PDC World Darts Championship bracket: Quarter finals preview and route to 2023 final mapped out

A field of 96 players has been narrowed down to the final eight with four quarter-finals at this year’s PDC World Darts Championship now set.

The last men standing are set to face off on New Year’s Day at the Alexandra Palace with two former winners still remaining as well as last year’s runner-up. Big names like defending champion Peter Wright, former winners Rob Cross and Gary Anderson and major winners in 2022 Joe Cullen and Danny Noppert have all been eliminated so far but that doesn’t mean the latter stages aren’t full of players capable of going the distance.

Quarter final 1 - Gerwyn Price vs Gabriel Clemens

Clemens has made a piece of Palace history by becoming the first German player to reach this stage of the World Championship but opponents don’t come much tougher than the current world number one ranked player. The former world champions will be a huge step up in quality from the German’s opponents so far: William O’Connor, Jim Williams and Alan Soutar.

Price reached this stage with a difficult route to the final that has seen him overcome Luke Woodhouse, Raymond van Barneveld and Jose De Sousa. The Iceman will be the heavy favourite going into the tie to secure a semi-final spot against the winner of quarter final number two.

Quarter final 2 - Michael Smith vs Stephen Bunting

Smith is looking to go one better than last year’s final where he came up short against Peter Wright to become a two time runner-up at the Palace. A Last 16 win over Joe Cullen in fairly convincing style showed that Bully Boy means business again but he’s coming up against a player who has been picking off huge ranked opponents for the past two rounds.

Former Lakeside world champion Stephen Bunting was the underdog against Luke Woodhouse and Dave Chisnall but has so far overcame the odds and will prove a serious challenge for Smith as he looks to reach the semi-finals again, having previously made it to the last four in 2021.

Quarter final 3 - Dimitri van den Bergh vs Jonny Clayton

The other half of the bracket will see one of Dimitri van den Bergh or Jonny Clayton reaching the semi-final stage at this competition for the first time. Both major trophy winners in their career, this will be the Belgians fourth quarter-final in six years while the Welshman is putting in the best performance of his career so far at the Palace.

This was defending champion Peter Wright’s section of the draw but he was eliminated by Kim Huybrechts who fell to van den Bergh in the Last 16. Clayton, meanwhile, had a difficult run to the final and had to overcome Brendan Doland and Josh Rock in the last two rounds. The winner of this match faces the winner of quarter final number four in the semis.

Quarter final 4 - Michael van Gerwen vs Chris Dobey

The three time world champion continues to look every bit the favourite to win the Sid Waddell trophy for a fourth time after beating countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-1 in the Last 16. He is going to take some stopping and this could be the stage where Chris Dobey’s impressive run at the Palace comes to an end.

‘Hollywood’ has eliminated two former world champions in the last two rounds, knocking out Gary Anderson and Rob Cross, and has reached the last eight of this competition for the first time. Despite his terrific form, all signs point toward a win for the Dutchman to set up a semi-final with either Clayton or van den Bergh.

How to watch PDC World Darts Championship on UK TV

Every match from the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Sky customers can catch all the action on their Sky Box or on mobile devices via the Sky Go app, which is available to download in most mainstream app stores. Non-Sky customers have the option to purchase NowTV packages which will give them limited time access to watch the event.