There is always a brutal section of the draw in any major sports tournament and in the PDC World Darts Championship it is very much the second quarter. Everyone heads to Alexandra Palace looking to win the tournament but the 18 men drawn in this section it will be like an event in itself just to make the semi-final.
That is because the quarter is stacked with big names. Rob Cross has made a name for himself this year while Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic have really come to the fore. Players like Michael Smith, Robert Thornton and Jelle Klaasen won’t want to be forgotten either.
Draw
(5) Mensur Suljovic v Kevin Painter
(28) Robert Thornton v Brendan Dolan/Alan Ljubic
(12) Jelle Klaasen v Jan Dekker
(21) Stephen Bunting v Dimitri Van den Bergh
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(4) Daryl Gurney v Ronny Huybrechts
(29) John Henderson v Marko Kantele
(13) Michael Smith v Steve Lennon
(20) Rob Cross v Seigo Asada/Gordon Mathers
Preview
The emergence of class acts like Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney combined with the early year struggles of Michael Smith and Jelle Klaasen makes this a very tasty quarter. Throw in the improvement and the confidence of Mensur Suljovic and we’re set for some cracking battles from this part of the draw.
Rob Cross is all the rage going into the tournament but we need to remember that this is his debut at the World Championship and he has only played one set play event as a professional and he lost in the first round. Daryl Gurney on the other hand has already won a set play event at the World Grand Prix and this could really suit him. Robert Thornton is another former winner of that event while Stephen Bunting and Jelle Klaasen have shown their set play class at Lakeside.
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Betting
There are enough spoilers in this section to cause some shocks and see this quarter open right up. I get why Rob Cross is well supported but I don’t like his inexperience and you know Michael Smith will fancy the job against him should they meet in the second round. Robert Thornton will have nothing to lose against Mensur Suljovic either which could make him dangerous.
Jelle Klaasen could be the ultimate spoiler. We know that he enjoys both the longer format events and especially set play. If he does have a couple of poor legs they are not as costly and when he has his scoring bursts he can blow anyone away in sets. Klaasen has had his injury issues this year but I would be surprised if he hasn’t been ploughing in time on the practice board to get ready for this. It might be that the low expectation works for him too. He was a semi-finalist here two years ago and at 25/1 I’ll pay to see what he has this year.
Tips
Back J.Klaasen to win 2nd Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Skybet
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