We have reached the penultimate afternoon in the Icons of Darts event for this, the second week of the event, and with matches running out towards the overall league table, those in action will be keen to win as many matches as they can on Friday.
There was a lessening of the standard on Thursday but that added to the competitiveness of the thing and the drama and I certainly don’t see that changing on Friday regardless of what the standard is like.
The Format
Each day from Monday to Saturday five men will battle it out in a round robin group with the overall champion being determined on Saturday May 2. Matches will see the players compete over the best of 9 legs with each of them at home in front of a webcam throwing at their own individual dartboards. Scores can be found on Dart Connect and the tournament will be streamed on the bookmaker live streaming consoles and for free on Dartshop.tv.
Here’s how the @reddragondarts #IconsofDarts Live League table looks after Day Four ??? pic.twitter.com/GsnKFBEOTw
— MODUS Sports (@ModusDarts180) April 16, 2020
Thursday Recap
It was a win for Paul Nicholson on Thursday for the second time this week. He has had to go through some battles to get the job done but once again he won the title on leg difference with three wins from four matches. He edged out Jason Askew who has lost the group on leg difference two days in a row, a 5-1 loss in his final match against Robert Collins proving to be his downfall. Jarred Cole was third with a couple of wins while the Wednesday champion Arron Monk propped up the table.
Unfortunately for us Cole couldn’t find that third win which might have given him a shot at the overall standings on the afternoon but one of his two wins was against Rob Collins in his opening match, which at least earned us some profit on the day and got us heading in the right direction after a truly terrible beginning to the week.
Friday Line Up
It is Arron Monk who has a day off on Friday, which was probably needed after a disappointing day for the Hampshire ace on Thursday. He will be replaced in proceedings by his fellow Hampshire thrower Andy Jenkins, who comes back in looking to get over the line in a group for the first time. Jason Askew will be looking to go just a few legs better than he has in the last couple of days, while Paul Nicholson will once again be looking for the win which would be his third of the week. Jarred Cole completes the quintet.
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Outright Betting
This is possibly the tightest looking group of them all on paper as all five men could hold claims for winning the thing. The fact that Paul Nicholson has won two of the three groups he has competed in this week but isn’t the favourite says it all here. It also highlights how tightly he has won them by and to be fair Jason Askew has been remarkably consistent.
I don’t see anyone winning all four matches here, this looks a little too competitive for that, but taking someone to win the group is a tricky beast because of that. We have seen in the last two days the impact that one damaging defeat can have and the last thing I want after a week of struggle betting wise is to watch someone win three matches and get walloped in the other and lose out. My gut feel is that the 2/1 on Nicholson is a shade too big but it isn’t big enough to lure me in.
Match Betting
There is one match bet that I like on Friday. I was tempted to take Jarred Cole to beat Rob Collins for a second day in a row but after getting lucky with that on Thursday and Collins improving as the day goes on I’m not as confident with that I have to admit and therefore I am turning my attention to the penultimate match of the afternoon which sees Jason Askew taking on Andy Jenkins.
It is a match I expect Askew to win as well, and win with a bit in hand. This is the final match of the day for Jenkins and one thing I’ve noticed with him is he struggles to finish days off well. He has played in eight of these events now but he has only won his final match once and that is a long enough sphere to assume there is a reason for that. You could argue similar for Askew who has won just one of his three final matches but that is a shorter comparison and in two of the matches he’s averaged 97+. Indeed Askew has averaged at least 92 in his last seven matches over the previous two days whereas Jenkins has only cleared that barrier once in his last 10 outings. Averages aren’t everything over a short course but over those amount of occasions there is enough in there to tell me Askew can follow up 5-1 and 5-3 wins over Jenkins already this week with another 5-3 or better victory on Friday.
Tips
WON – Back J.Askew (-1.5 legs) to beat A.Jenkins for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back him here:
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