The evening session in the PDC World Darts Championship is headlined by a couple of former world champions each of whom will be looking to make their mark in the completely changed behind closed doors setting at the Alexandra Palace in London.
We are still awaiting the first truly big shock of the tournament and the likes of Glen Durrant and Max Hopp will be hoping they are not the victim of the first one on Wednesday evening. Lisa Ashton will be aiming to deliver it.
Max Hopp vs Gordon Mathers
The opening match of the night will have the whole of Germany watching on as Max Hopp takes to the stage to take on the Australian qualifier Gordon Mathers for a place in the second round where the Players Championship Finals runner up Mervyn King will be waiting for the winner.
We have seen Mathers in the PDC World Championship before when he lost out in the preliminary round to Seigo Asada three years ago. He only averaged 82 on that occasion which isn’t exactly pulling up any trees but he did reach the semi-final of a Challenge Tour event at the beginning of the year which shows he can be competitive. This match is clearly all about Hopp. If he plays well then he should have no problems coming through here but the pressure is all on him in this match. I’m happy enough to leave this one alone.
Callan Rydz vs James Bailey
The second match of the evening sees the Geordie invasion at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday continuing when Callan Rydz takes on the other Australian qualifier in James Bailey, another player from down under who has graced this tournament in the past.
He was here two years ago when he lost tamely to Steve Lennon and while we’ve seen him in the Australian legs of the World Series events he hasn’t exactly pulled up any trees in those either and has put up pretty poor averages. This is also Rydz’s second World Championship after he qualified last year when he beat Steve Lennon before pushing Danny Noppert the distance. Rydz is clearly the favourite here and should come through without any troubles but he’s plenty short enough and won’t have been favourite for many TV matches in his time so there is a different pressure on him here. That’s enough to leave this one alone for me.
Special Offer
Bet on the PDC World Darts Championship with Boylesports and get DOUBLE WINNINGS on ALL MARKETS if both players hit a treble with their first dart! ALL CUSTOMERS! NEW CUSTOMERS WHO OPEN AN ACCOUNT ON A MOBILE CAN ALSO BET £10 AND GET £10 FREE! Click the image below to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble responsibly.
Adam Hunt vs Lisa Ashton
The first of the two really appealing matches in the evening session is the penultimate game when Adam Hunt takes on the first of the two women to qualify for the tournament in the form of the former women’s world champion Lisa Ashton.
The immediate quirk of this draw is that these two have met twice on the floor this year and Ashton has won both matches. The fact that this is on the stage brings a different dynamic to this one but that doesn’t really help Hunt out much either because Ashton has bags of experience of the big stages, be it Lakeside, the Grand Slam or here whereas Hunt is pretty new to it all. The one thing Hunt has in his favour is that Ashton may well genuinely believe she can win this and will be playing with some expectancy on her shoulders which could weigh her down. I’m tempted to back Ashton at the prices but to be fair to Hunt he showed at the Grand Slam that he can handle the big stage so he could edge home here. This is one to put the feet up and watch rather than get stuck into.
Glen Durrant vs Diogo Portela
The final match of the night is the only second round contest on the card and it sees the three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant taking on the winner from Tuesday evening in Diogo Portela who brushed Steve Beaton aside with the minimum of fuss.
I say the minimum of fuss and I mean that in the score rather than anything else because we clearly got to see at the end of the game just what the match meant to him. It was obviously a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and whether he has it in him to go again 24hrs later will be interesting. Not only will he need to go again but he’ll need to make a significant improvement if he is going to be competitive here let alone win as his 89.16 average isn’t going to cut it at this level. Durrant has had his issues over the last six weeks or so but he has been away from the board long enough to recharge the batteries and go again and even if he isn’t quite carrying the game which saw him win the Premier League, his B game is likely to be enough here.
I think the way to play this match is to take the odds against on Glen Durrant landing the King of the Oche Match Treble of winning the match, hitting the most 180s and the highest checkout. I think it is largely 6/5 on Durrant hitting the highest checkout. I don’t see him losing and Portela never hit a single 180 on Tuesday and if you go back to the Icons Leagues during lockdown he didn’t hit many of them in that. Durrant isn’t relentless but he hits enough. If you weigh up the fact Portela is unlikely to win many legs a competent finisher like Durrant should have the checkout covered so that can see him land the treble.
Tips
WON – Back G.Durrant to beat D.Portela, most 180s & highest checkout for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
