There are two sessions of first round action at the World Matchplay on Sunday and we begin with the early one which has been brought forward a little as eight more players get their campaign started inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
We saw all four seeds make it through to the second round on Saturday evening and four more will be looking to join them in the first session on Sunday. Four decent unseeded players will be looking to stop that from happening.
Ross Smith vs Josh Rock
We might have the pick of the afternoon matches first up on Sunday as the former European Championship winner Ross Smith takes on a European Tour winner from earlier in the season in the Northern Irish star Josh Rock.
These two men should arrive here in decent form. Ross Smith won the penultimate Players Championship event last week while Rock won a Players Championship event not too long ago so that should ensure that this is a good game. Rock is a feisty character who is sure to give this his all while Smith is a heavy scoring player who isn’t really fazed by a whole lot. They went the distance in their only previous meeting and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if this one is close too. I’m on Rock outright and I really like his chances if he can come through this one so I’m happy to have that as my interest here but those desperate for a bet in it should probably start with the 180s.
Danny Noppert vs James Wade
The second match of the afternoon sees the former champion and last man into the field in James Wade going up against the player who was representing the Netherlands at the World Cup a couple of weeks ago in Danny Noppert.
Noppert is the seeded player in this match and he’ll be expected to win it but Wade has a love affair with Blackpool having won this title in the past and given that he might have thought he wasn’t going to be here given how close he was to missing out, he might feel he is playing with some house money. Wade will need to play consistently well here because Noppert rarely drops his level but if he does that then you would imagine this will be a close match. Nothing is really jumping out here but interestingly Noppert has won five of their last six matches but having lost four of his last five his form isn’t really making me want to back him. I’ll sit this one out.
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Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Martin Schindler
The penultimate match of the first session of the day sees two European stars battling for a place in the second round when the former champion Dimitri Van den Bergh takes on the German rising star Martin Schindler for a shot at Jonny Clayton on Tuesday night.
This should be a good match because both men are having good years. Van den Bergh got himself back in among the higher echelons of the game when he won the UK Open in March while Schindler had a breakthrough in his career when he won on the European Tour earlier in the season. Both of these men are scoring well this season so this one might be settled on the doubles. I’m still not completely cut up on the German on the outer ring but there is no doubt that he is getting much better in that department. I think these two will be tough to split throughout the match and the even money on over 16.5 legs looks good to me in this one.
Stephen Bunting vs Ryan Joyce
The session concludes with what should be a good match between The Masters champion Stephen Bunting and a Ryan Joyce who is perfectly capable of challenging anyone in the game when he is on song.
Joyce made the semi-final of the latest Players Championship event which suggests that he is coming into form and he has made a final on the floor this season as well. Bunting probably won’t be completely happy with his results since he won The Masters but he has made a couple of European Tour semi-finals so I don’t think there is a huge amount wrong with his game ahead of what will be a big tournament for him with it being a home game for ‘The Bullet’. I expect Bunting to win this one but the better bet might lie in the 180 markets where the 3.5 line for Joyce is of interest to me. He is pigeonholed as a poor 180 hitter but when he plays well that isn’t the case. These two have recent history on the stage against each other having played at the World Championship where Bunting was brilliant and averaged 107 but in a bit of a beating Joyce hit three 180s in 12 legs in that match. You would imagine there will be more legs in this and this will be more competitive so the extra maximum shouldn’t be beyond ‘Relentless’.
Tips
Back D.Van den Bergh vs M.Schindler – Over 16.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back R.Joyce – Over 3.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Coral
