The second round concludes and the third round begins in the PDC World Darts Championship on Wednesday evening with plenty more huge names in action at the Alexandra Palace in London.
With the tournament heading towards the business stage the pressure cranks up and that usually brings out the best in everyone so we should get an entertaining evening of darts.
Peter Wright vs Jamie Lewis
Peter Wright: Round 1 beat Jerry Hendriks 3-0 – Ave: 101.06 180s: 1
Jamie Lewis: Round 1 beat Mick McGowan 3-2 – Ave: 91.08 180s: 5
Head to Head: 4-1
The final match of the second round sees the former finalist Peter Wright taking on a man looking for his best performance in the tournament in the form of Jamie Lewis. Although Wright leads the head to head comfortably three of the five meetings have gone the distance although that is the floor and this is totally different.
Peter Wright looked very assured in the first round against a Jerry Hendriks who was out to have some fun and I would expect the Scot to improve on that. You could tell there was a lot of pressure and tension on Lewis. He really needed to win in the first round but now he can relax and let his best darts fly.
Even with that I expect Wright to be too good here but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lewis wins a set. I can’t say I’m certain enough to take any handicaps or anything though.
Gary Anderson vs Benito van de Pas
Gary Anderson: Round 1 beat Mark Frost 3-0 – Ave: 96.16 180s: 5
Round 2 beat Andrew Gilding 4-0 – Ave: 102.58 180s: 6
Benito van de Pas: Round 1 beat Tengku Hadzali Shah 3-1 – Ave: 91.18 180s: 2
Round 2 beat Terry Jenkins 4-3 – Ave: 95.79 180s: 7
The third round of the tournament begins with the defending champion Gary Anderson continuing his quest for a threepeat when he faces the young Dutchman Benito van de Pas over the best of seven sets for a spot in the quarter final.
Anderson has cruised through so far without dropping a set even though you would have to say he has looked in second gear throughout. I’m not going to take too much from his win over Mark Frost because Frosty was just there for a good time but Anderson was ruthless against Gilding which bodes well.
Van de Pas has struggled to finish opponents off but you have to give him credit for holding his nerve in the deciding set against Terry Jenkins when everything looked to be going against him. I’m not convinced he has the scoring power or the consistency over this distance to go with Anderson though so I fancy the Scot to come through with plenty in hand once again.
Adrian Lewis vs Raymond Barneveld
Adrian Lewis: Round 1 beat Magnus Caris 3-0 – Ave: 93.25 180s: 5
Round 2 beat Joe Cullen 4-0 – Ave: 102.65 180s: 5
Raymond Barneveld Round 1 beat Robbie Green 3-0 – Ave: 98.84 180s: 3
Round 2 beat Alan Norris 4-0 – Ave: 103.59 180s: 7
Two men who have yet to drop a set meet in what looks like it could be the match of the tournament so far. This was a semi-final last year and it would make for a decent clash later in the event this year but that isn’t the way the draw has worked out.
Adrian Lewis has been on cruise control so far in the tournament but he has been able to be as neither of his opponents have turned up against him. Barneveld has wiped out two dangerous opponents without giving them a look in and has looked ominously good in doing so.
This one is set up to be an absolute cracker. On what we’ve seen so far in the tournament you would have to favour Barneveld, and I do, but I’m on him for the quarter and I think the winner of this match will come out of this quarter so I don’t need to back the Dutchman again.
The bet I like here is for Adrian Lewis to hit more than 7.5 180s. If he is going to compete with Barneveld then Lewis knows he has to score well. He generally does score well against him though and with this one likely to go six if not seven sets then an average of just over one 180 a set isn’t asking much from one of the game’s best ever scorers.
Tips
Back G.Anderson (-2.5 sets) to beat B.van de Pas for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back A.Lewis – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back him here:
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