The PDC World Championship came alive with two superb matches on Monday night and the tournament cracks on at a rattling pace as the preliminary and first rounds continue on Tuesday.
The big names keep on coming this week and on Tuesday night Raymond Barneveld will be the centre of attention. His first round game against Robbie Green is one of the ties of the round. He is one of two world champions on show on Tuesday evening.
Boris Koltsov vs Dragutin Horvat (P)
28 Age 40
Russia Country Germany
N/A PDC Ranking 127
Last 64 WC Best Debut
DNQ Last year Debut
0 Head to Head 0
The penultimate preliminary round match should be a win for the German but you never truly know how anyone is going to perform on the big stage so we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Simon Whitlock faces the winner at the end of the evening.
As with the rest of the matches in this round I’m not going to get too involved. I’m not expecting a classic and the prices certainly reflect how I think this one will go.
Brendan Dolan vs Christian Kist
43 Age 30
23 PDC Ranking 38
Last 32 WC Best Last 32
Last 64 Last year Last 32
3 Head to Head 1
Brendan Dolan and Christian Kist meet on what looks quite an even battle on paper. Dolan lost in the first round here last year and he’ll be looking to make up for that this year but you would have to say that he is a vulnerable seed and Kist will be eyeing this up as a match he can and probably should win.
Brendan Dolan made the quarter finals of the Grand Slam of Darts but he hasn’t done a lot else this year and he looks like a man who is very much on the decline. Christian Kist has made the last eight of his last two events which includes the Players Championship Finals and he was the runner up in a tour event in Dublin at the end of September so he goes here in good form.
Bookmakers have this one level pegging but I see only one winner here and that is Christian Kist. I think set play suits him and with the form and confidence he is carrying he should be much shorter than he actually is here.
Raymond Barneveld vs Robbie Green
49 Age 42
12 PDC Ranking 43
Winner WC Best Debut
SF Last year Debut
1 Head to Head 1
When the draw was made one tie jumped off the page and it was this one. Robbie Green might still be making a name for himself back in the PDC but rest assured he can play this great game while Raymond Barneveld heads to the Palace as a genuine challenger for the title.
Barneveld is a huge favourite for this match, probably actually more of a favourite than he should be but he does have experience on his side which should be quite big. Green certainly won’t need a second invitation to be a party pooper if he is given a chance so this should be a good match.
There is a case to be made for Barneveld winning and both winning a set but I would want more than odds on if I was taking that. I do think Green will win a set though and that brings 180 potential with it. The line on the 180s on this match is 8.5 which looks a little low. If it does go four sets we need on average one 180 apiece with a bonus one on top somewhere and that is well within range for two very heavy and sustained scorers.
Simon Whitlock vs Boris Koltsov/Dragutin Horvat
47 Age
17 PDC Ranking
RU WC Best
Last 64 Last year
N/A Head to Head N/A
The evening finishes with Simon Whitlock beginning his campaign to go one better than he did on debut. He is back in good form and has won a couple of titles in 2016 not to mention going deep in a few others but he hasn’t done much on TV which will have disappointed him. He has an excellent opportunity to put that right here though.
I’ve already backed Whitlock to win his quarter so I don’t need to get involved in all the guesswork that goes on with the winners of these preliminary matches. It would be a surprise if Whitlock doesn’t come through easily though and I’ll sit back and hopefully watch him do just that.
Tips
Back C.Kist to beat B.Dolan for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Titanbet
Back him here:
Back R.Barneveld vs R.Green – Over 8.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
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