PDC World Championship: Pundits' must-watch first round matches at Alexandra Palace

All 16 days of coverage are available on Sky Sports Darts, starting on Friday night from 7pm

By Sky Sports Darts

Image: Keane Barry will make his World Championship debut after clinching the Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay title in October

Ahead of this year's festivities at Alexandra Palace, our team of esteemed pundits share their must-watch first round matches at the PDC World Championship.

With 96 players heading to the iconic darting venue for the biggest Christmas party of the year, our 16 days of coverage begins on Friday night live on Sky Sports Darts and continues through to the final on January 1.

The draw has thrown up some outstanding tussles, so take a look at the matches that our pundits believe cannot be missed...

Raymond van Barneveld talks us through his greatest game as he beat Phil Taylor in the final of the 2007 World Championship

Wayne Mardle: I'm looking forward to seeing Barney taking on Darin Young and Steve Lennon against Callan Rydz, but if Benito van de Pas plays like he has been recently then Gabriel Clemens is in trouble. If Benito regresses to the standard of three months ago, he probably won't win a set, but if Benito is back I think he progresses.

Mark Webster: I quite like the Luke Humphries versus Devon Petersen game which is third on Friday night. Those two had a great World Championship last year, they were around for most of the tournament and one of them will be going on the opening night.

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Keith Deller: Vincent van der Voort against Keane Barry should be a good game. I think Vincent's playing well now. Vincent's problem has always been missing silly doubles. He scores well and he hits 180s. Keane Barry won the Tom Kirby and he's obviously a good player.

Dave Clark: I'm looking forward to watching the ladies in action. Fallon Sherrock could cause a problem against Ted Evetts while Mikuru Suzuki could cause an upset against James Richardson.

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The Darts Show podcast returns with a full World Championship preview on Tuesday and regular episodes from Ally Pally throughout the Worlds

Rod Studd: Matthew Edgar against Darius Labanauskas will be a fun match while Josh Payne against Diogo Portela could be interesting. I'm also really looking forward to seeing Mikuru Suzuki against James Richardson and Fallon Sherrock taking on Ted Evetts. The pick of the first round games is Luke Humphries against our friend and colleague Devon Petersen. That should be a high-quality game.

Image: A fair few eyes will be on Devon Petersen, he fancies his match as one to watch too!

Colin Lloyd: One for me is the fast and furious Vincent van der Voort against the new young wonderkid Keane Barry from Ireland. He looks a very good player. There's a lot of pressure on his young shoulders but this is what he wants to do in life so it will be interesting to see how he copes when he steps up against one of the best players in the world.

PDC World Championship: Friday's order of play

First Round Jelle Klaasen vs Kevin Burness
Kim Huybrechts vs Geert Nentjes
Luke Humphries vs Devon Petersen
Second Round Michael van Gerwen vs Klaasen/Burness
Sky Sports Darts, 7pm

Nigel Pearson: It's Josh Payne taking on Diogo Portela for me. Josh is a great talent and Diogo is a good watch when on top form. That could be a cracker.

Laura Turner: I'm looking at Luke Humphries against Devon Petersen. Obviously I met Devon at the Grand Slam and it was quite well-documented that Luke was struggling with his darts but he's really found his form again winning the World Youth title. I think that's going to be a good one.

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Stuart Pyke: I'm really looking forward to Vincent van der Voort against Keane Barry. I think that this World Championship is going to throw up some stars of the future, like it did with Luke Humphries and Nathan Aspinall last year. I've heard a lot about him, I've seen a bit of him and I think Vincent will have to play at his very best to beat him. Keane Barry has got no fear.

Image: Mikuru Suzuki will be appearing in her second major PDC event in as many months

David Croft: James Richardson against Mikuru Suzuki. Mikuru is very talented and throws averages that could make James Richardson a little bit worried. He will know what it's like to be involved in a shock result because he beat Barney in 2012. He won't obviously know what it is like to be on the wrong-end of a shock result but I don't think it would be a shock if Mikuru won. The minute 'Baby Shark' starts, the crowd will love her.

All the action from Ally Pally gets underway on Friday with the first of 16 days of coverage live on Sky Sports Darts & Main Event from 7pm.

If you are out and about you can follow with regular updates, clips, features and reports at skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @SkySportsDarts

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