The opening day of the Champions League of Darts sees the first two rounds of group matches being played on what should be a high quality day of darts in Brighton. The best eight players on the globe will be showcasing their talents for us and keeping us fully entertained.
The afternoon session matches have been pre-determined with the evening featuring the winners from the afternoon against each other and the losers facing off too. Time restrictions will mean we are unable to preview the evening session but we’ll have a look at the afternoon four now.
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Rob Cross vs Mensur Suljovic
It is the world champion against the defending champion to open up the tournament in Group B when Rob Cross makes his debut in this tournament when he takes on Mensur Suljovic in what looks like a tasty opener.
We saw in London at the turn of the year just how good Cross can be but it is fair to say he has gone a little quiet since then, especially in the stage events and he comes in here with a lot of question marks. He won’t lack for support with this being just down the road though. Suljovic has kicked on again since winning this. He has won three tournaments, two of them European Tour events on the stage, and made the final of the World Matchplay where he played unbelievable darts.
Cross leads the head to head between these two 5-3 but four of his wins came last year when he was fully surging. Suljovic has won three of their four meetings this year, all of which have been on the stage. Suljovic arrives here in tip top form and he’s grand value to get his title defence off to a winning start.
Peter Wright vs Simon Whitlock
The other match in the opening games in Group B sees Peter Wright taking on Simon Whitlock with both men likely to be desperate for the win to give themselves a little bit of wriggle room later in the group phase.
Wright is in one of his all or nothing phases at the minute which is a concern for his followers. Whitlock on the other hand should be full of confidence after making the final of the European Tour event last weekend but the days where I’m happy to trust Whitlock are long gone. That is especially the case here with the pair having met six times in 2018 already with Wright winning five and drawing the other. Wright is too short and Whitlock isn’t for me so I’ll sit this out easily enough.
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Gary Anderson vs Daryl Gurney
The first match in Group A sees the World Matchplay champion taking on the man who defends his World Grand Prix title next week as Gary Anderson faces up to Daryl Gurney in what should be a heavy scoring tussle.
Anderson has the better of things against Gurney but he only leads 8-7 overall in their careers and Gurney has three wins and a draw from the last five, all of which were on the stage, so Anderson would be wise not to underestimate his foe here.
Generally when these two meet there are plenty of 180s and I expect no different here. With Michael van Gerwen looming large for the pair they will know losing this one makes life extremely difficult so I’m expecting a competitive and high scoring contest. With that in mind over 9.5 180s is a bet that interests me.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Dave Chisnall
In terms of the world rankings we have to wait until the last match of the afternoon to see the best in the game in action as Michael van Gerwen faces Dave Chisnall to round off the opening session of the tournament.
MVG must have loved it when this match came out first for him. He holds a 41-9 winning record over Chisnall and you have to go back some 21 meetings for the last time the Englishman won a match against the Dutchman. He has picked up a draw in that time but he has had a series of heavy beatings to endure too.
If van Gerwen was in blinding form I would probably take him on a handicap here but we saw him lose without hitting top form against Jeffrey de Zwaan at the World Matchplay while William O’Connor dumped him out in his latest European Tour outing. MVG could be vulnerable but with the amount of beatings Chisnall has taken from him he might not be the man to take advantage. This is a true meaning of the term watching brief to me.
Tips
WON – Back M.Suljovic to beat R.Cross for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back G.Anderson vs D.Gurney – Over 9.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Boylesports
Back it here:
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