The second round of the European Championship gets underway in Dortmund on Friday night and with the format extending the players can relax a little and bring out some of their best game as they go in search for a quarter final spot.
The top half of the draw play down to the last eight in the evening session on Friday and that means we see the top three players in the world rankings all on show as Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Rob Cross toe the oche.
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Joe Cullen vs Michael Smith
The night gets underway with two of the best talented youngsters in the game going at it as Joe Cullen takes on Michael Smith. Both men displayed good form on Thursday evening and will fancy a deep run this weekend now.
Cullen actually holds a narrow head-to-head lead over Smith but it is the St Helens man who has had the better of the majority of their recent meetings. This looks like a match that will come down to who hits the doubles the best as both are excellent scorers. Nothing really stands out to me in this one in truth so I’ll sit this match out.
Simon Whitlock vs Peter Wright
The second match of the night might well prove to be the pick of the matches as Simon Whitlock takes on Peter Wright in a battle of two seasoned campaigners who are well acquainted to going deep in TV tournaments.
Whitlock produced a very good performance in the first round to see off Steve Beaton while Wright them followed him with an excellent showing of his own so both these men look to be throwing good darts right now. Given the form he is in I would be surprised if Wright doesn’t win this match but I respect Whitlock’s record in Germany enough not to oppose him.
In fact, I am going to take Whitlock for one bet which is the most 180s. Wright was using his thicker barrelled darts on Thursday night and having played well with them I would be surprised if he changes. While he can throw good averages with them it was no surprise that he didn’t hit a single 180. The barrels are too big for that. Whitlock is a serial 180 hitter which helps. At the World Matchplay, Wright beat Whitlock 16-5 but Whitlock won the 180 hitting and Whitlock didn’t beat Wright in the Premier League but won both 180s contests. He can follow suit here.
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Richard North vs Rob Cross
The penultimate match of the evening sees the world champion Rob Cross looking for another major TV quarter final as he starts to prepare for the defence of his world title. He faces Richard North on Friday night for a spot in the last eight.
North is improving fast on the PDC circuit but he doesn’t have many TV wins to his name at all let alone ones over this distance against a player of the calibre of Cross. We saw on Thursday evening that Cross is not at his best but at some point in this match you would think he will find a groove and pull away. The odds and handicaps are about right though to be fair so this is another watching brief.
Michael van Gerwen vs Steve West
The final match of what will have been a busy Friday will see the world number one Michael van Gerwen continuing his title defence when he takes on a Steve West who had to battle hard to make it through the first round on Thursday night.
Van Gerwen looked close to unbeatable in the first round and I’m far from convinced that West is the man to get near him. West will give this one everything he has got but he’ll need all of his 180 scoring and he’ll need to be flawless on his doubles just to get close. If MVG plays like he did on Thursday night he’ll win at a canter but once again the numbers reflect that so I’m not all that interested in this one from a betting standpoint either.
Tips
WON – Back S.Whitlock Most 180s vs P.Wright for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with William Hill
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