The evening session of the PDC World Championship on Wednesday sees some big names entering the tournament including three men who have made it to televised finals over the course of 2018, with places in the third round up for grabs.
The first round is a thing of the past and the tournament is set to crank up a notch inside the Alexandra Palace from here on in as the likes of Michael Smith, James Wade and Simon Whitlock get going on Wednesday.
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James Wilson vs William O’Connor
The opening match of the evening is probably the more low key game of the night as James Wilson goes up against William O’Connor for a place in the third round later in the competition. O’Connor saw off Yordi Meeuwisse in the first round.
Wilson is in this tournament for the second time and he is looking to progress to the last 32 once again after he saw off Krzysztof Ratajski before losing to Michael van Gerwen. He has already seen his draw open up here so he will be eager to come out with his best game. O’Connor eased through the first round but 87.12 averages aren’t going to cut it from here on in so he’ll need a huge improvement.
Wilson has had a good year on the circuit and has made a European Tour final and the quarter final of the World Grand Prix and in my eyes he is the better player. I expect us to see that over the course of this match with Wilson having a bit to spare come the end.
Simon Whitlock vs Ross Joyce
The second match of the night sees former finalist Smon Whitlock begin his quest for a first world title when he takes on the man who saw off Anastasia Dobromyslova in the previous round in Ross Joyce.
Whitlock has had a good campaign having made it to the final of the European Championship and the quarter final of both the World Series Finals and the Grand Slam of Darts so he arrives here as a leading contender were it not for the half of the draw he is in. Joyce did well to overcome Anastasia on Monday night and will be looking to build on that. I expect Whitlock to win this one but there is nothing in the prices to lure me in so I’ll sit this one out.
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Michael Smith vs Ron Meulenkamp
The penultimate match of the evening sees the much fancied Michael Smith launching his title challenge when he takes on Ron Meulenkamp who did well to overcome Diogo Portela in the first round.
Meulenkamp played well in that win and has won his last two against Michael Smith, both of which have been on the European Tour sages so there is every reason to believe that the Dutchman will give a good account of himself here so Smith will need to play well to come through. That isn’t out of the question by any means however.
I was hoping to get on the 180s in this one but 9.5 is a line which is one or two too high for my liking so I’ll leave that alone. The other bet that tempts me is for Smith to win with both winning a set but 3-0 Smith is perfectly possible as is the defeat so I’ll sit this one out.
James Wade vs Seigo Asada
One of the more impressive first round winners was the Japanese star Seigo Asada and his reward for that was a primetime clash with James Wade in the second round where the winner could run into Jelle Klaasen in the third round.
Wade has had a resurgent year in 2018 winning two major titles and guaranteeing himself a return to the Premier League and now he will go off in search of a first world title to cap off an excellent year. We should expect Wade to play well but accept it is his first performance in this tournament whereas Asada has the benefit of a match on the stage.
I expect Wade to win this but we saw enough from the Japanese man in the first round to suggest that he’ll be competitive here so I expect him to win at least a set here in defeat so Wade to win and both to win a set is of interest.
Tips
Back J.Wilson (-1.5 sets) to beat W.O’Connor for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Wade to beat S.Asada and both players to win a set for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
Back him here:
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