The second round of the PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on Friday when the two session days of the tournament return at the Alexandra Palace in London. After the nerves of the first round have been and gone and the former gets lengthened to the best of seven sets there is a feel that the tournament begins here.
There are some huge names on show over the course of the day on Friday although most of them come in the evening session. In the afternoon we have a former world champion and three of the rising stars of the PDC on show.
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Gerwyn Price vs Ian White
Gerwyn Price: Round 1 beat Ted Evetts 3-0 – Ave: 101.55 180s: 4
Ian White: Round 1 beat Cody Harris 3-1 – Ave: 96.89 180s: 4
Head to Head: 1-6
The first match of the second round sees two men who played very well in the opening round battling it out against each other when Gerwyn Price takes on something of a bogeyman of his in Ian White.
Price’s only win against the Englishman came in the quarter final of the UK Open earlier in the year and even that was only in a deciding frame so there is something the Welshman does not like about this match up. I suspect it is the leg on leg consistency and the underrated scoring power of White.
Those two qualities are what I think will lead White to winning this match. He will know he has a great record over Price and we shouldn’t forget prior to the first round Price’s record here was pants. One win over an opponent who never got going doesn’t change that so I’m with White here.
Vincent van der Voort vs Steve Beaton
Vincent van der Voort: Round 1 beat Dave Chisnall 3-0 – Ave: 98.90 180s: 6
Steve Beaton: Round 1 beat Willie O’Connor 3-1 – Ave: 93.28 180s: 3
Head to Head: 6-9
One of the most impressive performers in the opening round was Vincent van der Voort and he will go in search of a place in the last 16 on Friday when he takes on the former world champion Steve Beaton, a man who has won their last four meetings in all.
This is one of the more interesting matches of the round given what is at stake for the pair of them and I guess the first question is can either or both of them keep up their form from the first round. It will have been eight days since Beaton played which is not easy while van der Voort was so impressive against Chisnall you fear a comedown.
Nothing really stands out to me here if I’m honest so with plenty of bets to come throughout the course of the day I’ll allow myself to sit this one out.
Jan Dekker vs Dimitri van den Bergh
Jan Dekker: Round 1 beat Jelle Klaasen 3-1 – Ave: 95.74 180s: 2
Dimitri van den Bergh: Round 1 beat Stephen Bunting 3-1 – Ave: 104.17 180s: 5
Head to Head: 1-2
The final match of the afternoon looks a juicy proposition as two youngsters take to the oche when Jan Dekker plays Dimitri van den Bergh. Both men pulled off first round upsets to open the draw up for each other here.
If we base our thoughts on the statistics I’ve highlighted above then we could be forgiven for thinking that van den Bergh is an exceptionally good thing but I’m not so sure that is the case. As the great Bobby George once said scores are for show and doubles are for dough and I expect that homage to reflect this match.
I would expect the bulk of the scoring to come from the Belgian but we saw in the first round that Dekker can do just enough to linger around and then when his chances come he will take them. He’s one of the best finishers in the game statistically whereas that is an area Dimitri still needs to work on. With that in mind I see value in van den Bergh to hit the most 180s but lose the match.
Tips
Back I.White to beat G.Price for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back D.van den Bergh Most 180s but LOSE the match vs J.Dekker for a 3/10 stake at 3.10 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
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