seeing anyone. I think it's all the seeds coming through to the last 16, and those two I list facing off in the quarters, and that one should be close but the finalist will come from the top quarter. Third quarter is just a question of how good Mitchell Lawrie is already. If he beats Brandon I can't see him not making the quarters, where I think whoever comes through the Schweyen section Those three are all real good, if whoever plays Haruki beats Haruki (which won't be trivial but I would expect them to do it), then I think they have enough to play the Veenstra role and kill the hype train just as Richard did to Littler back when. Then in Q4 the known good name is Smith - think the only player who could realistically stop him before the quarters is Walker, and I think he'd have the edge on whoever he plays there, and I get the feeling it'd be whoever gets out of the Duff section with the Junghans section looking ordinary in comparison. As for a final? Let's go van Schie > Sparidaans. Why not.
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