We return to one of the leading players in the game to headline another group in the PDC Home Tour on Thursday as once again four men will battle it out in the round robin format for our lockdown entertainment.
We had one of the closest groups we’ve had so far on Wednesday and the standard within it was very high too and with a couple of the very best players in the world on show on Thursday we are hoping for much more of the same.
The Format
Each night four players will battle it out in a round robin format with the group winner progressing to the next stage of the tournament. All six matches in each group will be the best of nine legs with two points awarded for a win. If players finish level on points then leg difference will decide the outcome. If that cannot separate players then the head to head will settle the group winner. Were three players to be tied on points and leg difference the player with the highest overall average goes through. The entire tournament is being streamed live on PDC.tv, the Sky Sports App and various bookmaker sites.
Wednesday Recap
It was quite some night of darts in the end on Wednesday, a night that technically went down to the last match although Ryan Murray had pretty much sewn up the group prior to then by winning his final match handsomely. He ended up edging out Joe Cullen on leg difference but it was a night where Jermaine Wattimena and John Michael were competitive too and heading into their last matches they could still have won the group.
We anticipated a pretty tight group with plenty of lengthy matches and that is exactly what we got. Four of the six matches on show went to an eighth or ninth leg and that was perfect for us because we tipped up over 16.5 180s. After five matches we were on 16 but we needn’t have worried as seven more came along in that concluding game to ensure we come away with another profit.
Group 21 Line Up
The former World Championship and World Matchplay winner Rob Cross is the headline act in a really good group on Thursday night. If you read the papers today you’ll know it has been a bit of a tough time for ‘Voltage’ recently as he has suffered the loss of his grandfather with coronavirus. That makes me wonder just how much time he will have spent on the practice board. I suspect it won’t have been much but given that his form was largely suspect before lockdown that would be a concern.
Dimitri Van den Bergh was beaten by Rob Cross in an absolute Alexandra Palace epic the year Cross won the world title so he has a chance for a bit of revenge here. Van den Bergh is extremely talented and we’ve seen a lot of talented youngsters showcase their games and come out on top in their groups already in this event. It would be something of a surprise if the Belgian is not extremely competitive over the course of the night.
The Czech Republic star Karel Sedlacek is a pretty late replacement in this group as it was due to have Dirk Telnekes in it, which really would have made it some spectacle. Nevertheless, Sedlacek is by no means a mug and although this is the first year he has his Tour card, we have seen him in World Championships, European Tour events and the World Cup on a number of occasions. Sedlacek has already made the last 16 of a Players Championship event this season where Rob Cross was one of his victims. If he’s allowed to be he could be competitive in this group.
The final man on show on Thursday night is a Scottish player that comes with a big reputation in the form of William Borland. Borland picked up his Tour card at Q-School earlier in the year having previously done much of his work on the Challenge Tour and Development Tour to a fair amount of success. He has reached the last 32 of a Players Championship event this season, which came via a good win over Darren Webster so he can’t be completely ruled out, although his CV does look the weakest of the three.
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Outright Betting
Although I am expecting the two outsiders to be competitive at times, I do still think this group will be between Rob Cross and Dimitri Van den Bergh and at the prices it is the Belgian I am happy to take. There are obvious risks attached, not least that if the match between the two does end up being the one that decides things, it is Cross that has the darts in it. That isn’t helpful but even then I don’t think the Belgian is a 12/5 poke to win it.
Cross just looks a little vulnerable to me. He’s been mourning his grandfather and I read he’s been working on a darts room so he could be a little slack here. Sedlacek could be a threat if he pieces it all together but I’m expecting to see the sort of form which has seen Van den Bergh dominate at youth level and be more than competitive on the senior circuit. At 12/5 he’s the one for me in this quartet.
Match Betting
Although it goes against a lot of my idealisms I am going to go with one in the match betting stakes. We saw on Wednesday that four matches were won by the player throwing second so the outsiders are playing pretty well in this match. That makes me think that Karel Sedlacek can confirm favouritism in his match against William Borland, the third match of the evening and one which could be crucial for both.
One of the reasons why I like Sedlacek here is because he is the better player of the two in my eyes. The other reason is that he plays in the match before this one so he should have built up a nice groove. It isn’t ideal that Borland has the throw in the match but I do think there is enough of a margin between the two for the Czech to overcome that. The odds suggest these two are more evenly matches than I think they are. I’ll take Sedlacek in this one.
Tips
Back D.Van den Bergh to win Group 21 for a 3/10 stake at 3.40 with Betfred
WON – Back K.Sedlacek to beat W.Borland for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
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