The opening night of the World Matchplay is almost upon us as the tournament gets underway at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Saturday night. It does so with four matches all over the best of 19 legs as eight men look to book their place in the second round of the lucrative tournament.
There is a great line up on show on the first night of action with no fewer than three world champions toeing the oche and another two world finalists with them too as well as one of the best young talents in the game so we’re in for a cracking night.
Whitlock vs Klaasen
The first match of the night sees Simon Whitlock taking on Jelle Klaasen in what looks like being an interesting match. I’ve been a Simon Whitlock fan for a while now but you can’t ignore the lack of form he has this year. He hasn’t made a final of any kind and has only made two semi-finals in 2015 and he’s a much better player than that.
I know Whitlock is a big stage player but even he must be having doubts about his form right now and he doesn’t seem to be the ultra-strong finisher he was a couple of years ago and that really was what kept him apart from the rest.
Jelle Klaasen will never be consistent but the one thing he is at the minute is in great form. He won a tour event a couple of weeks ago, the second final he has reached in the last two months so the young Dutch star is clearly doing something right at the minute.
One thing I admire Klaasen for is he has found a few doubles which he can rely on hitting and he will do his best to leave them even if they are not the regular method for certain checkouts. Since he has done that results have improved for him and with the form and positive mind-set he carries into this week I think he’s the bet of the opening night.
Wright vs Huybrechts
If Klaasen is the bet of the opening night the match that follows it is the match of the first set of fixtures as Peter Wright takes on Kim Huybrechts in the tie of the round.
I’m fond of Huybrechts to go well in the tournament itself and if I hadn’t had a couple of quid each way on him outright I would probably back him here but I’m happy to sit back and watch this one with a glass of something cold and watch what should be a Blackpool blockbuster. If I was to recommend a bet it would be over 16.5 legs but there isn’t quite enough in the price to tempt me in.
Van Gerwen vs van de Pas
I am tempted with a bet in the third match of the evening which sees the world number one Michael van Gerwen in action. He takes on his countryman Benito van de Pas, a man who beat him in a European Tour event just a few weeks ago. In fact that was the second European Tour event he beat van Gerwen in so there is something about the Green Machine that gets the best out of van de Pas.
Saying all of that I would be surprised if van de Pas wins this match but he can certainly keep it competitive enough for us to see some 180s hit. Van Gerwen often hits them for fun in this place but when van de Pas gets that first dart sitting up in the top of the treble he knows how to follow it and given the line is fairly low at 8.5 with young Dutch players renowned to be heavy scorers I’ll take a bit of that.
Lewis vs Murnan
The final match of the night sees Adrian Lewis begin his quest for a first World Matchplay title. He takes on the debutant Joe Murnan who will be looking to capitalise on some great form in 2015 but the unknown Murnan has it all to do here. You would think he will be nervous and Lewis will look to feed on that. Lewis hasn’t been going great guns himself which puts me off taking him on any handicaps so it is just a watching brief in the last game for me too.
Back J.Klaasen to beat S.Whitlock for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betway
Back M.van Gerwen vs B.van de Pas – Over 8.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Boylesports
