The second round of the World Matchplay comes to an end on Wednesday night when the bottom half plays down to the quarter final stage inside the behind closed doors setup at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
The whole draw will be well aware that Michael van Gerwen exited the tournament on Tuesday night and that has opened things up nicely for everyone remaining. That should lead to an extremely competitive night of darts on Wednesday.
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 4 Recap
It was not a night to be a high ranked seed on Tuesday evening as two of them fell in the five matches we saw. That started in the opening match when Dimitri Van den Bergh dumped out Nathan Aspinall in the last of the first round matches. The second round began with a cracking game between Michael Smith and Mensur Suljovic which Smith won 14-12 before Gary Anderson outlasted James Wade 11-8. The biggest shock of the week so far came in the penultimate match of the evening when Michael van Gerwen was dumped out by Simon Whitlock 11-4. The night concluded with Krzysztof Ratajski needing overtime to see off Gabriel Clemens 12-10.
It wasn’t the greatest night for us betting wise it has to be said. It started nicely when Nathan Aspinall and Dimitri Van den Bergh got the nine 180s we needed from their match but despite hitting a 180 with his first throw, Mensur Suljovic could only add one more in the next 25.5 legs so we didn’t get the five we wanted from him. James Wade let Gary Anderson get away from him early and couldn’t reel him back in and while Krzysztof Ratajski beat Gabriel Clemens he didn’t cover the 2.5 leg handicap so there is work for us to do on Wednesday and beyond.
Daryl Gurney vs Vincent van der Voort
The evening begins on Wednesday with a clash between two players who are quite entertaining to watch when they have their range on the 60 as Daryl Gurney takes on Vincent van der Voort, with both men knowing that the draw is opening up nicely for them.
Gurney goes into the match as a favourite but van der Voort clearly enjoyed surroundings in the first round and took care of another heavy scorer in Dave Chisnall, so the Dutchman will fancy his chances in this match. I’ve liked the look of Gurney going into the tournament though and saw nothing in his win over Ricky Evans to deviate from that. I don’t need to back Gurney as I’m on him to win his quarter and while I fancy a few 180s here the 9.5 line just feels one high were this to be a one-sided match.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Joe Cullen
The second match of the night sees two impressive young players who really haven’t achieved as much in their careers as they should have done going at it when Dimitri Van den Bergh looks to follow up his fine win over Nathan Aspinall with a clash against Joe Cullen.
These two men will both be aware that Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall have exited their sections so a semi-final spot is wide open for both of them if they play well from here on in. I would have expected this to be a pretty close match whatever the situation but that carrot dangled in front of them is only likely to make this even more competitive. These two have met five times on the pro tour with Cullen winning four of them but while they have all been the best of 11, four of those matches ended 6-4 or 6-5 which further highlights that we are likely to get a tight match here. That makes me think over 18.5 legs, where 11-8 or closer is our friend, is the way to go here.
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Peter Wright vs Glen Durrant
The pick of the four matches on what could well be a special night of darts is the third game of the evening when the world champion Peter Wright, the new favourite to add this tournament to his collection, meets Glen Durrant who will feel he has every chance of a first PDC televised title if he wins this match.
There is no dressing this one up. It has all the hallmarks of being an absolute classic between two of the very best in the world. I think the outcome of it depends on Wright. If he plays like he can he’ll probably have enough to edge out Duzza, but anything other than something near his best would leave the world champion vulnerable to a Durrant who never gives a bad performance on the big stage. Over in legs is probably the way to play this one too but we don’t know which Wright will turn up so I’ll watch this one rather than get stuck into it betting wise.
Danny Noppert vs Adrian Lewis
The final match of the second round sees the man who saw off Gerwyn Price back in action when Danny Noppert takes on a former finalist in Adrian Lewis, a man who showed one or two signs of that form when he dispatched Steve Beaton in the first round.
If you said Noppert would beat Price in the opening round you would think he would have averaged more than 100 and given his best performance but he didn’t. He only had to average just over 90 but he is probably going to need to put a little onto that if he is going to win this match. I didn’t think much to Adrian Lewis’ chances going into his first round match with Steve Beaton but I certainly took notice of the quality he showed, the desire to win he displayed and then after the match when he admitted the Summer Series was all about getting used to the new normal and conditions rather than winning tournaments.
I’ll take Lewis at his word for all that and as such I think the 10/11 on him here is worth taking. Noppert is not reliable on his doubles. He only hit 10/31 against Price but the Welshman didn’t punish him. I think Lewis will take advantage if Noppert is as sloppy again. Often when you are out of form you wilt under pressure but Lewis didn’t do that in the first round. He averaged 97 and change and was 11/19 on his doubles. A repeat of that sees him through here.
Tips
WON – Back D.Van den Bergh vs J.Cullen – Over 18.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back A.Lewis to beat D.Noppert for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
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