The preliminary round finishes and the first round continues on another busy night of darts at the PDC World Darts Championship on Wednesday night with more of the biggest names of the game in action at the Alexandra Palace in London.
James Wade is the latest star name to get his tournament underway when he takes to the oche on Wednesday night and he is joined by two other top 10 players in what is a really good looking card.
Zoran Lerchbacher vs Simon Stevenson (P)
44 Age 44
Austria Country England
130 PDC Ranking 82
Last 64 WC Best Debut
DNQ Last year Debut
0 Head to Head 0
The final preliminary match of the tournament sees two tour players in action for the right to meet Robert Thornton later in the night. Zoran Lerchbacher has been in this tournament before, in 2014, when he came through his preliminary round before losing to Michael van Gerwen. Nothing wrong with that. Simon Stevenson was on TV at the Players Championship recently but has done little else.
This one is all about who settles the quickest. The fact Stevenson made it to the Players Championship Finals shows he has had a pretty decent year on tour and that should count for something. He looks a worthy favourite but once again this isn’t a match to bet on.
Mensur Suljovic vs Ron Meulenkamp
44 Age 28
8 PDC Ranking 73
Last 16 WC Best Last 64
Last 16 Last year DNQ
1 Head to Head 0
One of the men of the year in 2016 gets his World Championship campaign underway as many people’s dark horse for the tournament Mensur Suljovic opens up against the young Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp.
If you include Lakeside too Meulenkamp isn’t short of World Championship experience and a decent run in the Players Championship last month in which he took care of Gary Anderson no less will have done his confidence no harm at all. Mensur Suljovic’s form has just tailed off in the last month or so and this may well be the first time he has ever been favourite for a match in this tournament which adds a different complexion on things from his point of view.
Suljovic should still win this match but we saw him struggle to lower Dutch opposition in the Grand Slam last month so I’ll just let him win rather than risk any of my hard earned on him but there is one bet I like in the match.
Like most Dutch players Ron Meulenkamp knows where the 60 is. In his three matches in the Players Championship Finals he nailed 10 180s and I’m expecting him to hit a few here too. When these two met for the only previous time it went to a final leg which suggests Suljovic’s style isn’t going to throw the left hander. With that in mind I’m expecting four 180s from Meulenkamp at least and maybe quite a few more.
James Wade vs Ronny Huybrechts
33 Age 51
6 PDC Ranking 44
SF WC Best Last 32
QF Last year Last 32
2 Head to Head 2
One of the mysteries of darts is how James Wade has never gone beyond the semi-finals of this tournament and he begins another tilt at the title on Wednesday night when he takes on a Ronny Huybrechts who is something of a fading force in the game.
I expect James Wade to win this and I would be surprised if he doesn’t win it 3-0 but we’ve seen a few good looking 3-0s gazumped this week already so I can’t say I’m in a rush to back it. In fact nothing really stands out in this one so I’ll use it as a form guide for what is to come.
Robert Thornton vs Zoran Lerchbacher/Simon Stevenson
49 Age
9 PDC Ranking
QF WC Best
Last 64 Last year
N/A Head to Head N/A
The evening finishes with Robert Thornton taking on the winner of the earlier preliminary match and the pressure will really be on Thornton in that match. It could be a blessing in disguise if he can find a way through it but he hasn’t been good in the big events for quite a while now.
With Thornton’s form the way it is you would think this has the potential to turn into quite a battle and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if the qualifier, whoever it may be, gets hot and pushes Thornton close. The fact we don’t know who Thornton is playing doesn’t help betting on this one but I would be in no rush to back the Scot anyway.
Tips
Back R.Meulenkamp – Over 3.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
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