The PDC World Darts Championship continues on Monday night with a loaded session of darts that includes three of the top 15 players in the world and a couple of potential stars of the future on what should be excellent evening of arrers inside Alexandra Palace in London.
We saw the likes of Jonny Clayton and Ryan Searle cruise into the third round on Sunday night and four more players will book their spots in the tournament after Christmas over the course of the one session of play on Monday.
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Ryan Joyce
The opening match of the night has the potential to be one of the closest of the tournament so far as a Krzysztof Ratajski, one of the best players on the floor who is yet to really show his best stuff on the stage, takes on Ryan Joyce who has a lot to prove after his first round effort.
Joyce will not need telling he is more than fortunate to still be in the tournament having had to survive a number of match darts from Karel Sedlacek but I wonder if a lot of that was down to the pressure of being favourite. That expectancy transfers to the Pole for this match and it will be interesting to see how he handles that. He is not someone who delivers his best on the stage but he might need his best if he is to come through here. If Joyce had delivered a stronger and more convincing performance in the opening round I would have backed him here but as he didn’t and given that I’m on him for the quarter anyway I’ll sit this one out in the hope the Geordie makes progress.
Ian White vs Kim Huybrechts
The second match of the night could well steal the show as being the pick of the evening matches as Ian White takes on a player who has had a bit of success on this stage in the past and looking to get back to those heights once again in the form of Kim Huybrechts.
If we go by his first round performance there is every chance the Belgian could get back to those days because he was very impressive. Those who want to be critical will highlight he was up against nothing in the Chinese qualifier but it can sometimes he harder to perform to a high standard when you know you don’t need to than when you know you do. Huybrechts averaged 104, hit five 180s and was 60% on the doubles. If he repeats that here then White is in trouble. White has never truly fulfilled his potential on the big stage but he no longer plays terribly on it, he just gets involved in tight matches and can’t quite get over the line. That might happen here but this is a match that could go either way so rather than betting on who will hold their nerve I like the 180s.
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Gerwyn Price vs Jamie Lewis
The biggest name involved in the action on Monday night is Gerwyn Price and he takes on his fellow Welsh player Jamie Lewis who will be looking to rediscover the form that took him to the semi-final of this very tournament three years ago.
Lewis won’t need reminding that at this stage in that tournament in 2018 he beat another Welsh player in Jonny Clayton and then went on to beat Peter Wright so he can deal with the challenge of these top players, but is clearly going to need to score well and take all of his chances if he is to come through here. I don’t think set play is necessarily a strength for Price but he was the semi-finalist here last year and won the World Grand Prix so he appears to be warming to that challenge. That makes me think Price will win this but Lewis presents enough of a challenge at his best, or close to it, to be respected and not really go chasing short prices on Price, particularly with the pressure all on the Grand Prix champion.
Gabriel Clemens vs Nico Kurz
We finish the night with a battle of the two remaining German players in the tournament as Gabriel Clemens opens up his campaign against the man who beat him to actually qualify for this event via the German Super League in Nico Kurz.
Kurz didn’t just qualify for this tournament, he has taken care of a former finalist in Andy Hamilton already and almost has a free crack at his German compatriot here. Clemens has been making big strides in the game for a while but a lot of that is on the floor rather than the big stage and it will be interesting to see how he copes with being a warm favourite in a match of this magnitude. I’m not convinced by Clemens on the big stage yet. I thought he was getting there but since the restart he misses a lot of doubles in the big events and Kurz is good enough to take advantage of that. I don’t think we saw the best of Kurz in the opening round but I’m almost certain that was because he was the favourite expected to win. I think he’ll be much more comfortable here and having already beat Clemens in their career I expect to see the best of Kurz and that can take him to a deciding set if not the win.
Tips
WON – Back I.White vs K.Huybrechts – Over 9.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back it here:
Back N.Kurz (+1.5 sets) to beat G.Clemens for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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