The evening session at the PDC World Darts Championship on Saturday night offers up a very tasty schedule as eight more players take to the Alexandra Palace stage looking to make progress in the biggest tournament of the year.
This is the session where we see Michael van Gerwen begin his quest for another world title. He competes in the one second round clash in the evening but prior to that three more first round games will take place.
Adam Hunt vs Boris Krcmar
The first match up onto the stage looks a fairly level one as Adam Hunt takes on Boris Krcmar in a battle between two men who occasionally pick up results on the circuit but aren’t likely to threaten a deep run too often. The winner here will meet Vincent van der Voort in the second round.
Hunt came through a couple of rounds here last year before he was demolished by Dirk van Duijvenbode in the third round but 2021 hasn’t been particularly kind to ‘The Hunter’. He hasn’t had many runs in events at all this year and his 88.88 yearly average isn’t going to pull up any trees. To be fair to Krcmar, while he has disappointed in events like the European Championship and the Grand Slam this year, he tends to get results against those around him in the rankings as well as in the qualifying events so I think he is probably the most likely winner here but the odds don’t really interest me in this one.
Ted Evetts vs Jim Williams
The second match of the night sees the new World Youth champion Ted Evetts back on the Alexandra Palace stage to take on a man who will be appearing on it for the first time in Jim Williams, who despite this being his debut certainly isn’t inexperienced on the big stage.
Evetts elevated his status when he won the youth title last month but he has previous on this stage and not good memories either as he was beaten by Fallon Sherrock here. That isn’t a terrible result by any means but he didn’t play great that night and if that encounter is in his head it wouldn’t be a surprise if he struggles again. Evetts has landed a nasty draw here because Williams is a former world finalist in the BDO and put up a creditable showing at the Grand Slam last month. He has also been playing in the Darts Live League so he is more active than a lot of these qualifiers and he has a real top level game, as he has shown on the Challenge Tour this season. I think Williams has the class to edge out an Evetts who might need more gears to be a regular feature at this level.
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Rowby-John Rodriguez vs Nick Kenny
The last of the first round matches sees the Austrian World Cup star Rowby-John Rodriguez taking on the Welsh qualifier Nick Kenny with a date against the exciting Luke Humphries the reward that is on offer for the winner.
Rodriguez has come alive a little since the World Cup where he partnered Mensur Suljovic to the final. That qualified him for the Grand Slam where he came through his group which included Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey as well as Ryan Joyce. He didn’t offer anything against James Wade in the last 16 there which will have disappointed him and then he lost to Danny Noppert in the Players Championship Finals, although the Dutchman averaged over 100 against him. Kenny never qualified for that tournament which highlights the year he’s had and although he came through the qualifier for this nicely enough there should be a gulf in class between Rodriguez and Kenny. Kenny can score well but his finishing leaves a bit to be desired. That is the area of the game Rodriguez can open up a gap and win with a bit in hand.
Michael van Gerwen vs Chas Barstow
The final match of the night comes in the second round where the former champion Michael van Gerwen starts out on another title quest. He takes on a player who doesn’t currently have a tour card in Chas Barstow, who has done brilliantly to get this far.
Barstow not only did well enough in the Players Championship events he was invited to in order to get here, but he had a very comfortable win over John Norman Jr in the first round. He now gets what is basically a free shot at van Gerwen here with absolutely nothing to lose. The pressure is all on MVG in this match but that isn’t an alien position to the ‘Green Machine’. He is under pressure whenever he steps on the oche. Those expecting van Gerwen to dominate this match might want to consider that MVG has dropped a set in his last four opening matches here and Barstow is good enough to take advantage of any chances he is given. I’d expect MVG to win but at the prices I’m happy to let that happen.
Tips
Back J.Williams to beat T.Evetts for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
Back him here:
Back R-J.Rodriguez (-1.5 sets) to beat N.Kenny for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
Back him here:
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