The second session of the PDC World Darts Championship on Monday evening sees three genuine title challengers back on the stage at Alexandra Palace on a night where the tournament elevates itself to the huge event it is.
It has been almost two weeks since Gerwyn Price began his title defence but he will be back on the stage in this session and along with James Wade and Jonny Clayton, he should ensure the quality throughout the evening is very high.
James Wade vs Vincent van der Voort
The opening match of the night comes in the second quarter, which is beginning to look quite open now that Dimitri Van den Bergh and Krzysztof Ratajski have been dismissed from it. That means whoever comes out on top between James Wade and Vincent van der Voort could be the favourite to reach the semi-final of the event.
Wade dominates the head to head against the Dutchman, leading it 9-4 but van der Voort has won the last two matches and knows that his English opponent has a very ordinary record here. Usually when Wade beats van der Voort he does so because he finishes better than Vincent and it might be that happens again here but there have been times this season where Wade has been let down on the doubles and that has to be a concern when you consider he openly doesn’t exactly enjoy it here. I hope van der Voort wins this because I’m on him for the quarter and it is game on if he comes through this. While I wouldn’t put anyone off backing him to win this match at a more than fair price, I don’t need to get involved.
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Gerwyn Price vs Kim Huybrechts
The second match of the night is the one where the defending champion Gerwyn Price continues his title defence when he takes on the Belgian ace Kim Huybrechts, who has shown much better form over the last three or so months than he has for a while.
Price was solid enough in the first round without being spectacular but I think it is fair to say he’ll need to up his game in this encounter and certainly moving forward if he has aims of defending his title successfully. The fact he hasn’t played for 12 days is more than a concern to me. It might be that Price still wins this match but I think he’ll be challenged in it. I was a little worried for Huybrechts during his second round win over Steve Beaton but he explained a load of issues he had in the lead up to that match which made his below par performance make sense. I think Huybrechts will perform much better here. He tends to enjoy the biggest stages against the best players so I think he’ll put it to Price in this match. Whether that is enough to win or not I don’t know but I think he can get to two sets before he is beaten, if he is beaten.
Jonny Clayton vs Gabriel Clemens
The final match of the first day back after the Christmas break sees the World Grand Prix, Premier League and copious other events winner Jonny Clayton going up against the German number one Gabriel Clemens for a place in the last 16.
Clayton looked like he was in a spot of bother in the second round against Keane Barry but then he put together a devastating six-leg burst which would have beaten anyone in the game to remind everyone that he is a major contender for this title. Clemens was only average in his second round game and might have been in trouble had Lewy Williams pinned the doubles anything like we know he can. Clayton has won all seven meetings between these two men in the past if you include their meeting in the Home Tour and only once has Clemens gone to a deciding leg. I expect Clayton to dominate this one and win it no worse than 4-1.
Tips
Back K.Huybrechts (+2.5 sets) to beat G.Price for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Clayton (-2.5 sets) to beat G.Clemens for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betway
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