The Players Championship Finals continues in Minehead on Saturday with two more rounds of the final tournament before the World Championship. With many playing two matches in the day it is a big one for many.
We saw some shocks on the first day of the tournament on Friday but in truth not many, which means the event is shaping up to be full of quality in the latter stages. The last 32 and last 16 will be played on Saturday. Time restrictions will deny us the chance to preview the last 16 but we can look at the last 32 here.
New Customers can get Chelsea at an enhanced 40/1 to beat Spurs. Max Stake £1. Winnings paid in free bets. Full T&Cs Apply. 18+|Gamble Aware.
Main Stage
The action gets underway with the former World Grand Prix winner Daryl Gurney up against the local lad Ryan Searle before our pre-tournament pick James Wade faces Nathan Aspinall for a place in the last 16. Dave Chisnall and Chris Dobey meet in an entertaining looking third match of the afternoon with Cristo Reyes then going up against Steve Lennon.
Gary Anderson meets Simon Whitlock to get the second half of the afternoon underway in a match where the winner will fancy their chances of going deep in the tournament. Michael van Gerwen is in action in the penultimate match of the session when he plays Keegan Brown with the last match of the afternoon being between Peter Wright and Max Hopp.
Stage Two
There are some great players and matches on the second board on Saturday. Stephen Bunting and Madars Razma get things going before James Wilson meets Gabriel Clemens. Jeffrey de Zwaan and Ricky Evans will then get it on in a match that won’t take long even were it to end 6-5. Stephen Burton faces Darren Webster in the match to follow those.
Two experienced men get the second half of the afternoon underway when number one seed Ian White faces Brendan Dolan before Danny Noppert goes up against Mervyn King. Michael Smith will look to build on his 6-0 win on the opening day when he plays Jonny Clayton before Steve Beaton takes on Joe Cullen. The final match of the afternoon sees Adrian Lewis playing Krzysztof Ratajski in a match which might very well move to the main stage.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets on Saturday with the first coming in the opening match on the main stage where Daryl Gurney takes on Ryan Searle. I took Searle on in the first round but I noticed after his win that he wanted to play Gurney because he has played well against him in the past and he has got his wish. To be fair he has every chance against him as well because Gurney looks a pale shadow of the player we know he can be and I’m not convinced being such an overwhelming favourite is what he needs right now. Gurney can spring to life at any point but if he doesn’t then Searle looks to be playing well enough to beat him based on his first round performance.
Danny Noppert had a good win in the first round and I expect him to follow that up when he takes on Mervyn King. King highlighted his problem in his interview after his first round win. There are too many low scores in his play. There were a number of missed doubles too which he won’t be able to afford against the solid Dutchman. Noppert is a heavy scorer and it won’t do him any harm to be away from the spotlight out on Stage Two. I expect to see him power the 60 and if he is good on his doubles he should have the beating of King.
Tips
Back R.Searle to beat D.Gurney for a 3/10 stake at 3.30 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back D.Noppert to beat M.King for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
