The second round of the PDC World Championship concludes at the Alexandra Palace on Friday with the final two sessions of the round before the format increases and the tournament goes up a notch or two.
The shocks continued on Thursday evening when Mensur Suljovic was dumped out of the competition and eight more seeds will be out to avoid upsets over the course of Friday, beginning with the afternoon.
Benito van de Pas vs Jim Long
The session begins with the grossly out of form Dutchman, Benito van de Pas taking on the Canadian qualifier Jim Long, who came past Mickey Mansell in the first round with the winner looking to take advantage of Peter Wright’s exit when they take on Antonio Alcinas in the third round.
Van de Pas might have hit the jackpot here because he needs a win or two to keep his place among the top 32 players in the world and if the first round is anything to go by he isn’t facing too much. Long won his first match but he only averaged 75.33 and it goes without saying that he won’t get very far with that average. I can’t trust van de Pas in his current form though so this is an obvious leave alone match.
John Henderson vs Gabriel Clemens
The second match of the afternoon sees John Henderson doing battle with the German star Gabriel Clemens for a place in the third round with both men having something of an opportunity of a decent pay day if they can win this match.
Henderson has a decent record on the bigger stages and hits a lot of 180s and were it not for the fact that nearly every seed has struggled to come through this round and been made to battle to progress, I would expect Henderson to win comfortably. We didn’t see the best of Clemens in the first round but he has a decent game in him which has to be respected so this is another no bet match for me.
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Steve West vs Richard North
The third match of the afternoon sees Steve West looking to book his spot in the third round of the tournament when he takes on a Richard North who played very well in the first round. Mervyn King is waiting for the winner in the next round.
West has had a decent enough 2018 both in the TV tournaments and on the European Tour but I sense that North is beginning to feel comfortable on the big stage, which is near enough three-quarters of the battle. North averaged 92.82 in the first round and he probably won’t need to put much on that to come through here.
West is really showing some good signs on the big stage and I expect him to avoid being one of the seeds to fall. I think he’ll win but I’m not convinced he’ll win before North has taken at least one set in the match. West to win and both to win a set is my bet here.
Kyle Anderson vs Noel Malicdem
The last match of the afternoon sees the Australian number two Kyle Anderson taking on the Asian qualifier Noel Malicdem for a place in the third round where Gerwyn Price could be waiting for the winner.
Anderson has completely changed his style since the last time he was on this stage. He is now a much steadier player but I think if anything he is a heavier scorer and much more consistent. That said with all the seeds being beaten he’s under huge pressure here. Malicdem outlasted Jeffrey de Graaf in the first round and with the freedom of a win behind him he could be free spirit in this match. I don’t really fancy anything here so I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
WON – Back S.West to beat R.North and both players to win a set for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfred
Back him here:
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