Michael van Gerwen believes he is the front runner to win the William Hill World Darts Championship, despite a title drought in 2021.
The Dutch star heads to Alexandra Palace without a televised ranking title to his name for the first time since 2011 but insists he is finding the form that could see him lift the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy for the fourth time in his glittering career.
Van Gerwen, currently ranked as world number three, meets World Championship debutant Chas Barstow in his second round match on Saturday evening.
Having watched the two players above him on the PDC Order of Merit (Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright) both reach round three, the three-time World Champion wants to send out a message with an emphatic opening display.
“The way I’ve played in the last few months has given me a lot of confidence,” said van Gerwen, who won the Nordic Darts Masters and a Players Championship title late in the year to end a lengthy spell without a tournament victory of any kind.
“I feel good and fresh. I think I am playing well enough to win it. If you look at other people’s performances recently, I don’t think they are playing any better than me.
“Of course it has been a bad year for me because I am used to winning lots of titles but my performances have been good enough to win more, I think I have been a little bit unlucky.
“I know what I did wrong in the last couple of years, which have been difficult for everyone, and I’ve put it right.
“Every title I win always means something but a fourth World Championship would mean a lot. I’ve been working really hard, practising loads and I am ready for it.”
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).
Saturday 18 December
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Adam Hunt v Boris Krcmar (R1)
Ted Evetts v Jim Williams (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Nick Kenny (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Chas Barstow (R2)