American players at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championships
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
The 2024 World Darts Championship is the 31st to be organized by the Professional Darts Corporation and the 17th to be held at the Alexandra Palace in London. The latest edition promises to be the most eventful yet as there's a wide range of players who can lay a claim to being the one to beat at the tournament. Not one player has dominated 2023, which suggests there could be a surprise winner on the cards.
Who are the favorites to win the world title in 2024?
With regards to betting odds for darts, Luke Humphries is the favorite to win his maiden world crown at odds of 10/3, and considering he has won three major titles since October, the odds are certainly justified.
Michael Van Gerwen is sitting alongside him at +333, while Gerwyn Price is third in the list at +600, and defending champion Michael Smith is currently +900 to win for the second year in a row.
🚨 9-darter 🚨
— James Dart (@James_Dart) January 3, 2023
Michael Smith in an all-timer leg pic.twitter.com/ZiAaCr4EPc
The festival of darts isn’t about just seeing the elite players stroll to victory but watching unheralded names from outside the United Kingdom showcase their talents and for the 2024 edition, three American players qualified.
Three American players qualified for the 2024 World Championships
Stowe Buntz, Alex Spellman, and Jules van Dongen are the three American representatives at the biggest tournament in the PDC calendar. Van Dongen qualified via the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers whereas Buntz and Spellman took different approaches. It was perhaps Buntz who has enjoyed the most meteoric of rises since the summer. The American took the Championship Darts Corporation by storm as he claimed three consecutive ProTour titles during August - this meant he secured qualification for the 2024 edition.
This was just the beginning of his good run, however, as Buntz qualified for the Grand Slam in November and exceeded all expectations in the competition. The 44-year-old defeated three televised title winners in the competition to reach the last eight and become the first player from the USA to achieve this since the tournament began in 2007. Van Dongen is in his second Tour Card year secured his place via this route and he makes his debut in the competition in the process.
Grand Slam of Darts 2023 🎯
— Online Darts (@OfficialOLDarts) November 16, 2023
Round of 16!
Stowe Buntz 10-5 Andrew Gilding
The American dream remains alive in Wolverhampton 🇺🇸
Noppert and Bunting up next, with Buntz awaiting the winner
Join us for reaction on Youtube 👉🏻 https://t.co/w0EdrfSptX pic.twitter.com/sb1s5R1HkD
Spellman is also making his debut at the 2024 event and he finished number one in the Championship Darts Corporation rankings which enabled him to secure his spot in the World Championships. Indeed, Spellman finished a place higher than Buntz, yet has perhaps been overshadowed by his compatriot, especially due to his impressive displays in the Grand Slam.
The only player from North America to win the PDC World title is John Part. The Canadian claimed victory in 2003 and 2008 and while it may be a tall ask for one of the three Americans to win the title this year, a few solid displays won't do the country any harm at all. Approximately 17 million Americans play darts and the country certainly has the opportunity to eventually provide a world champion over the next few years.