The first Sunday evening session of the PDC World Championship sees a couple of crowd favourites on show on a competitive night of action inside the Alexandra Palace in London, as the first and second rounds of the event continue.
We have already seen Rob Cross, Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen progress to the third round of the tournament and that will be the aim of Peter Wright on Sunday evening. He is the standout player on the schedule.
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Luke Humphries vs Adam Hunt
Two youngsters get the evening underway in a match which will tell us much about the futures of both men. Luke Humphries has been spoken about for a while but Adam Hunt has had success at junior levels himself.
You would expect nerves to play a part in this match but we’ve not really seen any nerves from any of the youngsters who have featured in this tournament to date so maybe we should stop thinking they will come and expect to see two emerging players playing their best stuff. Based on their careers so far you would expect Humphries to win this one but the odds are reflect of that so I’ll leave this one alone.
Matthew Edgar vs Darius Labanauskas
The second match of the night is a very interesting encounter. I say that because Matthew Edgar wasn’t in the tournament at all until Corey Cadby couldn’t get a visa and Darius Labanauskas is chancing his luck in this event rather than the BDO one which he has been a regular in.
The fact that Edgar couldn’t get in by right tells its own story in my eyes. He does a lot of practicing with Kevin Painter so he’ll know the game alright but Painter isn’t there to help him here. Labanauskas might come from a part of the world that is not established in darts but he’s a really good player in his own right and always performs well at Lakeside.
Labanauskas has won a lot of tournaments in Scandinavia and the Baltic nations in 2018 and while that might not be the very top level there is no substitute for winning. That is something Edgar hasn’t been doing. Edgar has only been past the last 32 of any tournament once since February so I’m surprised the Lithuanian isn’t much shorter than he is here. I think he takes this one down.
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Ross Smith vs Paul Lim
Perhaps the most interesting match of the evening is the penultimate game on the stage as Ross Smith takes on the ever popular Paul Lim in a battle of the ages for a place in the second round of the tournament.
Ross Smith has enough TV experience to know how to cope in this surrounding but he hasn’t really kicked on with his game to the levels that might have been expected of him a couple of years ago or so. Paul Lim continues to thrive on the PDC Asian Tour and we saw in this tournament last year and in the World Cup that he hasn’t lost any of his class and quality.
Paul Lim looks a touch of value here. He is pretty consistent in the scoring and he nails enough doubles to win this match. Smith can’t really win in this match. He’s expected to win, seeded to win and the only way he can go is to fall flat on his face. Lim beat Mark Webster in this round last year and a repeat of that gets it done here.
Peter Wright vs Toni Alcinas
The final match of the night sees the world number three Peter Wright looking to make it into the third round of the tournament when he takes on the Spanish star Toni Alcinas who has nothing to lose and can lay it down to the Scot.
All eyes will be on Wright in this match to see what he has got and what he brings to the party in terms of form. I’m not convinced he will have things completely his own way but of course he has the quality to win this at a canter. I’m tempted to take Alcinas to win a set but I prefer the two bets elsewhere on the card a lot more so I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
WON – Back D.Labanauskas to beat M.Edgar for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back P.Lim to beat R.Smith for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfred
Back him here:
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