PDC World Darts Championship - World Darts Championship
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by Devesh Jaganath | in PDC World Darts Championship Predictions
The 2026 PDC World Darts Championship is here, and kicking off the action at the Ally Pally on Thursday is Kim Huybrecht taking on Arno Merk. The winner of this match between The Hurricane and The German Giant will face either Peter Wright or Noa-Lynn van Leuven in the second round. Let’s get into the key stats.
Kim Huybrecht burst onto the World Championship scene by reaching the quarter-final in his debut season in 2013, which was the same year that he clinched his first Pro title at the Dutch Darts Masters.
However, since 2015, the Hurricane has struggled to make an impact on the big stage, managing only a Players Championship title in 2023 - his first PDC title in eight years.
Huybrecht has suffered three consecutive first-round eliminations in his last three competitions and has only won four of his last 10 matches.
Meanwhile, Arno Merk is one of those making his Ally Pally debut this year. He earned his qualification by winning the PDC DACH Super League 2025, beating Daniel Close 8-6 in the final.
The German Giant has spent recent years grinding on the lower-tier circuit, though he did feature in the 2024 European Darts Grand Prix, where he suffered a 6-0 thumping by Luke Littler.
Merk has won four of his last 10 matches in all competitions. This is the first meeting between these two players.
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Kim Huybrecht - Arno Merk Key Points
- Kim Huybrecht is ranked 110 places above his opponent in the world standings.
- Kim Huybrecht is a former World Championship quarter-finalist.
- Kim Huybrecht has over £1m in total earnings.
- Kim Huybrecht has averaged 91.23 over the past 12 months, while Merk has averaged 83.30.
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Our Kim Huybrecht vs Arno Merk Prediction
After falling out of prominence for a few years, Kim Huybrecht has shown signs of improvement lately and is now returning to the competition that he made his name in on the Pro circuit over a decade ago.
Arno Merk has had an impressive year on the lower-tier circuit and is set to make his debut here. However, we feel that he will struggle to cope with the step up in class in this competition. Our Kim Huybrecht vs Arno Merk prediction is Kim Huybrecht wins.
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