The second session of the PDC World Darts Championship on Sunday sees some of the biggest names in the sport in action looking to win through to the second round of the tournament and set up a nice Christmas for themselves.
The headline act on the evening is the 16 time champion Phil Taylor. He begins his quest for another title in the final match of the night but the support cast is full of entertainment.
John Bowles vs David Platt (P)
49 Age 50
England Country Australia
115 PDC Ranking N/A
Last 32 WC Best Last 40
DNQ Last year DNQ
0 Head to Head 0
Two men who have graced this tournament before meet in the preliminary round match to get the night underway. The reward for the winner is a shot at Phil Taylor at the end of the night so this match is well worth winning.
John Bowles is probably best known for taking Gary Anderson to the limit in the second round in 2013 in an absolute epic battle. David Platt has played in this tournament before but not for more than a decade but most of the Australian qualifiers know which end of the dart to hold.
This should be a good preliminary round game but as ever in this round I’m not going to get involved given the pressure both will be under to deliver in alien conditions.
Daryl Gurney vs Jermaine Wattimena
30 Age 28
24 PDC Ranking 50
Last 32 WC Best Last 64
Last 32 Last year Last 64
0 Head to Head 0
Two heavy scorers meet in the second game of the night. Daryl Gurney was making really good headway in the PDC until a broken hand earlier in the year sidelined him for a while and means he has to build up a head of steam again. Wattimena, like a lot of Dutch players, lacks consistency but on his day he is a match for anyone.
Gurney has been back from his hand injury for a while and has made the quarter finals of the World Grand Prix since then so it will be interesting to see if he carries the form of that tournament with him here.
If he does it should be enough against Wattimena who lacks experience on the big stages even though he played here last year. He did make the semi-final of a tour event a few months ago where Peter Wright and Jelle Klaasen were among his victims so that in itself signifies the threat he can provide.
I don’t want to take on Daryl Gurney but at the prices I’m in no rush to take him to win and the handicaps look to offer little leeway especially as Gurney can miss doubles so I’ll sit this one out.
Alan Norris vs John Michael
44 Age 42
21 PDC Ranking 123
QF WC Best Last 64
QF Last year Last 64
0 Head to Head 0
Alan Norris begins his second tilt at the PDC title with a match against the experienced European qualifier John Michael in a match which should be a good watch for the time it lasts. How long it lasts is open to debate though.
I think set play suits Alan Norris nicely. Missed doubles is something you have to accept with him but such is his scoring power you know he will get plenty of chances and when he finds a rhythm on the outer ring he can bang out sets in no time.
Credit goes to John Michael for making it this far in the tournament. The European circuit is a tough gig these days so making it here is an achievement. He’ll be competitive in the odd legs but over the length of five sets I’m expecting Norris to dominate and win this with plenty in hand.
Phil Taylor vs John Bowles/David Platt
56 Age
4 PDC Ranking
Winner WC Best
Last 16 Last year
N/A Head to Head N/A
The evening concludes with the greatest of all time in action against the winner of the preliminary match from earlier in the evening. We’re looking at the biggest shock in World Championship history for Taylor to lose this but Bowles has shown in the past he likes this stage.
This isn’t one to bet on even if we knew in advance who Taylor was playing. This is one to sit back and watch and observe the form of The Power ahead of the matches to come.
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