The first round of The Masters draws to a close in Milton Keynes on Saturday evening, as the eight players yet to get their campaign underway do so, with places in the quarter final of the first tournament of the season up for grabs.
The tournament is still reeling from the departure of Michael van Gerwen on the opening night, which has opened up the draw completely, something that will not be lost on the eight men on show on Saturday.
Daryl Gurney vs Dave Chisnall
We open the night with a battle of two of the heavier scorers in the game taking to the stage when Daryl Gurney takes on Dave Chisnall, with both men rightly thinking they have every chance of winning the title from here on in.
We’re on Gurney outright and obviously that bet has already had a serious boost to it with the loss of Michael van Gerwen from proceedings and there is part of me that is happy to let that ride especially as he is a surprise outsider in the match. The temptation whenever these two meet is to play the 180s because neither are wholly trustworthy when it comes to the doubles to convince me into backing either but at 10.5 there isn’t a huge amount of margin in the line. I’ll watch and hope the Irishman progresses.
Gary Anderson vs Ian White
The second match of the evening sees the former world champion looking to put an indifferent 2019 behind him when Gary Anderson takes on an Ian White who probably had the best year of his career last term and will be looking to build on that.
When you consider those factors you would normally take the progressive man to come out on top here, but actually I think Anderson is the one with the improvement in him whereas White might just be at the level he is capable of. A year or two ago Anderson would have been a huge favourite to come through this match. I get why he isn’t any longer but there were signs at the World Championship that he’ll be back somewhere near his best before too long. With a Premier League campaign about to begin I expect what he has here to be enough to come through.
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Peter Wright vs Joe Cullen
Peter Wright plays his first match as the world champion in the third game of the night when he goes up against the solid campaigner Joe Cullen, whose record in these TV events over the last year has left a lot to be desired.
It is fair to say these two had very different World Championship campaigns. Wright won the tournament while Cullen was bang ordinary in losing his first match and I expect those trends to continue here. Wright is clearly very confident with his bats now so we can put to bed the need to worry about him chopping and changing all the time, and the standard he delivered with them at Alexandra Palace sets a huge precedent here. Cullen can be solid but he misses too many doubles on the big stage for my liking. Wright will sense an opportunity here with MVG out to prove himself as a world champion and I fancy him to power through here.
Gerwyn Price vs Simon Whitlock
The final match of the opening round of the tournament should be something of a feisty affair as two men who meet quite regularly do so again when Gerwyn Price takes on Simon Whitlock for a quarter final spot.
Price is the warm order to win this match after a decent end to 2019 which saw him reach the semi-final of the World Championship and that is probably right because the days where Whitlock was consistent over this sort of format is long gone. He can be dangerous though Whitlock and Price is no stranger to a whole load of missed doubles it has to be said so rather than take the winner or a handicap over 8.5 180s looks the way forward to me. Both these men pepper the 60 bed and this isn’t a high line at all. We should get enough mileage in the match for two decent scorers to see this one home.
Tips
WON – Back G.Anderson to beat I.White for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back P.Wright (-3.5 legs) to beat J.Cullen for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back G.Price vs S.Whitlock – Over 8.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back it here:
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