David needs to ride his luck

Tony David had a rocky ride to last year's final

By Bobby George BBC pundit and darts legend

I'm afraid I won't be up there on stage myself this year after losing in the qualifiers, but there are plenty of good players who can win it.

Tony David is the defending champion, so he's the one they are all looking to get at and, to be honest, he was lucky he didn't lose two of his matches last year.

You have to have a bit of luck in any tournament you go to, but Bob Taylor and Martin Adams could have seen Tony off before he got to the final.

Tony also went out in the first round of the Winmau World Masters, so he's not been looking too good but the boy took his chance last year and that's why he's a champion.

He won over in Holland after the Embassy, so he's proved it wasn't just a fluke but it would be tough for him to do it again.

I always wait until a bit before I make any predictions because anything can happen in the early stages.

World Championship draw details

The first two rounds are only best-of-five set matches and that's a bit dodgy.

Anyone can beat anyone over that distance and I don't know anything about the qualifiers yet, so I'll have to wait and see.

I'll pick my winner after I've had a look at everyone in action, but until then my message is this... may the darts be with you.

Live coverage of the Embassy World Championship starts at 1430 on 4 January on BBC One