The first round of the Players Championship Finals takes place on Friday with the 32 matches being played across two sessions on two boards and with the draw being determined by the order of merit rankings we have some matches we wouldn’t normally see in the first round.
Both boards look to have some very juicy looking encounters and with it only over the best of 11 legs we are set for shocks and surprises, drama and plenty of tension throughout the course of the day.
Afternoon Session
The main stage will be opened up by Darren Webster and Antonio Alcinas. They are followed by Robert Thornton and James Richardson before Joe Cullen and Jamie Caven take to the stage. Dave Chisnall and Joe Murnan are then up before one of the matches of the afternoon when Stephen Bunting plays Benito van de Pas. The afternoon is rounded off with Kim Huybrechts against Chris Dobey before Adrian Lewis plays Mike de Decker.
The second stage will begin with Steve Lennon taking on Zoran Lerchbacher before Justin Pipe meets Mark Webster. Richard North then plays Peter Hudson and Mervyn King faces Brendan Dolan. The second half of the afternoon sees Steve Beaton playing Ronny Huybrechts and Steve West meeting Ryan Searle. Jermaine Wattimena plays Keegan Brown with Cristo Reyes up against Peter Jacques. The afternoon concludes with James Wade against Kevin Painter which is surprisingly on the outside board.
Evening Session
A cracking match gets us underway on the main stage when Ian White takes on Raymond Barneveld to open up the evening before Mensur Suljovic faces Andy Boulton. Rob Cross goes up against Robert Owen and then Daryl Gurney meets Jeffrey de Zwaan. Gary Anderson takes on Mickey Mansell before Michel van Gerwen begins his title defence against Paul Nicholson. The evening ends on the main stage when Peter Wright takes on Steve Hine.
The second stage starts off with a great game too. That is between Simon Whitlock and Christian Kist although all eyes will be on the fitness of Kist. Gerwyn Price and Jimmy Hendriks follows them before James Wilson plays William O’Connor. John Henderson takes on Darren Johnson. Vincent van der Voort and Robbie Green are next up with Jonny Clayton and Jeffrey de Graaf following them. The final three matches sees Kyle Anderson playing Ron Meulenkamp, Michael Smith taking on Jan Dekker and Alan Norris facing Jelle Klaasen in a match which might have been on the main board.
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Betting
We’ve had plenty of darts to bet on in recent times and there is plenty more this weekend but the key appears to be to pace ourselves especially with 32 matches to go at here. I’m going to take two bets.
In the afternoon session I fancy Chris Dobey could take advantage of the pressure that Kim Huybrechts may feel under. I say he will be under pressure because he has not won a TV match anywhere apart from in the World Cup since the UK Open which is a very bad run. Dobey has had a bad year but there were signs of decent form from him in the World Series a couple of weeks ago and with little to lose here he could be in a good position to let the darts flow and at a decent price he’s worth a go.
Robbie Green is having a bit of trouble with his knees and we saw that in his final group match at the Grand Slam last week and that could be a bonus for Vincent van der Voort in the evening session. In truth there is not a lot between the pair under normal circumstances but if Green’s fitness issue has hampered his practice then the Dutchman may well be able to take advantage. I think he’s worth chancing in that match.
Tips
Back C.Dobey to beat K.Huybrechts for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
Back V.van der Voort to beat R.Green for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfair
Back him here:
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