We’ve gone through the first quarter of the draw for the PDC World Darts Championship which begins at the Alexandra Palace in London on Thursday night and now it is time to have a deeper look at the second quarter.
This is a really tough looking quarter. Only five men have won the world title at the Alexandra Palace and two of them are in this section while another former tournament winner is in here too so we should get some compelling action to enjoy.
The Draw
Adrian Lewis v Magnus Caris
Joe Cullen v Qiang Sun/Corey Cadby
Raymond van Barneveld v Robbie Green
Alan Norris v John Michael
Phil Taylor v John Bowles/David Platt
Jamie Caven v Kevin Painter
Kim Huybrechts v James Wilson
Vincent van der Voort v Max Hopp
Seeds
The top seed in this quarter is the legend that is Phil Taylor. He goes in search of a 17th world title but just like Michael van Gerwen in the first quarter, he didn’t even reach the quarter final last year so he has some improvement on that effort to find.
Adrian Lewis has twice won the title on this huge stage and he represents a significant threat as does the 2007 champion Raymond Barneveld. Alan Norris was a quarter finalist last year while Joe Cullen and Kim Huybrechts have had solid 2016s. Vincent van der Voort and Jamie Caven will hope they’re not just making up the numbers.
Qualifiers
I would say this is the strongest section for qualifiers with real quality here. Kevin Painter knows how to go to the big match in this tournament having lost in the final in 2004. He was a semi-finalist here in 2008 as well. Robbie Green and James Wilson are excellent players too.
This is a section for the youngsters as well with Max Hopp very highly thought of. The newly crowned World Youth Championship winner Corey Cadby will be out to claim a major scalp in this tournament too.
Betting
I’m really looking forward to watching how this quarter plays out. We’re guaranteed some fantastic matches. Assuming Corey Cadby comes through his preliminary match we have three belting first round games and the standard won’t drop from there either.
Phil Taylor is odds on to win the quarter and while I can accept him as a favourite this section is far too stacked for anyone to justify an odds on quote on him. I’m not as keen on Adrian Lewis this year as I was last year and while the likes of Kim Huybrechts and Alan Norris are good players they are in serious company here.
Raymond Barneveld is starting to throw some nice darts and he always peaks for this tournament. He made the semi-finals last year after taking care of Michael van Gerwen earlier in the competition and that was third time in four years he has made the semi-finals so he knows how to come through a quarter.
Barneveld wouldn’t meet Taylor until the quarter final which is a positive and if he can come through the stern challenge of Robbie Green in the first round he can go very deep. At 6/1 he’s the value in this quarter.
Tips
WON – Back R.Barneveld to win 2nd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 7.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
