Nick Kenny and Stowe Buntz get the action underway at the World Darts Championship on Thursday night. Welsh dartist Kenny will be making his 3rd appearance on the world stage, while Buntz is back at the Ally Pally for the 2nd year running.

American arrowsmith Buntz fell at the first hurdle 12 months ago and he looks set to suffer the same fate this time around. Kenny has shown marked improvement this year to plot his way back to the Ally Pally. The 31-year-old stamped his ticket to the big dance via the Pro Tour Order of Merit. His performances in this year’s German Darts Championship were particularly impressive, seeing off both Ross Smith and Ricardo Pietreczko to reach the quarter-final stage. Furthermore, Kenny’s seasonal average of 89.85 is not to be sniffed at.

As for Buntz, he has averaged 87.70 this year, not to mention he has hit considerably less 180s than that of round 1 opponent Kenny. While the colourful American’s opening game should be closer than that of his 3-0 loss in the 1st round last year, Kenny should have enough in his locker to land top honours and set up a round 2 clash with Raymond van Barneveld.

Mensur Suljovic and Matt Campbell meet in the 2nd game of the evening at the World Darts Championship on Thursday night. Suljovic returns to the Alexandra Palace after failing to qualify for last year’s showpiece, while Campbell put in a couple of impressive performances to reach the 3rd round 12 months ago.

Given that this game could be closer than the pre-match odds suggest, supporting Suljovic to land 3 or more 180s looks the most attractive angle of attack. ‘The Gentle’ is a very capable operator when it comes to filling up the treble 20 bed, evidenced by the fact that he sits inside the top 100 for maximums scored this year.

He racked up 4 180s in his round 1 defeat to Wesley Plaisier at the recent Players Championships Finals, not to mention he covered the over 2.5 line in 2 of his 3 outings at last month’s Grand Slam of Darts. It’s also worth noting that Suljovic supplied 3 maximums when he last won on this stage 2 years ago against Mike De Decker.

The penultimate game on day 5 of this year’s World Darts Championship pits Scott Williams against Niko Springer. The winner of this tie will be rewarded with a 2nd round clash with former world champion Rob Cross.

This may not be the total cake-walk that the oddsmakers expect, however pre-match favourite Williams should march on. The arrowsmith known as ‘Shaggy’ enjoyed a sensational run to the semi-final stage last year, dumping out Danny Noppert, Damon Heta, Martin Schindler and most notably Michael van Gerwen along the way.

He will arrive back at the Ally Pally boosted by the fact that he reached the last 8 of the Players Championships Finals last month. Williams can also draw confidence from the fact that he has averaged north of 91 this season, not to mention he ranks 37th across the entire PDC for 180s scored this year so far.

If Williams can maintain those standards in his 1st round match with Springer, then he should do enough to get the better of the German debutant and set up a clash with Cross.