There is just one session of action in the PDC World Championship on Monday with the stage getting the afternoon off at the Alexandra Palace and play taking place just in the evening, as the first and second rounds continue.
The tournament is still reeling from the shock loss of the world number three Peter Wright on Sunday evening, a result which will put the seeded players and those favoured to progress on edge and ensure they are fully concentrated.
Vincent van der Voort vs Lourence Ilagan
The first match on show on Monday night sees the crowd favourite Vincent van der Voort looking to set up a second round meeting with Darren Webster when he takes on the Filipino qualifier Lourence Ilagan.
Ilagan has been here before but not since 2013 so this will be something of a return to the biggest stage of all for him. Van der Voort hasn’t been the player we know he can be in 2018 with a couple of last 16s the best he’s done all year but I expect the big stage to bring out the best in him. It will need to mind you because as I said, his form has not been the best for the last 12-24 months really.
Ilagan is a solid enough player but he’s a level below van der Voort even with the Dutchman slightly out of nick. I’m expecting the experience and quality of VVDV to come through with a fair bit in hand in this one.
Wayne Jones vs Devon Petersen
Two men who are no strangers to this stage meet in the second match of the night when Wayne Jones is back on the big stage when he faces Devon Petersen for a place in the second round. Petersen qualified for this tournament once again and will be looking to show his best darts.
To be fair, Jones will be looking to do the exact same thing because he hasn’t shown up on our screens much for a while. Jones often has his best darts on the big stage so the question is whether his best is good enough. We’ll probably only know the answer to that after the event. Jones could be there for the taking here but Petersen hasn’t been consistent enough to lure me into backing him for quite some time. I’ll sit this one out.
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Ross Joyce vs Anastasia Dobromyslova
The third match of the evening is probably the one most neutrals are looking forward to seeing as Ross Joyce takes on Anastasia Dobromyslova for the right to take on Simon Whitlock in the second round of the competition.
Dobromyslova has already seen Lisa Ashton give a good account of herself in this tournament and she will be looking to deliver a good performance of her own here. She’ll need to be at her best though as she has drawn a more than capable player in Ross Joyce, a man who made a semi-final on the floor at the beginning of the year, and who has competed in a number of European Tour events this year, often winning his first match.
I like Anastasia and I hope she does well but she isn’t as relentless a scorer as Ashton is and can have issues on her doubles too which she can’t afford here. There will be good legs for the Russian but whether three of them come close enough in succession to win a set here I’m not so convinced. I think Joyce can come through this easily enough if he is focused.
Raymond Barneveld vs Darius Labanauskas
The only second round match on the evening sees Raymond Barneveld beginning his penultimate campaign in this tournament when he faces the Lithuanian star Darius Labanauskas with Adrian Lewis potentially awaiting the winner.
Labanauskas offered up some good darts in beating Matt Edgar on Sunday evening and that performance should give him the belief that he can trouble Barney at the very least, if not cause another major upset. I suspect Wright’s exit came at a good time for Barneveld. If there was any danger of him overlooking the Lithuanian I think it went with that result and so I expect the Dutch legend to win here, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if it is harder work that he would like. I’m not betting in this one.
Tips
WON – Back V.van der Voort (-1.5 sets) to beat L.Ilagan for a 4/10 stake at 1.67 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Joyce to win 3-0 for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
Back him here:
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