The first day of the Players Championship Finals is set to be a pretty frenetic one as all 32 matches in the first round will be played in two sessions of action. With the format only being the best of 11 legs we are sure for tons of drama and results which won’t go with logic so it will be a nervy day for the favourites.
Two boards are in operation throughout the day and all of the matches have been priced up so we will go through them here.
Afternoon Session – Main Stage
We begin with Joe Cullen taking on Steve Brown before another Brown takes to the stage when Keegan faces Ian White. Last week’s Grand Slam quarter finalist Chris Dobey then faces Mick McGowan before Jelle Klaasen plays Simon Stevenson.
Simon Whitlock is one of the bigger names on show in the afternoon. He faces Matthew Edgar and then Cristo Reyes takes on Berry van Peer. The afternoon concludes with Christian Kist taking on Ricky Evans and Dave Chisnall facing Kevin Painter.
Afternoon Session – Stage Two
This stage begins with James Wilson taking on Vincent Kamphuis while Joe Murnan then plays Jermaine Wattimena. Justin Pipe meets Andy Jenkins and then comes Darren Webster and Jonny Clayton.
Josh Payne has had a good season and he takes on Mark Walsh which is followed by Vincent van der Voort against Andrew Gilding. Jamie Caven plays Jamie Lewis and the final match of the afternoon sees Robbie Green going up against Devon Petersen.
Evening Session – Main Stage
James Wade and Mervyn King get the evening session underway before Gerwyn Price meets Dimitri van den Bergh for the second TV event in a row. Two other men who faced each other at the Grand Slam follow them when Mensur Suljovic plays Raymond Barneveld and then Benito van de Pas plays Brendan Dolan.
The big names keep on coming as Michael van Gerwen faces Andy Hamilton before the all-Scottish battle between Gary Anderson and John Henderson. Peter Wright plays Jason Wilson and then the action on the main stage draws to a close with Adrian Lewis meeting Robert Thornton.
Evening Session – Stage Two
Former Lakeside regulars Steve West and Jan Dekker meet in the first match on the second stage before two other men who made their name at Frimley Green meet when Steve Beaton faces Jeffrey de Graaf. Mark Webster and Terry Jenkins play in a match worthy of a bigger profile and they are followed by Daryl Gurney and Ronnie Baxter.
Kim Huybrechts begins his quest for a TV title in the wilderness against Mickey Mansell and then comes the match of the night on this stage when Alan Norris faces Michael Smith. Ronny Huybrechts then plays Rowby-John Rodriguez before Stephen Bunting and Ron Muelenkamp draw the day to a close.
Betting
With the addition of 32 players to this tournament the quality has been saturated and as such betting is a little more difficult. With the format thrown into the equation as well it is important to pick and choose bets. This isn’t a tournament I’m going too mad on and as such I’m only going with three bets to cover the whole day.
The first one comes in the Darren Webster against Jonny Clayton match. The last time we saw Darren Webster he was walloping Phil Taylor 5-0 and there can’t be many better boosts for confidence than that. Jonny Clayton is a solid enough player but he hasn’t done too much for a while so Webster looks like he has a nice draw and one he can take advantage of.
Gerwyn Price was on twitter on Thursday evening mentioning about being ill so he might be worth taking on against Dimitri van den Bergh who beat him at the Grand Slam a couple of weeks ago. The Welshman never truly convinces me when he is a favourite for a match and if he is unwell that isn’t going to help matters. Van den Bergh doesn’t have a lot to lose but he can take advantage of a soft opponent.
Raymond Barneveld did a bit of a job on Mensur Suljovic at the Grand Slam a couple of weeks ago and I think he can do the same again here. Suljovic is a much improved player but he still doesn’t look wholly comfortable when facing the elite of the game and that can play into the hands of the Dutchman. I like Barney in this one.
Tips
WON – Back D.Webster to beat J.Clayton for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back D.van den Bergh to beat G.Price for a 3/10 stake at 2.63 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Barneveld to beat M.Suljovic for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Skybet
Back him here:
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