We have had a look at the outright draw for the PDC World Championship which gets underway on Tuesday evening but before the first dart is thrown at Alexandra Palace there is just enough time to look at all the quarters individually, beginning with the first one.
This is the quarter of the draw where the world number one Michael van Gerwen will attempt to make the semi-finals from on what he hopes is his way to a fourth world title. There are some good players in the mix looking to deny him though.
Draw
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Ryan Murray/Lourence Ilagan
(32) Ricky Evans v Mickey Mansell/Haupai Puha
(16) Joe Cullen v Wayne Jones/Ciaran Teehan
(17) Jonny Clayton v John Henderson/Marko Kantele
(8) Dave Chisnall v Keegan Brown/Ryan Meikle
(25) Danny Noppert v Martijn Kleermaker/Cameron Carolissen
(9) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Luke Humphries/Paul Lim
(24) Jermaine Wattimena v Derk Telnekes/Nick Kenny
Preview
With 24 players in each quarter in this tournament we get a decent market forming for each so I’ve split the quarter in half to make it easier to work out the respective paths of the players. The red half is the top half of the draw and the green half is the bottom half. The quarter final will be the winner of the red section taking on the winner of the green section. In that red section Michael van Gerwen will be expected to get through although Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton could prove awkward opposition.
The more competitive section of the draw is the green part where the former world finalist Dave Chisnall and the World Matchplay winner Dimitri Van den Bergh are the main seeds. The Dutch pair of Jermaine Wattimena and Danny Noppert will look to keep them honest. Luke Humphries, Martijn Kleermaker and Nick Kenny have the scoring power to make life tough for the seeded players, assuming they can overcome their first round encounters.
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Betting
When you look at the red section of the draw it is hard to see Michael van Gerwen not making it through to the quarter final, although if he has a night where he misses doubles then it isn’t beyond all possibility that Jonny Clayton or someone takes care of him. I’d still be surprised if the three-time champion is not still in the tournament come 2021. At odds on though I’m happy to hope something happens to him and look for some value against him in the other half of the draw.
I believe the winner of the match between Dimitri Van den Bergh and Luke Humphries could go far in this tournament, assuming Humphries beats Paul Lim which I think he will for reasons I’ll explain more when those two meet. You can’t rule out Dave Chisnall with his scoring power but his finishing has been terrible in recent times. Humphries has made the last eight here in the last two years, knocking off Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Rob Cross in 2019 and Jermaine Wattimena and Kim Huybrechts were among his victims last year. There’s something about this tournament that seems to inspire Humphries and you could see him going deep if he overcomes Van den Bergh. Humphries is more than three times the price of Van den Bergh in this quarter but wouldn’t be a 3/1 shot in their respective match so I’ll take the 25/1 on Humphries coming through this quarter in the hope something happens to van Gerwen along the way.
Tips
Back L.Humphries to win 1st Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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