After a bizarre opening day of the UK Open which was littered with shocks all over the place the tournament will aim to settle down a little on Saturday when the fourth and fifth rounds are played out across two sessions of action.
The tournament began with the decision to carry on behind closed doors and without the main stage as we know it and the opening day ended with the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Simon Whitlock, Adrian Lewis, Dave Chisnall and Raymond Barneveld all making shock exits. That has opened the tournament right up for those left in, each of whom will hope to play and win two matches on Saturday.
We will not have the time to preview the last 16 in the evening but we can have a look at the afternoon session and the last 32 which we’ll do here.
Main Stage
There are four matches in the last 32 on the main stage and we begin with one of the matches of the round as Daryl Gurney takes on Kim Huybrechts in a clash where I’m sure there will be plenty of machismo around. Gary Anderson then takes to the stage to face Ricky Evans before the other compelling match of the day between Rob Cross and Kyle Anderson. We conclude the action on the main stage with Corey Cadby facing Martin Schindler.
Board Three
Chris Dobey is given the honour of opening the show on board three. He is involved in one of three matches on the board when he takes on Jason Lowe. Mervyn King played very well to beat a disappointing Raymond Barneveld on Friday night and he plays Jonny Clayton in the second game before Michael Smith goes up against Ryan Meikle who had an incredible opening day.
Board Four
John Part offered up a bit of a resurgence on Friday and the draw wasn’t too unkind to him on Saturday either. He takes on Ron Meulenkamp in the first game on board four with Robert Owen then facing the man who saw off Peter Wright on Friday night in Nathan Rafferty. David Pallett takes on James Wade in the other match on this board.
Board Five
We have some decent action lined up on board five on Saturday afternoon and it begins with Steve West who has the chance to bank some more cash when he takes on Matthew Edgar. Keegan Brown will then look to do the same when he takes on the talented Krzysztof Ratajski before Dirk van Duijvenbode meets Gerwyn Price in what will most likely be a charged up match.
Board Six
A good match between Jamie Hughes and Ian White gets us going on the other board in use on Saturday. They are followed by Stephen Bunting and Jermaine Wattimena before the man who beat Michael van Gerwen is back in action as Jeffrey de Zwaan takes on the former Lakeside star Paul Hogan.
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Betting
In truth this became a tournament I lost interest in match betting on once it turned into a bit of a farce and as such I’m not going mad on Saturday. There is one bet I like though which I will proceed with.
Jonny Clayton performed well to see off a dogged Michael Barnard on Friday night. We know this place has special feelings for him after he made his first major final here at the end of 2017 and I would expect him to play well again. Clayton faces Mervyn King who was very good on Friday but Barneveld was so poor it is hard to really judge King’s performance. We do know King isn’t always to back up performances with another one though because of his back and in these cold conditions you would think that is something he’ll have to fight here. I expect Clayton to lay it down to King and come out on top.
Tips
Back J.Clayton to beat M.King for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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