The second round of the PDC World Darts Championship concludes over the course of two sessions of play at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, the first of which comes in the afternoon, where a couple of household names begin their quest for the title.
We have seen some brilliant action so far in the tournament, not least in the match between Peter Wright and Noel Malicdem on Friday evening. Hopefully we will get much more of the same over the course of Saturday.
Keegan Brown vs Seigo Asada
The action begins with Keegan Brown going up against the latest Asian star to take to the stage in Seigo Asada for the right to face Peter Wright in the third round of the tournament. This looks a tight match and many bookmakers are unable to split them.
Although he hasn’t had the best year of his career, Brown has made all the TV events and that stage experience can never be underestimated. You would suggest he has rarely shown his best form on the big stage but if he were to do that here he would look to have every chance. Asada has made a name for himself in this tournament over the last couple of campaigns and he should fancy his chances here, especially after taking it to James Wade in this tournament last year. The Japanese player is a good chance here but something tells me we might see the best of Brown here and if we do he could edge it. I don’t have a strong enough feeling either way to get involved.
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Simon Whitlock vs Harry Ward
The second match of the day sees the former finalist Simon Whitlock going up against a man who made his debut in the tournament in the first round in Harry Ward, a player who saw the sizeable challenge of Madars Razma on that occasion.
These two played twice in 2019 and won a match each so there is enough to suggest this one could be a competitive contest. I am interested to see what Whitlock brings to the party here. He has a lot of World Championship experience but his recent TV outings haven’t been the best. You would think with the confidence of a win under his belt, Ward will kick on and put up a real challenge here. I wouldn’t rule him out but there is nothing in the match I’m keen to get too stuck into.
Steve West vs Ryan Searle
The third match of the afternoon session looks another pretty close one to call as Steve West looks to make it into the third round of the competition when he takes on a Ryan Searle who survived by the skin of his teeth in the first round.
We saw two sides to Searle in his win over Robbie King in the first round. We saw all his scoring power as he hit nine 180s but we also saw some very ordinary finishing where he ended with just 13 doubles from 50 attempts. If he doesn’t tighten up at the end of legs then he’ll get found out here but either way I expect West to be competitive so the obvious bet is over 8.5 180s here. Searle covered it on his own in the first round and I don’t see him leaving the 60 alone here. West knows his way around the lipstick so this line should be safely covered in a match which is going to have four or five sets.
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Adrian Lewis vs Cristo Reyes
We end with possibly the best match of all as the twice former champion Adrian Lewis goes up against the Spanish star Cristo Reyes who silenced one or two in coming through the first round and who will fancy his chances here.
He will have to do something he hasn’t done before though and that is beat Lewis. These two have met on four previous occasions and Lewis has won the lot. I get the feeling Lewis has been crying out for this tournament and if he comes through this match, with the format the way it is I expect him to go quite deep in it. I expect Lewis to win but I accept the negatives of his opponent having played a game and the format has the better player under pressure so I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
Back S.West vs R.Searle – Over 8.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfred
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