The second biggest ranking event on the darts calendar gets underway on Saturday when the World Matchplay starts not at Blackpool as we are used to seeing, but instead the quarantined behind closed doors bubble that is the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Rob Cross won the title in much different surroundings 12 months ago and he is in Milton Keynes looking to defend his crown, but with so much of the tour cancelled this year, the level of qualifiers is huge so this is going to take some winning.
Recent Winners
2019 – Rob Cross
2018 – Gary Anderson
2017 – Phil Taylor
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – Phil Taylor
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Phil Taylor
2011 – Phil Taylor
2010 – Phil Taylor
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.
Top Quarter
Although he isn’t the defending champion, and hasn’t actually won the tournament for four years, Michael van Gerwen is the top seed this week and as such he heads up the top quarter. He isn’t going to have it all his own way this week and that is without considering the effect no crowd will have on him. MVG was far from perfect in the Summer Series last week and if he is to make the semi-final he’ll have to come through a quarter where Simon Whitlock, Gary Anderson and James Wade are the seeded players.
The qualifiers in this part of the draw are not necessarily the best though. It is fair to say they are headed by one of the last men into the field in Ryan Joyce, winner of one of the Summer Series events last week. Justin Pipe is dangerous on his day but he missed a couple of those tournaments last week with injury and it is not yet guaranteed what state he’ll turn up in. Brendan Dolan and Keegan Brown complete the quarter.
Second Quarter
This is the section that is headed by the defending champion Rob Cross, a man who will move up the rankings if he can go deep here and claim the title once again. His main danger in terms of the rankings of the seeds is Michael Smith but he looks to be suffering with his game after shedding a load of weight during lockdown. Mensur Suljovic needs a big week here because he was the beaten finalist a couple of years ago while Krzysztof Ratajski could be more than a dark horse.
The qualifiers are much stronger in this quarter than in the first one. Jonny Clayton narrowly missed out on being a seeded player but we saw what he can do on the PDC Home Tour recently while Gabriel Clemens seemingly gets better every time he toes the oche at this level. Jamie Hughes is a seasoned campaigner at the top level and he’ll be out to cause a few upsets while Jermaine Wattimena is certainly not making up the numbers.
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Third Quarter
The world champion Peter Wright is the top dog in this quarter of the draw. Much like at Alexandra Palace at the beginning of the year, ‘Snakebite’ is looking to win this title for the first time, and he warmed up for the week with a decent overall showing at the Summer Series. If Wright is going to win here he is going to have to do it the hard way because this draw is loaded. The other seeds have all been major finalists in Daryl Gurney, Dave Chisnall and the former world champion Glen Durrant.
If that isn’t enough, probably the most dangerous and feared qualifier of the 16 non-seeds is in this section of the draw as well in Jose de Sousa, a man who could easily win this tournament as a qualifier. Jeffrey de Zwaan was a semi-finalist here a couple of years ago and he is a qualifier in this section. The other two men in what is a brilliant part of the draw is the fastest thrower in the game in Ricky Evans and a Vincent van der Voort who isn’t far behind him in that category.
Bottom Quarter
The Grand Slam king Gerwyn Price is the main seed in the bottom quarter of the draw which in itself is pretty loaded too. That is because as well as Price, it also has the PDC Home Tour champion Nathan Aspinall in it as well as Ian White who has a wonderful record on the floor behind closed doors and for whom maybe all the changes will be the best for. The other seeded player in this quarter of the draw is Adrian Lewis, who has a decent history in this competition but his recent form isn’t great.
We have four standout qualifiers in this bottom quarter too so we should be guaranteed some decent matches. Joe Cullen almost landed the PDC Home Tour title during lockdown and he’ll be looking for more of that here while Dimitri Van den Bergh spend a lot of that period with Peter Wright and he can only benefit from that. Danny Noppert is a former world finalist while Steve Beaton has a world title to his name.
Outright Betting
There is a bit of guesswork involved here but even though the tournament is on a stage the absence of a crowd just can’t be underplayed. Players who get nervous on a stage won’t be as nervous here while those who get ripped into by the crowd obviously won’t have that issue. On the flip side of that those who use the crowd to get going won’t have that on their side so that all needs to be factored in and once I’ve done that I’ve decided that floor form is what may count the most.
That means Ian White is my main bet this week although had he not landed a shocking draw I would have been all over Jose de Sousa. White has won 10 titles on the floor in the past and made it deep in countless more tournaments. It is when he is on a big stage that his struggles occur. I don’t see the pressure being as big here. He is a player who likes a rhythm and get into his flow and nothing is going to stop his focus here. White made the quarter final five years ago but is a massive underachiever on TV, however a couple of European Tour successes last year shows the penny is dropping on the big stage for him. At 40/1 if his floor form comes with him here he’s a huge runner.
Quarter Betting
Two other players who I had on my outright shortlist but didn’t quite make the grade are going to be backed to win their quarters instead. I’m not completely convinced the second quarter will take a lot of winning because Rob Cross is just too hit or miss for my liking at the minute and Michael Smith looked well below himself last week. That opens the door for Krzysztof Ratajski, who is another who has been nearly impeccable on the floor for the last couple of years. He hasn’t done anything in front of the big crowds but take the crowd away and he is a machine. He has five Players Championship titles to his name and in a wide open draw the 9/2 on him landing the second quarter is just too big.
It might be too soon for Daryl Gurney to win this tournament given his form in the first half of the year, but the 5/1 on him winning the quarter based on what he offered at the Summer Series last week where a number of his averages over the 100 mark. Gurney is often someone derided by the crowd so the fact that they’re not there here can only be a help to him. Gurney has actually made the semi-final of this tournament in two of the last three stagings of the event so it is clearly a format that he likes. His draw is tough, there’s no getting away from that, but that might not be a bad thing as it could focus his mind and make sure he delivers his best. At his best he’s a twice TV title winner so coming through this quarter is well within his compass.
Tips
Back I.White to win World Matchplay (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
Back K.Ratajski to win 2nd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back D.Gurney to win 3rd Quarter foe a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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