2023 PDC World Darts Championship

31th edition of the PDC's World Championship eventTemplate:SHORTDESC:31th edition of the PDC's World Championship event

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2023 Cazoo World Darts Championship** was a professional darts event that took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December 2022 to 3 January 2023. It was the 30th World Darts Championship to be organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the now-defunct British Darts Organisation.

Peter Wright was the defending champion, having defeated Smith in the previous year's final, but he lost 4–1 to Kim Huybrechts in the third round.

Michael Smith defeated Michael van Gerwen 7–4 in the final, winning his first world title and reaching world number one on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time. Smith hit the only nine-dart finish of the tournament in the final, with the score at 1–0 in sets to van Gerwen and 1–1 in legs. Van Gerwen had thrown eight darts at trebles and missed a dart at double 12 for a nine-dart finish himself in the same leg.

Steve Beaton made a record-extending 32nd consecutive World Championship appearance, but lost in the first round to Danny van Trijp, and Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld became the second player to make 30 World Championship appearances.

### Prize money

The prize money for the tournament remained at £2.5 million in total for the fifth year in a row, with the winner's share totalling £500,000. Additionally, a special jackpot of £100,000 was created by tournament sponsors Selco in the event a player hit two nine-dart finishes, with the player receiving £50,000 and the remainder split between Cancer Research UK and a member of the public chosen at random. Gerwyn Price described it as a "great initiative", particularly amid the cost of living crisis in the United Kingdom. In addition, the winner of the tournament receives the *Sid Waddell Trophy*, named after the former commentator who died in 2012.

### Format

All matches were played as single in, double out – requiring the players to score 501 points to win a leg, finishing on either a double or the bullseye. Matches were played in set format, with each set being the best of five legs (first to three).

For all rounds except the first, the deciding set has to be won by two clear legs, unless the set score goes to 5–5, in which case a sudden-death leg will be played, with no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.

 Third
 Final | 13 | 7

## Qualification

96 players competed in the championship, with the thirty-two highest ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit being seeded to the second round, and the next thirty-two highest ranked players from the 2022 PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit and thirty-two players from the various qualifiers going into the first round.

### List of qualifiers

01.    Gerwyn Price  *(Quarter-finals)*
02.    Peter Wright  *(Third round)*
03.    Michael van Gerwen  *(Runner-up)*
04.   **Michael Smith**  **(Champion)**
05.    Luke Humphries  *(Fourth round)*
06.    Rob Cross  *(Fourth round)*
07.    Jonny Clayton  *(Quarter-finals)*
08.    James Wade  *(Second round)*
09.    Danny Noppert  *(Third round)*
10.    Nathan Aspinall  *(Third round)*
11.    Gary Anderson  *(Third round)*
12.    Dave Chisnall  *(Third round)*
13.    Joe Cullen  *(Fourth round)*
14.    Dirk van Duijvenbode  *(Fourth round)*
15.    Dimitri Van den Bergh  *(Semi-finals)*
16.    Ryan Searle  *(Third round)*
17.    José de Sousa  *(Fourth round)*
18.    Krzysztof Ratajski  *(Third round)*
19.    Ross Smith  *(Third round)*
20.    Damon Heta  *(Third round)*
21.    Stephen Bunting  *(Quarter-finals)*
22.    Chris Dobey  *(Quarter-finals)*
23.    Callan Rydz  *(Second round)*
24.    Daryl Gurney  *(Second round)*
25.    Gabriel Clemens  *(Semi-finals)*
26.    Brendan Dolan  *(Third round)*
27.    Mervyn King  *(Third round)*
28.    Vincent van der Voort  *(Third round)*
29.    Martin Schindler  *(Third round)*
30.    Mensur Suljović  *(Third round)*
31.    Kim Huybrechts  *(Fourth round)*
32.    Raymond van Barneveld  *(Third round)* | **Pro Tour Order of Merit***First Round*
1. Josh Rock  *(Fourth round)*
2. Andrew Gilding  *(Second round)*
3. Martin Lukeman  *(Second round)*
4. Madars Razma  *(Second round)*
5. Adrian Lewis  *(Second round)*
6. Rowby-John Rodriguez  *(First round)*
7. Scott Williams  *(Second round)*
8. Jim Williams  *(Third round)*
9. Ryan Meikle  *(Second round)*
10. William O'Connor  *(Second round)*
11. Steve Beaton  *(First round)*
12. Jermaine Wattimena  *(First round)*
13. Simon Whitlock  *(Second round)*
14. Keane Barry  *(First round)*
15. Keegan Brown  *(First round)*
16. Ricky Evans  *(Second round)*
17. Alan Soutar  *(Fourth round)*
18. Karel Sedláček  *(Second round)*
19. Jamie Hughes  *(First round)*
20. Matt Campbell  *(First round)*
21. Danny Jansen  *(Second round)*
22. Mike De Decker  *(Second round)*
23. Ritchie Edhouse  *(First round)*
24. Boris Krčmar  *(Second round)*
25. Cameron Menzies  *(Second round)*
26. Luke Woodhouse  *(Second round)*
27. Mickey Mansell  *(Second round)*
28. Geert Nentjes  *(First round)*
29. Niels Zonneveld  *(First round)*
30. Martijn Kleermaker  *(Second round)*
31. John O'Shea  *(First round)*
32. Adam Gawlas  *(Second round)*
* Lisa Ashton  – PDC Women's Series *(First round)*
* Danny Baggish  – CDC Tour US Player *(Second round)*
* Sebastian Białecki  – East Europe Qualifier *(First round)*
* Richie Burnett  – PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier *(First round)*
* David Cameron  – CDC Tour Canadian Player *(Second round)*
* Mal Cuming  – DPA Oceanic Masters *(First round)*
* Leonard Gates  – North American Championship *(Second round)*
* Beau Greaves  – PDC Women's Series *(First round)*
* Xicheng Han  – PDC China Premier League *(First round)*
* Florian Hempel  – German Super League *(Second round)*
* Jimmy Hendriks  – West Europe Qualifier *(Second round)*
* Lourence Ilagan  – Asian Championship *(Second round)*
* Prakash Jiwa  – Indian Qualifier *(First round)*
* Ryan Joyce  – PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier *(First round)*
* José Justicia  – South-West Europe Qualifier *(First round)*
* Darius Labanauskas  – PDC Nordic & Baltic *(Second round)*
* Daniel Larsson  – PDC Nordic & Baltic *(First round)*
* Paolo Nebrida  – Asian Championship *(First round)*
* Vladyslav Omelchenko  – Ukrainian Qualifier *(First round)*
* Robert Owen  – PDC Challenge Tour *(First round)*
* Christian Perez  – Asian Championship *(First round)*
* Diogo Portela  – Central/South America Qualifier *(First round)*
* Nathan Rafferty  – PDC Development Tour *(Second round)*
* Ben Robb  – DPNZ Qualifier *(First round)*
* Grant Sampson  – African Qualifier *(Second round)*
* Fallon Sherrock  – Women's World Matchplay *(First round)*
* Jeff Smith  – PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier *(First round)*
* Raymond Smith  – DPA Satellite Tour *(First round)*
* Toru Suzuki  – Asian Championship *(First round)*
* Danny van Trijp  – PDC Challenge Tour *(Second round)*
* Lewy Williams  – PDC Development Tour *(Second round)*
* Nobuhiro Yamamoto  – PDJ Championship *(First round)*

1. ↑ China Premier League winner Zong Xiao Chen withdrew, due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations. His place was taken by the runner up.

## Summary

### Opening rounds

The opening rounds were noted for the unusually low number of unseeded players to make it to the third round, with only three seeds losing, the lowest since the increase to 32 seeded players at the 2006 championship. World number eight James Wade was the highest profile casualty, losing 3–2 to Jim Williams. The other seeds to lose were 23rd seed Callan Rydz, who lost to Josh Rock, and 24th seed Daryl Gurney losing to Alan Soutar, both players by 3–0.

Further seeds passed without much difficulty, with Dirk van Duijvenbode's victory over Karel Sedláček being the only match to go to extra legs, and only a further three games going to the final set. The highest average of the first two rounds was thrown by Ryan Joyce, who was defeated by Scott Williams 3–1 in the first round despite an average of 103.04; the highest winning average was 101.84, achieved by Michael van Gerwen in his victory over Lewy Williams. The first 170 "big fish" finish of the tournament was hit by Martin Schindler in his second round match against Martin Lukeman, the first to be hit by a German player in any PDC World Championship.

### Third round

Reigning champion Peter Wright's title would come to an end in the third round, after a 4–1 defeat to Belgian Kim Huybrechts. Wright was one of three former World Champions to lose in the third round, as Raymond van Barneveld was eliminated 4–0 by fellow former champion Gerwyn Price, and Gary Anderson lost to Chris Dobey. Two unseeded players made their way through to the fourth round, Alan Soutar reaching the fourth round for the second consecutive year after a 4–2 win over Danny Noppert, and debutant Josh Rock beating Nathan Aspinall 4–3.

Van Gerwen set a new highest average of the tournament, averaging 107.66 in a 4–2 victory over Mensur Suljović. Michael Smith hit the second 170 checkout of the tournament, in a match that saw him come back from 3–1 down to triumph 4–3 over Schindler. The match between Van Duijvenbode and Ross Smith saw 31 maximum scores – the record for a best of 7 sets match – 19 of which were for Smith, equalling the record for an individual player in a best of 7 match. It was the first match of the tournament to go to a final sudden-death leg, which Van Duijvenbode won.

### Fourth round

Two of the top six seeds were eliminated in the fourth round, former champion Rob Cross losing 4–2 to Dobey, and Luke Humphries being eliminated by Stephen Bunting after a 4–1 defeat. Dobey's win saw him throw one of two 170 finishes in the round, with the other being hit by Van Duijvenbode. Despite the big finish, Van Duijvenbode was eliminated after 4–1 defeat to Van Gerwen.

The runs of Rock and Soutar were both ended in this stage, Rock losing 4–3 to Jonny Clayton and Soutar falling 4–1 to Gabriel Clemens, with Clemens becoming the first ever German player to reach the quarter-final of a PDC World Darts Championship. Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Huybrechts 4–0 in an all Belgian affair, and Price and Michael Smith both triumphed 4–1 over José de Sousa and Joe Cullen respectively.

### Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were held on New Year's Day. The first to be played was between van den Bergh and Clayton. The first six sets of the match went with throw before van den Bergh took advantage of one missed dart for the seventh set from Clayton to break throw and take a lead which turned out to be decisive after van den Bergh won the eighth set for a 5–3 victory. This made van den Bergh the first Belgian player to qualify for a semi-final, having been eliminated at the quarter-final stage on two previous occasions.

The second quarter-final was between Smith and Bunting. The first two sets were shared before Smith went on a run of three consecutive set wins, only losing two legs over those three sets. Bunting fought back, taking the sixth and seventh set, before missed darts in the eighth set proved decisive, Smith taking it 3–1 and sealing a 5–3 triumph. Smith reached the semi-final for the second consecutive year and the third time overall.

In the third quarter-final, between Price and Clemens, Price took the first set comfortably, but Clemens levelled the match by winning the second set, and then broke Price's throw in the third leg of the third set, taking both that set and the next one 3–1 to hold a 3–1 set lead as the players left the stage for a TV advertising break. Price returned to the stage wearing a large set of ear defenders, and took the first leg comfortably after the break, but Clemens took back control of the match from there and won the next six legs to win 5–1 and continue his historic run for German darts. After the match, Price stated on Instagram that he was not sure he would play in the World Championship again.

The final quarter-final was between van Gerwen and Dobey, and the three-time champion van Gerwen comfortably defeated Dobey to emphasise his status as favourite for the tournament. Dobey only managed to take three legs in the entire match as Van Gerwen won 5–0 with an average of 102.39 to reach his eighth semi-final, and his first since the 2020 tournament.

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals were held on 2 January, with Clemens playing Smith in the first to be played. The first four sets all went to last legs but were all holds of throw. Smith took the fifth set 3–0, before taking out a finish of 83 on the bullseye in the sixth set's deciding leg to break the Clemens throw for the first time. Smith held on to the seventh set in another deciding leg to go one set away. A break of the Clemens throw in the third leg gave Smith the lead in the eighth set which he held on to, to triumph 6–2 and qualify for his third world final, and second consecutive.

The second semi-final saw Van den Bergh take on Van Gerwen. Van den Bergh broke the throw in the first set by taking out a 170 finish in the third leg, but Van Gerwen immediately broke back and held the set, before breaking Van den Bergh twice in the second set to win it 3–0. Van Gerwen hit the match's second 170 finish in the second leg of the third set to break Van den Bergh's throw and completed the third set 3–0. Van den Bergh managed to take the fourth set to a final leg but Van Gerwen broke his throw yet again to take a 4–0 lead. Van Gerwen took another 3–0 victory in the fifth set, and took the sixth set by the same scoreline to win 6–0 and reach his sixth final, having only lost three sets in the tournament to that point. Van Gerwen's match average of 108.28 is the highest of the tournament so far.

### Final

The final between Smith and van Gerwen, a repeat of the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship final, took place on 3 January. Smith threw first in the opening set, but lost his throw in the third leg after missing a dart for a 127 checkout, and Van Gerwen held throw in the next leg to take the first set. In the third leg of the second set Van Gerwen missed double 12 for a perfect nine-dart finish and Smith immediately hit the same target for a perfect leg of his own, before winning the next leg to level the set score. Smith held the third set 3–2, but Van Gerwen levelled the match again with a 3–0 win in set four. Van Gerwen then won the deciding leg in the next set to regain the advantage, but a 3–1 win for Smith restored parity. Van Gerwen looked to be taking the seventh set after winning the first two legs, but Smith fought back and managed to win a deciding leg to go over the half way mark.

In the eighth set it was Smith's turn to take a two leg lead, and unlike the previous set the advantage was not surrendered, with Smith taking the set 3–1. With Van Gerwen now under huge pressure Smith took the ninth set 3–0 to go one away from the Championship. The tenth set went down to a last leg, which Van Gerwen managed to take to keep the match alive. Van Gerwen took the first two legs in the next set, but Smith fought back to set up a deciding leg for the Championship. Smith opened the deciding leg with two 180s and closed on double eight to become World Champion for the first time. The victory also moved Smith to top of the PDC Order of Merit for the first time.

## Draw

The draw of the tournament was made by Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster live on Sky Sports News and streamed via YouTube on 28 November 2022.

### Bottom half

#### Section 4

**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.****The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**

## Statistics

### Highest averages

This table shows all averages over 100 achieved by players throughout the tournament. In the case one player has multiple records, this is indicated by the number in brackets.

The three-dart average in darts is the average score achieved with three darts thrown. Averages are the most cited statistics in darts matches as they give a rough estimate of a player's form. An average of 100 is regarded as a benchmark for a world class performance. For comparison with previous years, see the highest ever recorded averages in the World Darts Championship.

**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.****The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**

## References

1. ↑ Wright defeats Smith to become two-time World Champion. *Professional Darts Corporation* (3 January 2022).
2. ↑ Day, Michael (16 December 2022). World Darts Championship 2022/23 prize money: How much does the winner earn?. *The Sporting News*.
3. ↑ Simpson, Martyn (15 December 2022). PDC World Darts Championship: How much do darts players earn? Prize money for 2023 tournament revealed. *National World*.
4. ↑ Players need to hit two nine-dart finishes to trigger a £100,000 bonus at the PDC World Darts Championship. *Sporting Life* (13 December 2022).
5. ↑ Sunderland, Tom (9 December 2022). Darts stars eye £50k jackpot at World Championships – with lucky fan also bagging windfall. *Daily Mirror*.
6. ↑ Day, Michael (16 December 2022). World Darts Championship 2022/23 trophy: Who was Sid Waddell?. *The Sporting News*.
7. ↑ Mirza, Ray (10 December 2022). World Darts Championship: Peter Wright ready to go and lift Sid Waddell trophy after receiving positive news about his wife. *Sky Sports*.
8. ↑ Cunningham, Jack (15 December 2022). PDC World Darts Championship 2023: Dates, UK start times, talkSPORT commentary, live stream, tournament format and competitors for Alexandra Palace showpiece. *Talksport*.
9. ↑ Simpson, Martyn (15 December 2022). PDC World Darts Championship: how does format work? Number of legs, sets and scoring explained – match rules. *National World*.
10. ↑ Allen, Dave. 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship field. Professional Darts Corporation.
11. ↑ Order of Merit Rules, 3.1. Professional Darts Corporation.
12. ↑ PDC World Darts Championship 2023: Draw, schedule, betting odds, results & live Sky Sports TV coverage. *Sporting Life*.
13. ↑ PDC World Championship 2023.
14. ↑ Phillips, Josh. International Representatives taking shape for Cazoo World Championship. Professional Darts Corporation.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 World Darts Championship: Seeds dominate to produce star-studded third round at Alexandra Palace.
16. ↑ Mason, Paul. van Duijvenbode Rallies to Sink Sedlacek in Overtime.
17. ↑ Gill, Samuel. These are the top 10 highest averages at the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship so far.
18. ↑ Schindler becomes first German to hit 170 checkout at PDC World Darts Championship.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 PDC World Championship: Defending champion Peter Wright loses to Kim Huybrechts. BBC Sport.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chris Dobey says Gary Anderson's 'annoying' comments drove win at World Championship. BBC Sport.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Gorton, Josh. Van Gerwen & Smith come through Ally Pally classics to reach last 16. Professional Darts Corporation.
22. ↑ Gorton, Josh. Price & Clayton seal quarter-final spots at Cazoo World Championship. Professional Darts Corporation.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 McVeigh, Niall. PDC world darts: Van Gerwen and Smith march on, Cross and Humphries go out. *The Guardian*.
24. ↑ Gorton, Josh. Price & Clayton seal quarter-final spots at Cazoo World Championship. Professional Darts Corporation.
25. ↑ PDC world darts: Price into last eight and Van Duijvenbode pips Smith. *The Guardian*.
26. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Van den Bergh reaches maiden PDC World Darts Championship semi-final as landmark run continues with Clayton win. Darts News.
27. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Smith staves off late comeback from Bunting to reach semi-finals of PDC World Darts Championship. Professional Darts Corporation.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 PDC world darts: Gerwyn Price wears ear defenders and threatens not to return. *The Guardian*.
29. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Classy Clemens continues to break new ground, stuns Price to reach PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals. Darts News.
30. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Sheer darting dominance for Van Gerwen with whitewash win over Dobey, set to face Van den Bergh in PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals. Darts News.
31. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Smith reaches third PDC World Darts Championship final after comprehensive win over Clemens with 19 180's. Darts News.
32. ↑ Gill, Samuel. Van Gerwen thrashes Van den Bergh with 108 average, set to face Smith in 2022/23 PDC World Darts Championship final. Darts News.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 PDC World Championship: Michael Smith beats Michael van Gerwen in 2023 final. BBC Sport.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 LIVE: Smith beats Van Gerwen to win first world title – reaction. BBC Sport.
35. ↑ 2023 PDC World Darts Championship: Watch live stream of the draw for this year's event at Alexandra Palace. *Sky Sports* (28 November 2022).
36. ↑ PDC World Darts Championship: Peter Wright has third title in sights at Alexandra Palace. BBC Sport (28 November 2022).
37. ↑ Hammer, Chris (12 December 2022). PDC World Darts Championship 2023: Betting tips, preview and predictions for the Sky Sports-televised major at the Ally Pally. *Sporting Life*.
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
39. ↑ **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
40. ↑ **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 41.4 41.5 41.6 41.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 42.5 42.6 42.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 43.6 43.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 44.4 44.5 44.6 44.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 45.5 45.6 45.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 46.5 46.6 46.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 47.5 47.6 47.7 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 52.3 52.4 52.5 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 **The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
54. ↑ PDC World Darts Championship 2023: Draw, schedule, betting odds, results & live Sky Sports TV coverage. *Sporting Life* (15 December 2022).
55. ↑ Shaun (10 August 2022). How To Calculate Your Darts Average.
56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Nicholson, Paul (21 February 2022). Averages in darts: Should players focus on improving them, are they useful or misleading, and is there a better alternative?. *Sporting Life*.
**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**

**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**
**The time allocated for running scripts has expired.**