Our Saturday night darting entertainment will come courtesy of Group 23 of the PDC Home Tour, as once again four men battle it out from their own homes to put on a show for us to enjoy in ours during the ongoing lockdown.
We’ve seen some decent action over the course of the week, and it has to be said some indifferent stuff as well, but with four competent players on show on Saturday evening it would be folly of us to expect a lowering of the level.
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.
Friday Recap
It was a crazy night of darts on Friday night and one where the rank outsider Jesus Noguera got the better of three significantly higher ranked opponents to come out on top on an evening where there were more than 100 missed darts at double across the course of the six matches. Noguera edged out Danny Noppert by a leg with both men finishing on a couple of wins each. Ian White finished third and James Wilson propped up the rear despite winning the final match of the night.
It was a winning night for us once again although one which we left thinking what might have been. The profit was secured when Jesus Noguera powered his way to victory over James Wilson but really and truly Danny Noppert should have won the group. He missed darts at double in almost every single leg he lost over the course of the night and if he had won just one more of those he would have won the group.
Group 23 Line Up
The leading player in the field on Saturday night in terms of the world ranking is Kyle Anderson. The popular Australian is not the favourite to win the group however and there are probably a couple of reasons for that. The first is obviously that he’ll be playing in the middle of the night bordering into the early hours of the morning, and the second one is that he has been recovering from Covid-19 so we know he hasn’t been on the practice board much. His form over the last 12 months or so has disappeared as well which is another concern.
Martin Schindler is the second highest ranked player in the field and although it is something of a joke that at the age of 23 he can still play on the Development Tour, it should be noted that he has already made the final of two events this year. His form on the main tour hasn’t been as solid but we’ve seen him on more than enough big stages to see that when his game is on he can be a match for anyone. This group looks pretty even but if there is room for a spoiler, the German could very well be it.
It isn’t very often in the group stage of this tournament that the third highest ranked player in a group is the favourite to win it but that is the case here. That is because the form of Dirk van Duijvenbode in the events in 2020 has been excellent. The Dutchman had to go back to Q-School to earn his Tour card again but having done that he has made two semi-finals, one in a Players Championship event and another in the European Tour tournament. Glen Durrant, Nathan Aspinall and Ian White are just some of the names he has disposed of in those runs. If tour form counts for anything, the Dutch ace is the one to beat.
The rankings would suggest that Daniel Larsson is merely making up the numbers in this group but we’ve seen enough of the Swede in the World Cup, European Tour events and the various World Championships to know that on his day he is more than capable of being competitive in it. He has already made the last 16 of a Players Championship event this season although the draw was quite kind that day. He’ll need to show his best if he is going to win this group but you get the sense there are worse 9/1 shots around on Saturday.
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Outright Betting
I think the form rather than the rankings is a good thing here and I’m expecting Dirk van Duijvenbode to come through. I can’t be having Kyle Anderson with all that has gone on in his life in recent times. I would imagine he’ll just be relieved to be able to play more than worrying about being competitive, while Daniel Larsson might have his moments but I don’t see him being good enough over three matches I have to say.
Players Championship form tells us Anderson and Larsson have eight points to find on the average to match van Duijvenbode and that is strong enough. Martin Schindler could well be the closest challenger to the Dutch star but DvD scores incredibly heavily and if the form that he has collected on the tour is reproduced in his doubling then he is very much the man to beat. I’m a little surprised he’s as big as 7/4 as he’s a standout in this group for me.
Match Betting
There is only one match bet I fancy and that comes in what is ranking wise the big match of the night when Kyle Anderson takes on Martin Schindler, although I’m not expecting it to live up to its billing. I suspect it will be a big game for both though as there is half a chance both men lose their opening match and if that happens then they will go into this one knowing whoever loses is eliminated from group winning possibility.
As with a couple of bets I’ve taken recently, it isn’t ideal that Martin Schindler doesn’t have the throw in this match but I would be surprised if it mattered. Anderson has never been the most reliable double hitter in the world and the rest of his game is likely to have suffered from his recent circumstances as well. Martin Schindler might not have the results he would have wanted on the main tour but his Development Tour form has been very good and that can equate to him being good enough to win here.
Tips
Back D.van Duijvenbode to win Group 23 for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Schindler to beat K.Anderson for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with 888sport
Back him here:
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