The last session in the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship looks like it could be a belter as three of the best four players in the world rankings are on show at the Alexandra Palace in London.
All three look to have tricky opponents looking to dump them out of the tournament so the evening is set up to be a potentially dramatic one with the prize on stake in all three matches a place in the quarter final.
Peter Wright vs Ian White
Peter Wright: Round 1 beat Jerry Hendriks 3-0 – Ave: 101.06 180s: 1
Round 2 beat Jamie Lewis 4-0 – Ave: 103.53 180s: 2
Ian White: Round 1 beat Kevin Simm 3-1 – Ave: 87.20 180s: 2
Round 2 beat Johnny Clayton 4-1 – Ave: 92.60 180s: 8
Head to Head: 9-5
The evening opens up with a really good looking match between Peter Wright and Ian White, both of whom have been in the quarter finals of this event before so they know how to come through this round. Both players are top 10 players at their best so this should be a good game.
Wright has been very impressive so far in this tournament. He hasn’t dropped a set and although he has only hit 3 180s his average for the event is well over 100 which highlights how good the other parts of his game are functioning. Ian White struggled in the first round but his power scoring was back in the second one and he looks to be finding his best darts again.
Given how well he is playing it would be a surprise if Wright loses this but White is perfectly capable of completing an upset so I won’t bet on the match but I do like a bet on the White 180s where the line is criminally low at 5.5.
I’ve mentioned a few times how White is a heavy scorer and you would think this one will have five or six sets so an average of a 180 a set is comfortable for him as he showed in the last round when he hit eight in five sets.
Phil Taylor vs Kim Huybrechts
Phil Taylor: Round 1 beat David Platt 3-0 – Ave: 101.93 180s: 3
Round 2 beat Kevin Painter 4-0 – Ave: 92.73 180s: 2
Kim Huybrechts: Round 1 beat James Wilson 3-0 – Ave: 98.66 180s: 5
Round 2 beat Max Hopp 4-0 – Ave: 92.76 180s: 5
Head to Head: 10-1
The quality doesn’t relent in the second match as Phil Taylor meets a determined Kim Huybrechts who will be looking for his first quarter final since 2012. Taylor has been talking up his chances of another world title before he retires so this doesn’t need too much building up.
Phil Taylor looked good in his first match under no pressure whatsoever but he was ordinary at best in the second round against Kevin Painter and was quick to come out with the excuses afterwards. Kim Huybrechts has almost gone unnoticed so far but he’s ruthlessly dumped out two dangerous opponents.
Taylor got knocked out in this round 12 months ago and while I don’t think he’ll lose here I do think he could be vulnerable especially if he plays like he did against Painter in the last round. Huybrechts tends to lose a lot of close ones and I think he might do that here but that would involve him winning a couple of sets which I think he can do.
Michael van Gerwen vs Darren Webster
Michael van Gerwen: Round 1 beat Kim Viljanen 3-0 – Ave: 103.34 180s: 5
Round 2 beat Cristo Reyes 4-2 – Ave: 105.24 180s: 11
Darren Webster: Round 1 beat Stephen Bunting 3-2 – Ave: 94.46 180s: 8
Round 2 beat Simon Whitlock 4-0 – Ave: 104.64 180s: 8
Head to Head: 10-1
Arguably the two best players in the tournament meet in the final match of the round as MVG faces Darren Webster. These two met in the last 32 last year and MVG won 4-0 before losing in this round to Raymond Barneveld. There is no doubt Webster is playing much better this year so this should be interesting.
Van Gerwen survived the mother of all scares in the last round when Cristo Reyes laid it down to him but he had a scare before facing Webster last year and came out and blitzed the Norfolk man. Webster couldn’t be playing any better right now though and his destruction of Simon Whitlock was one of the all-time most impressive World Championship performances.
I expect van Gerwen to win but we saw at the Players Championship that Webster doesn’t fear him. He went 6-0 up on van Gerwen that night which shows he holds no fear and that Webster can win legs against him. Whether he can win the match is a different story but it shows he can win a set at least.
Tips
WON – Back I.White Over 5.5 180s for a 5/10 stake at 1.83 with Titanbet
Back it here:
WON – Back K.Huybrechts (+2.5 sets) to beat P.Taylor for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back D.Webster (+3.5 sets) to beat M.van Gerwen for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
Back it here:
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