The BDO World Championship continues on Sunday with six more matches in the men’s event and a couple in the women’s tournament.
Shocks were few and far between on the opening day of action at the Lakeside but Darryl Fitton bit the dust in the male draw and there was a huge shock in the women’s event as the former champion Anastasia Dobromyslova was sensationally beaten.
The main star in action on Sunday is the defending men’s champion Scott Mitchell. He takes on Craig Caldwell of New Zealand in the first round with the Kiwi man having a slight advantage in that he came through a preliminary round match on Saturday so will be acclimatised to conditions and should settle quite quickly.
Mitchell loved life on this stage last year but I sense a bit of trepidation around him this year. That is understandable. He’s defending the most prestigious title in the game of darts and doing it for the first time but Mitchell no longer lacks for confidence and while he might be pushed here I fancy him to get the job done. I don’t see an angle in from a betting point of view though.
I do see one in the next match though which is the preliminary round match between Sam Hewson and Peter Sajwani. Sajwani pleased many on this stage 12 months ago when he came through the prelim game and then took care of the number one seed James Wilson but he was taught a lesson in the second round.
Sam Hewson played here 12 months ago and lost a deciding set classic to Scott Waites. He has been given a bit of a lifeline into this event as Vladimir Andersen of Denmark was meant to be in this match only to be suspended by his darts union.
Andersen’s loss is Hewson’s gain and if he can play anything like he did against Waites last year I think he has every chance in this match. Sajwani is hot and cold and often both in the same leg let alone match so the more consistent Hewson can get this one done.
The rest of the matches on the second day offer little interest from a betting point of view. I’d be interested to see how Ted Hankey goes against Dave Cameron and the same with Scott Waites against Willem Mandigers but neither favourite offers enough certainty to get stuck into handicaps.
My gut feeling is that Darren Peetoom will come past his Greek opponent Kostas Pantelidis but both are debutants at this level and I don’t need to get involved in that. Although I expect Darius Labanauskas to win he’s a little short.
There isn’t much value to be had in the women’s draw on Sunday either. Fallon Sherrock and Trina Gulliver should both come through but they are both priced accordingly.
Back S.Hewson (-1.5 sets) to beat P.Sajwani for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Titanbet
