The opening Sunday of the PDC World Darts Championship is a day of two sessions with one in the afternoon and one in the evening at the Alexandra Palace so there is plenty of darts for us to enjoy to conclude the weekend.
Michael van Gerwen made a winning start to his campaign on Saturday night and on Sunday it is the turn of Phil Taylor to get underway. He begins in the evening session but we’ll preview the afternoon matches here.
Kevin Simm vs Gilbert Ulang
47 Age 37
England Country Philippines
N/A PDC Ranking N/A
Debut WC Best Debut
DNQ Last year DNQ
0 Head to Head 0
As always this weekend the session kicks off with the preliminary round match with Kevin Simm playing Gilbert Ulang for the right to face Ian White at the end of the afternoon. Kevin Simm qualified by finishing runner up in the PDPA qualifier while Ulang came through his own qualifying event.
We’ve not seen Kevin Simm on our screens before but we have seen Ulang at the World Cup of Darts where he looked capable. You’ve got to think that both players in the preliminary round from that PDPA qualifier will come through but in keeping with the rest of the tournament so far I’m not getting involved in this round.
Justin Pipe vs Chris Dobey
45 Age 26
26 PDC Ranking 47
Last 16 WC Best Debut
Last 64 Last year Debut
1 Head to Head 0
This first round match might be the most interesting one of the day. Chris Dobey made a name for himself in the Grand Slam of Darts and he’ll be looking to expand on that here while Justin Pipe is looking to get back to where he was in the game after a disastrous 2-3 years on and off the oche.
There have been signs in the last 2-3 months that Pipe is finally getting things back together and if that is the case we can expect big things from him in 2017. He has made a semi-final and three quarter finals on the tour in the last three months and he looked in good fettle at Minehead last month.
Chris Dobey showed us his inexperience and inconsistency in that tournament where he lost to Mick McGowan in the first round and that would be a concern for taking him at odds on here. I like Dobey a lot and think he has a big future in the game but he might still need to learn his trade on the stage and over this distance.
Pipe has won their only previous meeting when he wasn’t going so well so he is good value to win this one. His deliberate style may not make things easy for Dobey so I’m with Pipe in this one.
Mark Webster vs Joe Murnan
33 Age 33
25 PDC Ranking 40
3rd WC Best Last 32
Last 16 Last year Last 32
3 Head to Head 3
This is another even looking match as far as the odds are concerned. Mark Webster goes into the match as the seeded player and the favourite but although he is playing better than he was a couple of years ago he’s nothing like the player of the past. Joe Murnan can be hot on his day and might fancy the job here.
On experience you would give this to Mark Webster but the pressure is all on him and that isn’t a situation I like having my money on. Joe Murnan can either be brilliant or awful and we only know which one we will get when he starts off. This is one to leave alone in my eyes.
Ian White vs Kevin Simm/Gilbert Ulang
46 Age
14 PDC Ranking
QF WC Best
Last 64 Last year
N/A Head to Head N/A
Ian White will be looking to make up for the disappointment he had in this tournament last year when he got dumped out in the first round by Dimitri van den Bergh. He has a much easier draw this time around and it would be a major shock if he doesn’t win this match.
As ever though we don’t know who White will be playing until later in the session and we don’t know how that player will cope with a second match. All three men to have faced that prospect so far have struggled so this should be a comfortable White win but not a match we can bet on without knowing the opponent.
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