The third round of the PDC World Darts Championship finishes on Thursday as the final six matches in the round are played out over the course of two sessions at the Alexandra Palace in London. At the end of the day there will be just eight men remaining in this wonderful tournament.
Wednesday was another top draw day of darts and in terms of seeds we’ve lost very few of the bigger ones so we are set for a fascinating and high quality finish to the tournament.
Mark Webster vs Daryl Gurney
Mark Webster: Round 1 beat Joe Murnan 3-0 – Ave: 87.78 180s: 1
Round 2 beat Mensur Suljovic 4-3 – Ave: 92.79 180s: 8
Daryl Gurney: Round 1 beat Jermaine Wattimena 3-1 – Ave: 96.85 180s: 5
Round 2 beat Robert Thornton 4-3 – Ave: 95.35 180s: 3
Head to Head: 3-2
Two of the three lowest players left in the tournament meet for a place in the quarter final and the £38,000 guaranteed which will do their ranking in the order of merit no harm whatsoever. With that in mind there could be some nerves around in this one.
I fancy Gurney will win the match. I think he is the better player at the present time but his tendency to miss doubles and hit flat spots puts me off backing him on a handicap and he is too short to back up front. A value bet might be Gurney to win 4-3 but I’m not much of a correct score player other than a bit of fun so I’ll sit this one out.
Dave Chisnall vs Jelle Klaasen
Dave Chisnall: Round 1 beat Rowby-John Rodriguez 3-0 – Ave: 98.72 180s: 9
Round 2 beat Chris Dobey 4-2 – Ave: 92.88 180s: 6
Jelle Klaasen: Round 1 beat Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 – Ave: 96.02 180s: 6
Round 2 beat Brendan Dolan 4-0 – Ave: 93.32 180s: 5
Head to Head: 3-5
One of the matches of the third round is the second match of the day and I’m expecting this to be an absolute cracker. The two played in the last 16 of the Players Championship and Chisnall won a classic 10-9 but that was his first win in five against the Dutchman and in fairness he wasn’t really too close in the four he lost.
Both these men are wonderful scorers so you would think this will come down to who holds their composure the best at the important times which is on the doubles. I really like how Jelle Klaasen has played in this tournament. He has looked aggressive and his body language is positive. In contrast Chisnall just looks slightly off the top of his game.
Klaasen’s stats against Dolan may not have been anything special but from the first leg he was visibly uncomfortable with the pace of the match. He’ll get everything he wants in this one and I expect him to plough in the 180s. His 180 line is 7.5 but that doesn’t look high enough to me.
On his way to the semi-final 12 months ago he slammed in 15 180s in this round in beating Taylor. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t go into double figures here in a match which surely has six of seven sets in its duration.
James Wade vs Michael Smith
James Wade: Round 1 beat Ronny Huybrechts 3-0 – Ave: 93.83 180s: 2
Round 2 beat Steve Beaton 4-1 – Ave: 99.39 180s: 5
Michael Smith: Round 1 beat Ricky Evans 3-2 – Ave: 96.78 180s: 7
Round 2 beat Mervyn King 4-3 – Ave: 93.83 180s: 14
Head to Head: 6-2
The final game of the session should be a cracking match between two of the best players in the world. Wade holds a solid head to head record over Smith but the latter has looked good in this tournament and probably has the format which suits him the most.
To his credit James Wade looked really good against Steve Beaton on Wednesday and if he scores as well here as he did there he will be tough to beat. I’m already on Michael Smith in a couple of outright angles so I’m hoping he comes through here especially as he went into the round leading the 180s for the tournament at a huge price.
Given I’ve got Smith covered in a couple of bets I’m not going to bet on this one but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Smith caused the upset. If he nails his doubles he’ll be tough to beat but the prices look fair to me.
Tips
WON – Back J.Klaasen – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
OFFERS
BOYLESPORTS
MONEY BACK UP TO £25 IF YOUR PLAYER LOSES TO A BULLSEYE
Click on the banner to bet.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
