The PDC Home Tour II continues on Tuesday when another group of seven players link up their phones and tablets to their home oches to battle it out for a place in the second phase of the competition, which is offering match practice for those who haven’t been in competitive action since the Summer Series.
We have an intercontinental line up on Tuesday with some rising stars mixed in with some established ones in what has the makings of being a very competitive day, with some quality matches mixed in.
The Format
Each day seven players will be in action on their home oches in a group stage format looking to progress. In every group in the tournament the seven players will each play each other once. In the first round the top three players in each group and the five best fourth-placed players go through to the second stage. Five groups are played out in the second phase with the top four in each making it through to the third stage along with the best fifth-placed player. The final stage begins with three more groups with the top two in each and the best third-placed player qualifying for the Championship Group where the champion is crowned. Each match throughout is the best of nine legs and the tournament will be streamed live on PDCTV or the consoles on the bookmaker websites.
Group 4 Recap
We saw another huge upset on Monday when the overwhelming favourite Jamie Hughes didn’t just fail to win the group but he failed to qualify for the next stage. It was actually James Wilson who came out on top with five wins from his six matches. We intimated that Andy Hamilton might have been a bit of value for the group and it was he who came second with four wins. He finished ahead of Bradley Brooks on leg difference. Ted Evetts is the man who came fourth with three wins and will have to wait and see if he has done enough to progress. Hughes missed out on fourth on leg difference while William Borland picked up two wins and Harald Leitinger went winless for his day.
It was a profitable day for us betting wise and it was secured pretty early on as Andy Hamilton thrashed Ted Evetts 5-0 to give us a nice winner at what always looked like a big 6/4 price. Unfortunately our second bet of the day did not deliver the goods as despite getting back to 3-3, William Borland was immediately broken and then missed three at double 16 to take us into a decider in which he had the throw in. Nevertheless it was a small profit on the day and something to build on.
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Group 5 Line Up
The Favourites
Devon Petersen was in great form prior to the lockdown and he showed his worth once again in one of the Summer Series events so on the paper book he would appear a legitimate group favourite. The South African is one of seven different nationalities in this group with the Australian player Damon Heta the second favourite at 12/5, slightly bigger than Petersen at 9/4. There is only one English player in the field which comes in the form of Ryan Joyce, the player who made his breakthrough at the Summer Series when he won one of those events and qualified for the World Matchplay as a result. He is 3/1 to win this group.
The Outsiders
The other four players in the group are all double figures to win it on the best prices. Kai Fan Leung is the next in the betting. The man from Hong Kong began the year well but his progress was halted by Covid-19. He is 10/1 to win this group. The first of the two Scandinavian players in the betting is Marko Kantele. He is 18/1 to win it but that looks short compared to the final two players, John Michael of Greece and the Swedish player Daniel Larsson who are 20/1 and 25/1 respectively to come out on top.
Outright Betting
Something tells me this is going to be a pretty competitive group and as such it might be worth getting on one of the outsiders at a decent price to give us a run for our money. We should address the favourites first and while I respect Devon Petersen he just feels a little short to me. Damon Heta won his first group in Home Tour I even though it was in the middle of the night so playing at a more sociable time might well suit him. Joyce is a heavy scorer but as we saw at the Matchplay, when he doesn’t score there isn’t a lot else in his armoury.
Kai Fan Leung and John Michael may well be competitive at times in this section but Marko Kantele looks out of his depth here. The player I like though is Daniel Larsson. Larsson is an underrated player. The negative is that he hasn’t played an official competitive match since Home Tour I, but in that tournament he won his initial group and performed well enough in his second one. His finishing in that event was very strong and in a best of nine format that could be essential. I don’t see this as a group where someone is going to win all six matches and you might be competitive with four decent wins. At 25/1 I think Larsson is worth a nibble.
Match Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in the matches over the course of the day with the first of those coming quite early in the piece when John Michael goes up against Marko Kantele. Kantele didn’t play in the PDC Home Tour I and while I’m sure he has been active in online darts throughout lockdown the format and setup of the PDC event will be different to what he would have encountered on anything else that he played. We’ve seen throughout the competitions that have been streamed that it takes some getting used to and with this the Finn’s first match of the day he might need it to adjust. Michael played in the first Home Tour and performed creditably in it. Michael has the throw in this match so as long as he doesn’t have a mare on his doubles he looks overpriced to me.
The second bet I like is for Devon Petersen to see off Ryan Joyce. Petersen has been playing some excellent darts in the parts of 2020 we’ve had the sport existing and although that didn’t translate into progression in the first PDC Home Tour I still don’t think he was disadvantaged or anything by the format and with the throw against Joyce I like the South African at a level price. Joyce made a name for himself when he won that Summer Series event but either side of that it is coming up to a whole year since he went past the last 32 of an event. That suggests to me that he’s a bit overrated on that performance. Whenever we see him in big profile matches he misses a lot of doubles and although he’s had good runs in World Championships and things I think Petersen is better suited to this challenge. Add in the throw and it is the South African for me here.
Tips
Back D.Larsson to win PDC Home Tour II Group 5 for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back J.Michael to beat M.Kantele for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
WON – Back D.Petersen to beat R.Joyce for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
Back them here:
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