The third night of the World Matchplay sees the first round of the tournament continuing inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes as five more matches take place with 10 players getting their campaigns underway on Monday evening.
In the main so far in this tournament we have seen the big names make it through although we did lose the defending champion Rob Cross on Sunday evening. Gerwyn Price is the man given the task of headlining the session on Monday.
The Format
Much has changed in the world in recent times but the format of the World Matchplay hasn’t. The event begins with the first round over the best of 19 legs with the second round moving up to the best of 21 legs. The quarter finals take place over the best of 31 legs with the semi-finals the best of 33. The winner will then be determined on the second Sunday of the tournament in a best of 35 leg final. Each match in the tournament has to be won by two clear legs unless each player reach two beyond the scheduled winning number (12-12 in the first round, 13-13 in the second round etc). If that happens the next leg will be a deciding leg.
Day 2 Recap
We expected a special night of darts and that is exactly what we got with a couple of really great matches in another high quality session. One of those good matches got the session underway when Mensur Suljovic saw off Jamie Hughes 12-10 before Glen Durrant powered past Jeffrey de Zwaan 10-3. We then saw the first shock of the tournament when Rob Cross was beaten 10-8 by Gabriel Clemens. We nearly lost the world champion Peter Wright as well but he turned an 8-5 deficit to Jose de Sousa into a 10-8 victory. The night ended with a bit of a romp for Michael Smith. He saw off Jonny Clayton 10-3.
That all added up to a level night for us betting wise. We went into battle with a couple of bets. The first of those was for Glen Durrant to cover a 2.5 leg handicap in his match against Jeffrey de Zwaan and from an early stage there was little chance of that not happening. That basically set up a free bet on Jonny Clayton to beat Michael Smith but he couldn’t buy a double in the early stages and was comprehensively beaten.
Dave Chisnall vs Vincent van der Voort
Two entertainers meet in the opening match of the night as Dave Chisnall goes up against Vincent van der Voort in a game that isn’t going to take long no matter who wins and what score it ends, given the fluent speed the two throw at.
When you looked at the draw before it was made Chisnall would probably have been one of the seeds who looked vulnerable and he has landed a dangerous opponent it has to be said. There are question marks over the form of van der Voort going into this match but that has been the case for a few years now and we’ve regular seen him raise his game on the big stage. The temptation here is to back over 9.5 180s but there is a chance Chisnall powers away which might not give us enough legs to get them over the line so I’ll tentatively sit this one out.
Ian White vs Joe Cullen
The second match of the evening could be the closest one of the night when Ian White takes on the highest ranked player in the field who wasn’t a seeded player in Joe Cullen, something that might give the Rockstar a point to prove.
Most judges, myself included, believe that these conditions will suit Ian White nicely. We’ve already seen a few ‘floor specialists’ show their floor form in this tournament in the likes of Krzysztof Ratajski, Mensur Suljovic and Jose de Sousa, and that is what we think we’ll get from White. Cullen is notoriously ordinary on the floor, he made reference to that himself in the PDC Home Tour recently, where it has to be said he looks ominously good. He then proceeded to win three matches in five days in the Summer Series.
I expect White to win here but Cullen has the big stage form to put me off taking a handicap. I see this as being a pretty close match though so the bet I like is over 9.5 180s. Both these men clobber the 60 bed when they get going and we’ve already seen a lot of 180s hit in this tournament. In what should be a tight match I don’t believe this 180 line is high enough so I’ll take the over.
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Daryl Gurney vs Ricky Evans
There is always an intriguing match in every session of darts these days and the third match of the night is the one which falls into that category when the former World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney takes on Ricky Evans.
I’ve a feeling these conditions could really suit Gurney. He seems to struggle when there is a crowd, whether it is losing his focus or because he sometimes gets put off by them, so he has no excuses here. There were really good signs from Gurney at the Summer Series and he is a worthy favourite here but if Evans gets into a rhythm and starts hitting the 60 bed this one could get away from the Northern Irishman quite quickly. These two met in this last year and Gurney won 10-7. That’s the sort of score I’m expecting here but nothing leaps out betting wise.
Gerwyn Price vs Danny Noppert
The feature match of the night is the penultimate clash which sees the world number three Gerwyn Price going up against the former world finalist Danny Noppert in a contest which is likely to be hard fought as they bid for a place in the second round.
Price goes into the match as the favourite and based on their meeting at the UK Open that is entirely justified. Price won that contest 10-3 and he’ll be looking for a similarly easy night here. Noppert can mix it with the best in the game when he wants to and you get the feeling he’ll be better suited to these conditions. Although the crowds often get at Price he clearly uses them to get himself going when things aren’t going right. My suspicion is that Noppert will keep this closer than the odds suggest but that is a hunch more than anything really.
Adrian Lewis vs Steve Beaton
The final match of the night sees two players who were noticeably out of form at the recent Summer Series battling it out when Adrian Lewis takes on Steve Beaton for the right to face either Gerwyn Price or Danny Noppert in the second round on Wednesday.
Nobody in this field performed worse than Lewis at the Summer Series. He didn’t average 90 for the week, lost in the first round in three of the four tournaments he played in, one with an average in the 70s and another 82 and change, and pulled out of the last event. Beaton only won matches in two of the tournaments but generally played marginally better and is probably feeling the better of the two about his game right now.
I’m not a fan of backing Steve Beaton but I suspect he’ll be more at home in these conditions and will relish them more. He’ll continue with his silky throw and as long as he doesn’t have too many mares on his doubles he looks a fair price to beat a Lewis who has to have confidence issues even before we address that the impact that not having the crowd behind him might have. It is impossible to back Lewis right now. If I’m honest I’d rather take him on with someone more reliable than Beaton but there’s still enough juice in the price to tempt me in.
Tips
WON – Back I.White vs J.Cullen – Over 9.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back it here:
Back S.Beaton to beat A.Lewis for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betfred
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