The opening day of The Masters sees four matches being played in the one session of action in Milton Keynes on Friday night. When the top 16 in the world are the only ones invited to the event you know you are guaranteed a decent card and that is very much the case here.
We have the world champion Rob Cross in action as well as the world number two, a darting legend and a stack of other top level players on what should be a quality evening of arrers in the Buckinghamshire town.
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Dave Chisnall vs Raymond Barneveld
We get going with the match between two men who are regulars to this tournament in Dave Chisnall and Raymond Barneveld. This is actually the second year in a row that they meet in the first round of this event with Barneveld having prevailed 10-5 last year.
Both men will have been disappointed about when they exited the World Championship but clearly Chisnall more so. He was beaten in the first round by Vincent van der Voort which will have given him plenty to look in the mirror about, restock and get ready to go again here. Barneveld was visibly gutted at losing to MVG in the quarter final.
I’m expecting a decent match between these two. They have played each other enough on the big stage to know what it is all about and I’m expecting them to plough in the 180s as a result. That first round match last year yielded 14 180s in just 15 legs and I would expect this to be a little tighter than that. With that in mind over 10.5 180s has every chance.
Mensur Suljovic vs Michael Smith
Two men who were both in this tournament 12 months ago and both averaged over 100 in the first round meet in the second match of the night when Mensur Suljovic takes on Michael Smith over the best of 19 legs with the reward possibly being a meeting with the world champion on Sunday afternoon.
These two will face off in the Premier League over the next couple of months too and this is a chance for one of them to go into that tournament with their dander up and with a marker laid down. The last time we saw them meet Suljovic beat Smith 5-4 in the Grand Slam of Darts in a match Smith looked set to win before some amazing finishing from Suljovic.
Over this distance though I expect the roles to be reversed. Suljovic has gone off the boil on the big stage since he won the Champions League whereas Smith has really started to find his form again. Smith will be desperate to prove he belongs at this level both here and in the Premier League and he can begin that with a win.
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Rob Cross vs Ian White
We get to see the newly crowned PDC world champion for the first time since he won that title on the opening day of 2018 in the third match of the night. Rob Cross takes on Ian White for a place in the quarter finals.
Head to head wise these two are pretty evenly matched at 3-3 with Cross winning their last two matches, one of which was over this distance in the World Matchplay. I would expect Cross to win here too unless the world champion tag lays heavy on him but it is a different dynamic for him now as he is the hunted rather than the hunter.
I expect the 180s to come along regularly here. Cross is a heavy hitter of them but White bangs in more than his fair share. Cross beat White 6-2 in Germany in September and they smashed in 10 180s between them here. Over double the legs or so they can hit around that number here.
Peter Wright vs Alan Norris
The final match of the night sees the world number two in action when Peter Wright takes on the very competent Alan Norris in what could be a real explosive battle full of quality of round off the session.
These two met at the Grand Slam when Norris looked for all money that he was going to win before Wright took out 170 and then produced a solid final leg to win it. In fact that was the third time in five meetings they have gone to a deciding leg. That suggests this will be a close match but I’m not sure I trust Norris on the doubles enough to get involved in this one. I’ll sit this match out.
Tips
WON – Back D.Chisnall vs R.Barneveld – Over 10.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Boylesports
Back it here:
Back M.Smith to beat M.Suljovic for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Back R.Cross vs I.White – Over 8.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bwin
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