The big names really come out to play in the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday night as the tournament races towards the end of the second round at the Alexandra Palace in London.
There is a real feel that the pre-Christmas stuff was the sparring and now the action starts for real and three of the biggest players in the history of the game will be on the stage to showcase their stuff in what should be a blinding session of tungsten tossing.
Raymond Barneveld vs Alan Norris
Raymond Barneveld: Round 1 beat Robbie Green 3-0 – Ave: 98.45 180s: 3
Alan Norris: Round 1 beat John Michael 3-2 – Ave: 91.61 180s: 4
Head to Head 3-0
The evening session begins with what looks like an entertaining match between the five time world champion Raymond Barneveld and the quarter finalist from last year Alan Norris. The winner of this match will face Adrian Lewis on Wednesday night.
I was really impressed by Raymond Barneveld in the first round. He had a tricky looking draw so he had to be on it mentally as well as in his skill set and he was. He was emphatic in a convincing win over a solid opponent. That was a contrast to Alan Norris who struggled in the early stages of his match with John Michael albeit the Greek produced a wonderful first set.
The big issue with Norris going into this match is his checkout percentage. I’ve noticed a trend with him in the big events recently that he is missing far too many doubles and a 28.95% finishing rate in the first round confirmed that.
If that was a freak or a rarity I could let it pass but it isn’t and you can’t miss those sorts of doubles against Barneveld. For that reason I fancy a comfortable win for the Dutchman here.
Phil Taylor vs Kevin Painter
Phil Taylor: Round 1 beat David Platt 3-0 – Ave: 101.93 180s: 3
Kevin Painter: Round 1 beat Jamie Caven 3-1 – Ave: 85.13 180s: 4
Head to Head: 31-1
You won’t see many more emphatic head to heads than this one. Kevin Painter won the first meeting between these two but has lost the 31 matches since then including the 2004 World Championship final which I’m sure will get plenty of mentions in the lead up to this match.
It is hard to see Kevin Painter changing that here either. Admittedly the first round match was huge for him but he was pretty wretched throughout it and wouldn’t have beaten many opponents the way he played. I fully expect him to be better here but the problem is the amount of improvement he has to find.
I expect Taylor to win this and if I was going to bet I’d probably go with 4-0 but it isn’t really a bet I’m racing to take so I’ll sit this one out.
Michael van Gerwen vs Cristo Reyes
Michael van Gerwen: Round 1 beat Kim Viljanen 3-0 – Ave: 103.34 180s: 5
Cristo Reyes: Round 1 beat Dimitri van den Bergh 3-2 – Ave: 95.54 180s: 4
Head to Head: 2-1
The fact Cristo Reyes has beaten Michael van Gerwen in the past might mean that the final match of the day ends up being better than it looks on paper but in reality it will be the biggest shock in World Championship history if the Spaniard wins this one.
Michael van Gerwen wasn’t his brilliant best in the first round but at no stage did he ever need to be and that might be the case here too. Cristo Reyes had to pull out all the stops to come through and we’ve seen him trouble Gary Anderson on this stage before which is enough to put me off taking a chance on a handicap so I’ll sit this final match out.
Tips
WON – Back R.Barneveld (-2.5 sets) to beat A.Norris for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
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