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<p>WHILE some sports wind down over the Christmas vacation, many have become very much part of the holiday season.</p>
<p>One of those is darts, a game most Americans only come across in their local bar on a night out with friends. But it’s a very serious sport with a lucrative professional tour, and this month sees the start of the world championships in London, with players from across the world descending on the Alexandra Palace in England’s capital city.</p>
<p>Among those dreaming of glory – the first prize is $650,000 – is one young man flying the US flag, Daniel Lauby Jr from Indiana.</p>
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<p>Son of professional player Dan Lauby Snr, the 28-year-old will face world no.42 William O’Connor from Ireland in his opening game later this month, with Lauby the outsider for the clash at 13/8 (+162.5) – bet $8 <a href="https://offers.bet/uk/bet365-bonus-code-offer/">using bet365 promo code</a> on the US star and get $21 back if he beats the Irishman.</p>
<p>If you fancy the man from Terre Haute to go all the way and lift the world title you can get odds of 1,000/1 (+100,000) for him to do just that, as unlikely as that may appear to be.</p>
<p>It will be Lauby’s second tilt at the world championships, last year he lost narrowly 3-2 in the first round to Ryan Searle, and he’ll be hoping to at least reach the second round. If he does, he will face the 24th seed, Glen Durrant, of England.</p>
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<p>At the top of the betting is reigning champion Gerwyn Price, the Welsh star is 4/1 (+400) to claim back-to-back titles. Dutch wizard Michael van Gerwen is 9/2 (+450), the world no.3 has won the world title on three occasions, the last time in 2019.</p>
<p>Canadians Matt Campbell, Jeff Smith, both 500/1 (+50,000), and John Norman Jr, 1000/1 (+100,000), make up the North American contingent with all aiming to at least match the exploits of Danny ‘The Gambler’ Baggish from the last world championships.</p>
<p>The Guam-born Florida resident produced one of the results of the whole tournament, beating two-time world champion Adrian Lewis in round two before falling to Durrant, the player Lauby will face if he wins his first-round clash.</p>
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<p>Baggish, who came to prominence by winning the North American championship in Las Vegas in 2019, went on to claim a PDC, Professional Darts Corporation, tour card – the first American to do so – and has spent a large proportion of this year playing in England and around Europe.</p>
<p>Another interesting competitor in this year’s championships is the veteran Paul Lim, the 67-year-old very much a name synonymous with the game of darts. While he now represents Singapore, Lim was flying under the US flag when he produced a moment of brilliance that is still remembered by many in the game.</p>
<p>In 1990 he was up against Ireland’s Jack McKenna in the world championships, Lim having just won the first set. He then produced the perfect leg of darts – a nine-dart finish – to become the first player to achieve the feat in the world championships. His prize of almost $70,000 was twice as much as Phil Taylor received for winning the tournament.</p>
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<p>The history of North American stars in the world championship is a long one, with Canadian John Part the most successful competitor from this side of the Atlantic. The son of Toronto won the world title on <a href="http://en.espn.co.uk/darts/sport/story/267859.html">three occasions</a> – most recently in 2008 – and in 2017 he was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>It 2001 he was thrashed 7-0 in his first PDC final by legend of the game, Phil Taylor, before gaining his revenge two years later in an epic clash. He started superbly to take a 4-1 lead in sets before Taylor fought back and went ahead 5-4, Part responding to regain the advantage. Taylor came back again but he couldn’t prevent the Canadian claiming the final set to win a second world crown, his first in the PDC.</p>


PDC World Darts a highlight of the holiday season as US and Canadian stars head to England
