Gerwyn Price has tipped four players to potentially have a strong World Darts Championship after successful seasons on the PDC ProTour.
The draw for the tournament at Alexandra Palace took place on Monday, with a new format in place for this year.
Instead of the top 32 players automatically qualifying for the second round, all 128 players enter the tournament in round one instead.
Price will face young Czech star Adam Gawlas, who was the first player ever to beat reigning champion Luke Littler in the PDC - at the 2023 UK Open - but has yet to fully kick on.
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There are a number of intriguing match-ups, with world youth finalist Beau Greaves taking on Daryl Gurney in one of the ties of the round.
2024 champion Luke Humphries faces Ted Evetts, while Stephen Bunting has been handed a tricky encounter against Players Championship 22 winner Sebastian Bialecki.
And Gian van Veen will look to kick-start his quest to be the world youth champion and world champion in the same year by defeating Spain's Cristo Reyes.
Speaking to SPORTbible at the launch of Fireball's 'Final Boss' campaign, Price named four players from this season's ProTour who could shine at Ally Pally once the action gets underway on December 11.
He said: "Obviously, Gian van Veen has been playing pretty decent. Wessel Nijman has been pretty decent.
"Josh Rock has set off a little bit, and found a bit of form in the Grand Slam. Bradley Brooks has been brilliant, he's been in one of the finals as well. He's been great on the floor."
It is perhaps telling that all four names Price mentions are between the ages of 23 and 25, with Van Veen the youngest at 23.
On Van Veen, who defeated Humphries in a last-leg decider to win his first major PDC title last month, Price added: "I think he's a fantastic player. As you can see, when he's playing, the pressure doesn't faze him.
"He's always cool, calm and composed. For someone who's struggled with that, I guess, and came back from the brink [against Humphries], fair play to him.
"He's a great player. And those sorts of players, in 10 or 15 years' time, are the only ones who are probably going to be around trying to battle off with the likes with Luke Littler.
"At the minute, he's flying, and I think he'll only get better which is good."
In terms of his own form, Price is confident heading into the World Championship after a strong second half of 2025.
The Welshman has won an event on the European Tour and the World Series, and reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam earlier this month.
He also won three nights of the Premier League's opening stage, before reaching Finals Night and the semi-finals.
The 2021 world champion, who was speaking prior to his run to the Players Championship semi-final where he lost 11-8 to Littler, explained: "I'm definitely more confident than last year.
"It was probably one of my worst seasons last year. But this year, I'm starting to find a little bit of form and get a bit better.
"When the Premier League seems to finish and things start to open up a bit, you get a bit more time at home and you actually want to be on the road again, that's when I start to play a bit better.
"It's probably just being a bit more positive and enjoying it again [the difference between 2025 and 2024].
"I had a little bit of help before the World Championship last year, so that helped me out and sort of gave me the confidence and the right mindset moving forward.
"I was definitely more positive from the Premier League. It is hard to play in a Premier League but as long as I was more positive, I was enjoying it a lot more, and I was not getting the results but I was performing well.
"As the season was going on, I was performing better, and the results were coming as well."
One thing that could yet change for Price ahead of the World Championship is his walk-on song.
He swapped his traditional theme of 'Ice Ice Baby' to 'Nice To Meet You' by Myles Smith ahead of the Grand Slam - but didn't appear overly convinced by the success of the switch.
While the Welshman says he will likely keep the new song, fans might see a subtle change.
"I'm probably going to stick with it," he said. "But try to find the right part of the song, try to get the right volume. Because it just seems like it's not the same song that I listen to in the car when you're walking on to it.
"But if we get the right balance and the right part of the song, I'm sure there's some good energy."
Fireball has launched a search for their ‘Final Boss’, a darts-obsessed fan to step up and attend every single day of the World Darts Championship - three weeks of sporting chaos at Alexandra Palace.
Fans can apply to become the Final Boss, with the most daring candidate winning a money-can’t-buy experience to see every day of the biggest darting tournament, from the best seat in the house.
Fireball’s Final Boss will chronicle their journey to fellow fans across the country, acting as a stand-in for every supporter who wishes they could be there in person.
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship, Fan Reactions, Spotlight
Ryan Smart