One of the best things about the PDC World Darts Championship is that with 72 runners each quarter of the draw has enough players in it to form competitive quarter markets and bets around that which we can get stuck into ahead of the event.
In this preview we will focus on the top quarter where the standout names include Michael van Gerwen, Raymond Barneveld and Dave Chisnall in what should be a strong part of the draw.
Draw
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Christian Kist
(32) James Wilson v Krzysztof Ratajski
(16) Gerwyn Price v Ted Evetts
(17) Ian White v Willard Bruguier/Cody Harris
—————————————————————-
(8) Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
(25) Steve Beaton v William O’Connor
(9) Raymond van Barneveld v Richard North
(24) Kyle Anderson v Peter Jacques
Preview
You would think it is unlikely that Michael van Gerwen is unlikely to be beaten before the quarter final if he is beaten in this quarter at all. Neither Christian Kist nor James Wilson or even Gerwyn Price or Ian White are likely to trouble him too much. He does have a very nice draw up until the quarter final.
The other half of the quarter looks much more competitive. Dave Chisnall, Raymond Barneveld and Kyle Anderson are all used to the big stage and we shouldn’t forget that Steve Beaton is a former world champion who still possesses quality on his day. This half of the quarter should throw up some juicy matches.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
I don’t think Raymond Barneveld is a certainty to make the quarter finals but I would make him a heavy favourite to do so. It is very rare that he is not prepared for this tournament and I’ve mentioned many times in the past that I believe set play suits him a lot better now.
Barneveld has a win over van Gerwen in this tournament in the past and were they to meet in the quarter final he would be significantly shorter than 12/1 to beat him. With that in mind a small punt on the Dutch legend to upset the current star may yield dividends.
Tips
Back R.Barneveld to win 1st Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
