THE FACTS
When is Ryan Meikle vs Yuki Yamada taking place? Saturday 14th December, 2019 – afternoon
Where is Ryan Meikle vs Yuki Yamada taking place? Alexandra Palace, London
What channel is Ryan Meikle vs Yuki Yamada on? Sky Sports Darts
Where can I stream Ryan Meikle vs Yuki Yamada? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Ryan Meikle vs Yuki Yamada? https://www.pdc.tv/william-hill-world-darts-championship-tickets
What was the outcome in the last meeting? No previous meetings
THE PLAYERS
RYAN MEIKLE
- Ryan Meikle is making his World Championship debut having just scraped in as the 31st player out of the 32 players on the Pro Tour Order of Merit who were not ranked in the top 32 in the main PDC Order of Merit.
- Meikle comes into this tournament on the back of reaching the last 16 at the Players Championship Finals last month where he comprehensively defeated Jonny Clayton – a former finalist of that event – 6-0 in the opening round.
- Still only 23-years old, he also plays on the Development Tour where he has won a couple of titles this season, and he also reached the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship. On the main tour, he reached his first senior ranking quarter-final in May.
YUKI YAMADA
- Yuki Yamada is making his first World Championship appearance having earned his spot in the tournament via the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit where he finished in fifth place.
- Yamada has tasted success on the PDC Asian Tour this season, notably defeating Paul Lim in the final of a tournament played in Hong Kong. Overall though, his tour average of 82.43 is outside the top 16 players in that category.
- He won’t be a familiar face to many, with his only previous TV stage experiences being for Japan at the 2017 PDC World Cup of Darts and a 6-2 defeat by Gary Anderson in round one at the Japan Darts Masters in 2015.
THE PREDICTION
With both of these two players making their World Championship debuts, it is highly likely that there may be some edginess on show, especially as they will see it is an excellent opportunity to make it through to a bigger payday in round two. Meikle will take encouragement from his performance at the recent Players Championship Finals and might have the edge but Yamada could take this into a deciding set at least.