The 2021 PDC Darts World Championship starts this week with the first rounds of the tournament. While the top 32 players will join only in the second round, we can already find interesting games in the first games. Like the two women players’ matches where none of them are favored to win in the PDC WC first round odds. 

This will be the 28th PDC World Championship held in the usual place, at Alexandra Palace in London between the 15th of December and 3rd of January. A record of 29 countries will be represented in the tournament where as usual English players dominate the field. Peter Wright is the defending champion and he is one of the top favorites again. He will only join the event though in the second round along with the other 31 top players. But we can find several interesting ties in the first round too, let’s see them now.

PDC WC first round odds favor this year’s rising players

We can already find some familiar names in the first-round games like Dutch player Dirk van Diujvenbode who had a brilliant season this year. He was the runner-up in the World Grand Prix where he defeated Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock on his way. But the 28-year-old also reached the quarter-finals at the Players Championship Finals and the European Championship. Diujvenbode will start against young English player Bradley Brooks who will make his debut in the tournament. The Dutch is the favorite to win with the odds of 1.25 in the PDC WC first round odds.

Another player who has been in great form this year is Australian Damon Heta. He won his first PDC ranking event this September in Niedernhausen. Where he managed to defeat Joe Cullen in the final to win the Players Championship event. Heta also played in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals. The Aussie will start against US player Danny Baggish this Saturday. Online sportsbooks in the UK predict his victory with the odds of 1.16.

Chances of women players to go through

Two female players will compete again in this year’s world championship. The top two players of the PDC Women’s Series, Lisa Ashton and Deta Hedman. Ashton will start against Adam Hunt on Wednesday night who reached the last 16 in this year’s Grand Slam. But Ashton is a great player herself, a four-time BDO world champion and the first female player to win a PDC Tour Card through Q school. Online gambling sites in the UK offer the odds of 3.20 for her win in the first round.

While the other women player, Deta Hedman will make her tournament debut after also having a strong season. The 61-year old English player will play against her compatriot, Andy Boulton who is highly favored to win the game. But who knows, Hedman might surprise everyone just like Fallon Sherrock did last year.

Other exciting 1st round games

One of the tightest games can be the Luke Woodhouse vs Jamie Lewis match, where Woodhouse is slightly favored to win with the odds of 1.72. He got to the last 16 in this year’s Players Championshop Finals and to the third round in last year’s world championship. While Lewis achieved great results in previous tournaments. His best result was getting to the semi-final in 2018. Now his odds to win the game is 2.10 on bet365. 

But it will be interesting to see how Steve Beaton can play on the opening day of the event. He will make his 30th consecutive appearances in the world championship breaking the previous record of Phil Taylor. The 1996 BDO champion will start against Brazilian Diogo Portela where he is the favorite of the tie with the odds of 1.28. Meanwhile the current world champion, Peter Wright will also make his first appearance tomorrow as per the traditions. He will play against the winner of the first game, Steve West or Indian Amit Gilitwala which should be an easy game for the world No2.

You can discover more about Bet365 Sportsbook here.