2019-20 PDC World Darts Championship – Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne taking place? Saturday 21st December, 2019 – evening
Where is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne taking place? Alexandra Palace, London
What channel is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne on? Sky Sports Darts
Where can I stream Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Josh Payne? https://www.pdc.tv/william-hill-world-darts-championship-tickets
What was the outcome in the last meeting? Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Josh Payne 6-1
THE PLAYERS
DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH
- Dimitri Van den Bergh is appearing at the PDC World Championship for the fifth time, with his best showing at the tournament coming two years ago when he lost in a last-set decider to the eventual champion Rob Cross in the quarter-finals.
- At the 2018-19 PDC World Championship, he bowed out at the last 32 stage against Luke Humphries having earlier averaged 104.45 in a round two win against Jonny Clayton; that was the second year in a row in which he posted an average of 104 in a match at Ally Pally having also done so in his victory over Stephen Bunting at the 2017-18 World Championship.
- Van den Bergh is a seeded player here for the first time on the back of a season that has seen him reach two finals on the PDC tour. In the big TV ranking tournaments though he has struggled to make an impact, with a number of early exits apart from a run to the last 16 at the UK Open.
JOSH PAYNE
- Josh Payne moved through to round two with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Diogo Portela, dropping only two legs in doing so.
- Payne produced a good all-round performance to ease past Portela with an average of 96.49 and a very respectable checkout percentage of 45%.
- A win in this match would represent his best ever showing at the PDC World Championship. Last year at this stage of the tournament he won the opening seven legs of the match against Dave Chisnall only to see Chizzy come from behind to win 3-2.
THE PREDICTION
These two players are very familiar with each other having faced off a number of times on the PDC Development Tour as well as on the main tour. Van den Bergh has the slight advantage in their head-to-head record and defeated Payne in the 2017 World Youth final. The Belgian number one also has some excellent performances on this stage to draw upon and he might just have the edge against Payne in a match predicted to go the distance.
