Much like the second day of the PDC World Championship, the third day of competition in the biggest tournament on the globe is another one of two sessions when 16 men take to the Alexandra Palace stage looking for lucrative wins on Saturday.
The highlight of the day will be Michael van Gerwen but we have to wait until the evening to see him. Before then we have four competitive looking matches to be played out in what should be another dramatic evening session.
Richard North vs Robert Marijanovic
The action gets underway with the serially underrated Richard North taking on another man who often floats under the radar in Robert Marijanovic, the Croatian number one who has shown in the past that he is capable of causing an upset on this stage.
North has been in this tournament before so unlike some at this round of the event, he will be used to the surroundings and everything so it will be all about bringing out his best game here. Marijanovic is no stranger to this stage either and he’ll fancy his chances of causing an upset in this one.
I think the best bet here is for North to justify favouritism but for Marijanovic to win at least one set in defeat. This market was good to me on the opening night of the tournament and I fancy it will be here too.
Mickey Mansell vs Jim Long
The second match of the day sees the Northern Irishman Mickey Mansell in action against the Canadian player who sounds like a strong whisky Jim Long. The winner of this one will face off against Benito van de Pas so there is a real opportunity for the successor.
I would imagine that both are well aware of that potential so that could tense them both up a little here. I must confess to knowing little about Long but he has never represented Canada at the PDC World Cup and John Part has had some rotten partners in that so I suspect he won’t be much cop but Mansell is the archetypical plodder so there is never going to be a bet that stands out in this.
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Josh Payne vs Jeff Smith
One of the more appealing matches in the first round of the tournament is the one between the young star Josh Payne and the former BDO world finalist Jeff Smith with the right to take on Dave Chisnall in the second round at stake.
Payne is improving all the time as we saw at the Grand Slam of Darts recently but he’s up against a bloke who can play a fair bit himself. This should be a good clash because Payne is a good scorer while Smith is an expert finisher. Usually you would take the finisher over the scorer but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a twist in the tale here. I can’t decide who I fancy in this one so the best thing is to leave it along.
Max Hopp vs Danny Noppert
The second round match in the afternoon session sees the German superstar Max Hopp embarking on his latest quest to blow this sport right open in mainland Europe when he takes on Danny Noppert who loves a World Championship stage. Michael van Gerwen could await the winner in round three.
I thought going into the tournament that a number of the top 32 seeds would be vulnerable in this round and Hopp was always going to be one of them with Noppert in such good nick and I still think that’s the case but the closer the match is to taking place the more undecided I am.
One thing I do think is this will be a close and competitive match. Noppert was excellent on Friday night and may even come on for the run. Hopp has been in great touch in 2018. Nobody would be surprised to see a deciding set here but I would be very surprised if this ends 3-0. 3-1 or 3-2 should see us watching more than 16.5 legs and that is the way I’m attacking this one.
Tips
WON – Back R.North to beat R.Marijanovic and both to win a set for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfred
Back him here:
Back M.Hopp vs D.Noppert – Over 16.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
Back him here:
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