The seeded players enter the Czech Darts Open on Saturday which means that the level of play is expected to crank up a notch if that is possible after a wonderful first day of the event on Friday. The crowds get to see the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright for the first time this week.
Such is the quality of the qualifiers who came through the action on Friday, we have some wonderful looking matches to look forward to and with the entire tournament being live streamed on the bookmaker websites as well as PDC TV we can enjoy it all.
Afternoon Session
The first match on the stage on Saturday is a battle of the World Cup stars as Jonny Clayton goes up against Jermaine Wattimena in what should be an entertaining match. Former Lakeside finalist Danny Noppert will then look to continue his run against Darren Webster before two PDC stalwarts collide when Simon Whitlock goes up against Justin Pipe. We head into the afternoon interval with the UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall taking on Andrew Gilding for a place in the last 16.
Two men from either side of the Irish border take us out of the break in this first session of play when the Players Championship Finals winner Daryl Gurney faces William O’Connor before the number two seed Ian White is in action. He takes on the one remaining home player in Karel Sedlacek before Steve Beaton faces Ron Meulenkamp in what looks like a relatively even contest. The last match of the afternoon looks another juicy clash as James Wade meets Mervyn King.
Evening Session
We get underway again in the evening session with two of the rising stars of the PDC circuit colliding when Ricky Evans, seeded for this tournament, takes on Ted Evetts before another good couple of youngsters meet when Joe Cullen faces Chris Dobey. Peter Wright will then get his quest for another European title underway when he takes on Stephen Bunting before we get out first sighting of the world number one Michael van Gerwen. He battles it out with Keegan Brown.
After the interval the stars keep on coming. Mensur Suljovic is up straight after the break when he faces the often dangerous John Henderson before arguably the match of the round as Gerwyn Price faces Glen Durrant for a place in the last 16. Adrian Lewis has entered this tournament and he has a tough last 32 clash with Jamie Hughes before what looks like a great day of darts concludes with a real feisty looking tussle between Michael Smith and Corey Cadby.
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Betting
It would be no surprise to see a number of seeds exit the piece on Saturday and I’m against three of them in the evening session. Ricky Evans hasn’t done a whole lot on the tour of late either on the floor or the stage and I think he could be vulnerable against Ted Evetts who won a couple of development tour events earlier in the month. Those things take some winning these days and he followed that up with a run to the last 32 in Barnsley last weekend. He has already averaged a shade under a ton in beating Krzysztof Ratajski on Friday so he’s looking good and at odds against he is the bet for me here.
Adrian Lewis remains a worthy favourite for his match against Jamie Hughes but he is by no means a certainty to win the match. Hughes has been one of the players of the year so far, so much so that he will be making his World Matchplay debut next month and will go to Blackpool as a genuine runner. Hughes has been putting in some huge averages over the course of the year and while Adrian Lewis is heading back to the player he used to be, he does still show a little vulnerability at times. Hughes can exploit that and win here.
I’m really looking forward to the last match of the night as Michael Smith takes on Corey Cadby where the Australian is certainly no forlorn hope. I say that because after the last event on the European Tour, Smith was berating his luck and moaning at his dart maker for his arrers always falling out. That suggests a lack of confidence to me, something Cadby can never be accused of. Cadby has the game to take it to Smith and if Smith isn’t on it there is every chance that the confident Aussie will put him to the sword at a decent enough price.
Tips
WON – Back T.Evetts to beat R.Evans for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Hughes to beat A.Lewis for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Betway
Back him here:
WON – Back C.Cadby to beat M.Smith for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with 888sport
Back him here:
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