The second evening session of the PDC World Darts Championship was always going to be a high profile one and it takes place on Saturday night inside Alexandra Palace, where the big stories come naturally over the course of it.
That is because Raymond van Barneveld begins his last tournament as a professional player, looking to go out on a high over the next couple of weeks. The likes of Jamie Hughes and Rob Cross are also on show in a big night of arrers.
Mark McGeeney vs Mark Campbell
The opening match of the night sees the former BDO number one and Lakeside finalist Mark McGeeney taking to the Ally Pally stage for the first time when he meets the Canadian player Mark Campbell for the right to face Ricky Evans in the second round.
Campbell is something of an unknown to everyone here. Often when these international players make their debut these days we have seen them either in a World Series event or the World Cup but he hasn’t played in either of them. That said he has qualified for this so he must be doing something right. McGeeney hasn’t had the best year of his career but he has also made it through so it isn’t all bad. I’ve got to think the odds are about right here but this isn’t one I’m queuing up to get involved in.
Jamie Hughes vs Zoran Lerchbacher
Another former BDO star makes his PDC World Championship debut in the second match of the night when Jamie Hughes takes on the Austrian player Zoran Lerchbacher for the right to take on Krzysztof Ratajski later in the competition.
These two have met once in their careers with Hughes winning comfortably back in February. Lerchbacher made the quarter final of the World Cup alongside Mensur Suljovic but he was more a passenger than a driver in that event and he has only cashed in three tournaments since then and hasn’t missed too many, which highlights his struggles of late. Hughes is pretty solid on the big stage and once he settles into his work here I expect the midlander to come through without too many scares it has to be said. The odds do nothing to generate a bet however.
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Raymond van Barneveld vs Darin Young
The final tournament of the illustrious career for the Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld begins with a clash against the American veteran Darin Young, who always seems to qualify for this tournament but actually hasn’t been here for some five years.
It will be interesting to see what level Barneveld shows here. I’m expecting him to be something close to his best. He certainly was that in Minehead recently until the weekend exertions got the better of him. There are no tiredness excuses for him here though and I expect him to perform accordingly. Young has been a frequent winner on the American scene but we’ve seen both in this tournament, the World Cup and the World Series events in recent times that darts over there is a level down from this one if not more. I’m expecting Barney to progress without dropping a set.
Rob Cross vs Kim Huybrechts
The one second round match on the night could be something of a juicy contest if both men play to their optimum as Rob Cross begins the defence of that £400,000 cheque he won here two years ago when he takes on the Belgian star Kim Huybrechts.
Clearly Huybrechts is not at the level he once was else he wouldn’t have had to come through a first round match but the key was that he did come through that contest and now he’ll be looking for his darts to flow where he can give Cross a game. He will need to tighten up on his two figure finishing from his first match if that is going to happen though. Cross will be nervous here. There is a lot of pressure on him and that is always hard in the first round. I still think the former champion will win but Huybrechts can make him work hard for his victory. He still retains enough class to win a set at least and maybe two but nothing stands out betting wise.
Tips
Back R.Barneveld to beat D.Young 3-0 for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Betway
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