The second round of the World Matchplay gets underway inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Tuesday evening, and as the heatwave arrives in the UK, the action on the stage should crank up to a temperature matching those outside.
The headline match of the night is the one between the two current world champions but we also have the world finalist, the defending champion and two genuine class acts on what really does look like being a great night of darts.
Michael Smith vs Max Hopp (H2H: 2-2)
The first match of the second round sees the World Championship finalist Michael Smith in action when he goes up against the German star Max Hopp, who had a fine win over Dave Chisnall in the opening round of the event on Sunday afternoon.
Smith was very assured in his win over a very dangerous opponent in Jamie Hughes in the first round on Sunday afternoon and if he can replicate that form then he would have every chance of coming through here. He has been in the wars a little in recent times though so it does remain to be seen whether he can do that or not. Hopp seems to be showing a liking for the bigger stages and you would think this would be right up his street. I looked at the 180s here but the line might be one too high so I’ll give the opener to the evening a miss from a betting point of view.
James Wade vs Mensur Suljovic (H2H: 6-11)
The second match of the night looks like being one of the closest one of them as two Premier League stars collide when James Wade takes on Mensur Suljovic in what should be one of the best matches of the tournament so far.
These two were once level in career meetings at 3-3 but Suljovic has won eight of the last 11 battles since then including both their matches in the Premier League this season. There was nothing between them in terms of the averages in their first round wins and you’ve got to think that whichever way this one goes it is going to be tight. Wade rode his luck a little in the first round but should kick on now while Suljovic’s opponent never really turned up. I would side with Wade if I was picking but over 18.5 legs looks the way to go here as 11-8 or closer either way looks extremely likely.
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Gary Anderson vs Mervyn King (H2H: 21-7)
The defending champion Gary Anderson continues his title defence in the third match of the evening when he takes on the veteran Mervyn King, who rolled back the years in the opening round, and will be looking for a repeat of that performance here.
Anderson did well to overcome Danny Noppert in the first round. You wouldn’t say he was excellent in that match but at the same time you can’t exactly say that he was poor either. You would think there will be more to come from him with a competitive rep under his belt but if King plays like he did in defeating Aspinall, the Scot will have his work cut out. If I could have got a 4.5 leg handicap line at a reasonable price on King I probably would have taken that but I can’t so I’ll leave this one alone.
Michael van Gerwen vs Glen Durrant (H2H: 0-1)
The big match of the night is the last one of the evening as the two current world champions collide when Michael van Gerwen takes on Glen Durrant in what should be a cracking battle for a place in the quarter final of the competition.
It is pretty obvious that Michael van Gerwen is aware of people writing him off judging by his interviews and his press conferences after his win over Steve Beaton in the first round but if he is going to win this he needs to forget what they are saying and starting hitting doubles more regularly. If he coughs up almost 30 missed darts at a double here he is going to get beaten by a Durrant who is of the highest class and oozed confidence in beating Adrian Lewis in the previous round.
If those missed doubles were a one-off for MVG then I’d have allowed him them and kept the faith with him but they’re not, they have been happening regularly recently and that has to give Durrant every chance of doing the business here. Durrant can give as good as he gets in the scoring, especially when he has the throw, and if he’s there to see off the Dutchman when the missed doubles come then it can be the BDO champion going into the next round.
Tips
WON – Back J.Wade vs M.Suljovic – Over 18.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
Back it here:
WON – Back G.Durrant to beat M.van Gerwen for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Betway
Back him here:
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