The third stage of the PDC Home Tour II begins on Monday when the first of the three groups that will make up the Championship group for next week takes place with seven players returning to compete in their own homes.
This format has been quite popular and has thrown up plenty of good darts and with only the top two from the seven guaranteed to progress we are set for the most competitive three groups yet as these seven jostle for a place in the final group.
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.
Phase 2 Group 5 Recap
Andy Boulton was the man who powered his way into the third phase by winning all six matches in the last of the second stage groups last week. His six wins saw him finish four points ahead of Ron Meulenkamp while three players finished on six points and all made it through to the third stage. Ryan Meikle came third, Marko Kantele fourth and although Luke Woodhouse was fifth his leg difference was good enough to get him through. Matt Edgar and Steve Brown were the two men to bow out.
It was another profitable day for us betting wise. We didn’t manage to land the goods with Ryan Meikle to win the group as he was too slow to start the day but our bet on Andy Boulton to beat Ron Meulenkamp came in at odds against which was nice. That ensured we left the week with another 1.75 points of profit to add to what is becoming a nice competition for us overall, which we will hopefully continue to build on for the remainder of the event.
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Phase 3 Group 1 Line Up
The Favourites
Damon Heta is the biggest name in the group on Monday and he will be expected to come through and make it into the final group courtesy of winning this group not just qualifying. There is a lot more pressure on though so it might be that the favourites feel it more here. Ron Meulenkamp will be looking to take advantage of any slip ups from the Australian over the course of the day and even though he could only come through as the best fifth placed finisher in the previous stage, Luke Woodhouse is considered one of the favourites here too.
The Outsiders
It is hard to call anyone an outsider having made it through two groups to get to this stage but I guess the spots in the next round are reduced from this section so maybe it is understandable. Kai Fan Leung will be one of the players looking to defy the odds while at his best James Wilson would have the beating of most of these. Andy Boulton should be full of confidence having won the group without losing a match last week while Carl Wilkinson was also a winner of his second phase group.
Group Betting
I have to say I’m a little surprised at the price for Andy Boulton to win this group. He didn’t just win his group last week, he won all six matches and averaged over 90 in all of them, including the high 90s and a ton in the last two. That is decent form at any level let alone in this event and he should be confident of coming out of this group as well. He showed good quality and excellent consistency and it was only five days ago so he is unlikely to have lost his form in that time.
Of the rest Damon Heta sets a fair enough standard but he could only come fourth in his second stage group and needed to win his last match to do that so I’m not so sure about him. Ron Meulenkamp was the closest challenger to Boulton last week and he could be again here although Carl Wilkinson won a very good group and he shouldn’t be underestimated. The rest don’t really convince me so at the prices I’ll have a small punt on Boulton to deliver the goods again.
Match Betting
There is one bet that I like over the course of the day in the match betting. I’m going to keep my powder largely dry in that although I expect more matches to have more meaning in this phase which should help us moving forward. The bet I like comes towards the middle of the day as Kai Fan Leung takes on James Wilson in a match where the Asian ace looks a decent bet with the throw at around the 4/5 mark.
To be fair both these men had good results in their previous group. Wilson beat Jeffrey de Zwaan which is form that has improved significantly since it happened, although the Dutchman didn’t qualify so that might dampen the meaning of that win. Leung saw off Gabriel Clemens in his group which again doesn’t look too bad right now. Both players looked like they were in good touch in the previous round but the advantage of the throw is likely to be significant here as is the fact that when the two met on the tour earlier in the year it was Leung who won 6-3. Wilson can have periods where he plods and with him needing to break the throw to win that isn’t great. I’ll side with the man from Hong Kong here.
Tips
Back A.Boulton to win Phase 3 Group 1 for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back K-F.Leung to beat J.Wilson for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
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