The first day of the International Darts Open on Friday saw the qualifiers battle it out to meet the seeds on Saturday and that is the stage of the tournament we will begin our match betting at.
There were scheduled to be 16 matches on the card on Saturday but the withdrawals of Michael van Gerwen and Daryl Gurney means we are down to just 14 with six in the afternoon session and eight in the evening.
Afternoon Session
Ian White and Jim Walker start things off in the last 32 before one of the matches of the round when Stephen Bunting takes on Robbie Green in a re-run of a Lakeside semi-final of a few years ago. Mensur Suljovic then begins his campaign against a local qualifier Mike Holz.
Alan Norris is seeded in one of these events for a rare occasion and he’ll be looking to justify that seeding when he faces Andy Boulton before two strugglers Robert Thornton and Ronny Huybrechts collide. The session is rounded off with Gerwyn Price taking on Dragutin Horvat.
Evening Session
The big names come out to play in the evening with Benito van de Pas taking on Kyle Anderson before Terry Jenkins plays Darren Webster. Michael Smith begins his title defence against James Wilson and Dave Chisnall plays Jermaine Wattimena.
The last four matches all look like crackers on paper with Jelle Klaasen facing the talented Chris Dobey which is followed by Peter Wright against Steve West. Simon Whitlock plays Devon Petersen in the penultimate match of the night and the round concludes with Kim Huybrechts facing Joe Cullen.
Betting
I’m going to take a couple of bets in this round of matches although there isn’t anything in the afternoon which takes my fancy. If I was to take anything I would chance Ronny Huybrechts against a struggling Robert Thornton but the Belgian isn’t exactly pulling up trees either so I’ll leave my betting until the evening.
The first bet comes in the form of Kyle Anderson. I’ve taken him outright so it is kind of risky taking him here but I do expect big things from him this week. We saw him run Michael van Gerwen close on a couple of occasions in Australia recently and that is a decent form guide.
I like Benito van de Pas and he has been in good form recently but I’m never sure about him as a favourite and that is the position he is in here. Anderson has Friday’s win under his belt and good momentum coming into the match and at odds against he is too big to ignore.
The other bet comes in the final match of the evening when Kim Huybrechts takes on Joe Cullen. Huybrechts is a class act but Cullen is in great form and playing really well right now so I’m going to side with him.
Cullen averaged a shade under 99 in his win on Friday and that is the sort of form which has taken him to a couple of finals in the last three months and a semi-final just four weeks ago. Huybrechts has made a few semi-finals in that time too but he can blow hot and cold at the best of times. We know how well Cullen is playing from Friday and a repeat of that gives him every chance here.
Tips
Back K.Anderson to beat B.van de Pas for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Cullen to beat K.Huybrechts for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Bet365
Back him here:
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