1) Ryan Searle: In spite of a first round exit at the Masters against Dirk Van Duijvenbode, and a shock upset in the UK Open, perhaps no player has looked as good on the ProTour at the Players Championship events as Ryan Searle has.
The closest Searle has came so far in his PDC career was finishing runner up to Peter Wright at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, but in Searle’s seemingly preferred legs format, there may be no better time for Heavy Metal to strike and capitalise on his fine form.
2) Luke Littler: A future World Champion in the making, it’s more a matter of when rather than if Littler wins his first major by the time he exits his adolescent years.
Set to enter every event he participates in as one of the favourites, thanks to his fairytale run to the World Championship final and series of star making performances on the World Series Tour and in the Premier League.
Excelling in both leg and set play, and having technically only been beaten twice in PDC major events (against Luke Humphries and Adam Gawlas), the concurrent UK Open may be exactly what Littler needs to finally silence any doubters and become the youngest major winner in PDC history.
3) Gabriel Clemens/Martin Schindler/Ricardo Pietreckzko/Florian Hempel: In singles competition, neither the Giant nor the Wall had a particularly promising 2023, but together, the duo from Deutschland came incredibly close to winning the World Cup for their country, only narrowly edged out by Scotland in the semi-finals.
But the pair may not even be Germany’s representatives come the World Cup this Summer: Ricardo Pietreckzko may not be the most popular player outside of his native country, but few can deny his talent, having won the German Darts Open last year and coming dangerously close to knocking out eventual World Champion Luke Humphries at the Alexandra Palace.
Florian Hempel meanwhile is another man whose Ally Pally exploits have attracted many fans: whoever Germany fields in the World Cup this Summer will position them as one of the dark horses to win the entire tournament.
Read More: Kim Huybrechts, Mike De Decker And The State Of Belgian Darts In 2024
4) Andy Baetens: the reigning BDO World Champion, who won a Tour Card at Q-School in January and has impressed on the floor events so far, has all the makings in following the likes of Stephen Bunting and Danny Noppert for former BDO starlets making a smooth transition to the elite standards of the PDC.
Belgian darts is in a precarious state right now, with no one being able to accurately say how the likes of Van den Bergh, Huybrechts and De Decker will perform. If he continues to carry himself like the World Champion he is, the Belgian Beast will remain one to watch on the major scene in 2024.
5) Ricky Evans: ‘Rapid Ricky’ has always felt like a player just on the cusp of greatness and becoming one of the sport’s great players. Having recently slowed down his ‘rapid’ style, he’s become a far more dangerous and clinical player over the last 18 months, capable of going toe to toe with the likes of Nathan Aspinall and Daryl Gurney on the big stage.
At the time of writing, Evans is in the last 16 of this year’s UK Open: with four of the top 5 seeds being out of the competition, there’s a prime opportunity for a new star to etch their name in the history books. Could Ricky Evans be that player?
PDC UK OPEN
— Ricky Evans🎯 (@goodevans180) March 2, 2024
ROUND FIVE RESULT
RICKY EVANS 1️⃣0️⃣-5️⃣ Mike De Decker
Into the last 16 in Minehead!
Ricky took out 70 for a 9-5 lead, and pinned tops to seal a last 16 place, finishing with a 97.23 average.
Get in Rapid!! pic.twitter.com/BeatFoendP
By Jaspar Shepherdson
(@jasparshepmedia on X/Twitter and Instagram)
Image Credit: Darts_Actueel on Wikipedia/YouTube
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