The first round of the World Matchplay draws to a close on Monday evening when the third night of action in the tournament takes place at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. That means the eight men yet to get their campaigns underway on the evening.
It was mainly business as usual for the big names who were on show over the course of the two sessions on Sunday and the seeded stars playing on Monday will hope to make their way through to the second round.
Kim Huybrechts vs John Henderson
The opening match of the night sees the Belgian star Kim Huybrechts taking on the steady John Henderson in a clash which could give Huybrechts nightmares. I dare say having never won in six visits here the Belgian wasn’t looking forward to this tournament and then he goes and draws a man who has won six of their last seven meetings.
Huybrechts has been struggling on the big stage this year anyway, in fact he’s been struggling full stop, so he was always going to be vulnerable here without facing a bloke who has the wood on him at the present time. We’ve seen Henderson knock off some big names on the big stage in recent times not least MVG in Dublin last year. He’ll be confident of winning here and unless Huybrechts dramatically ups his game I expect Hendo to win here. This is clearly not a venue the Belgian enjoys and the Scot can take full advantage of that.
Simon Whitlock vs Richard North
The Australian star Simon Whitlock will be looking to make it through the first round when he takes on the debutant Richard North over the best of 19 legs with the winner potentially facing James Wade in the second round.
These two met at the World Grand Prix last year when Whitlock was far too good for North but the Englishman has won their other two meetings which might give him a little bit of confidence here. This is always a stage I’m rarely keen on backing debutants on though. I actually think Whitlock will win this but the days where I trust his weird board management are well behind us so this is an easy swerve for me.
James Wade vs Jermaine Wattimena
The last former winner of this title left in the draw is up in the third match of the night when James Wade takes on Jermaine Wattimena for a place in the second round. Wade has a really good record at the Winter Gardens while Wattimena will be on this stage for the first time.
You never truly know what you are going to get from the Dutchman. His rat-a-tat style means he’s either very good or he’s useless and that is never a help when it comes to betting on his matches. Wade is solid and he’s back in form and I would be surprised if he loses this but he’s my outright pick and I’ll ride that for interest in this one.
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Peter Wright vs Jelle Klaasen
The final match of the first round sees the 2017 finalist Peter Wright taking on Jelle Klaasen who really should have produced a lot more than he has on this stage through the years. The winner will face Kim Huybrechts or John Henderson in the next round.
Wright had a really close start to the year where he couldn’t win a match in the Premier League and his floor results were not much better but once he was survived Judgement Night in the Premier League his form picked up and he is now playing the sort of darts we are used to seeing. Klaasen has been very quiet this year. He has so much talent but has only been past the last 16 of any tournament once since September. That is not good and could well see him coming in here lacking in confidence. Over this length of match I’m expecting the leg on leg consistency of Wright to be too much for Klaasen and so I’m on the Scot here.
Tips
Back J.Henderson to beat K.Huybrechts for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back P.Wright (-3.5 legs) to beat J.Klaasen for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetBright
Back him here:
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