We have another two sessions of action at the PDC World Darts Championship on Wednesday. They begin in the afternoon when another three first round matches take place with two TV tournament winners and another two former finalists in majors taking to the stage.
There is a sense that this tournament has elevated in quality since the return from the Christmas break and the three matches that will be on the stage in this session should ensure the standard remains extremely high.
Jose de Sousa vs Alan Soutar
The opening match of the afternoon sees the former Grand Slam of Darts winner Jose de Sousa looking to make it into the last 16 of the tournament when he takes on the Scottish player Alan Soutar in a good looking tussle to get us underway.
Both these men came from the dead to secure their spot in this third round. De Sousa found himself two sets down to Jason Lowe and seemingly heading out of the tournament before coming good at the right time to come back and win. Soutar was even closer to going out as he had to survive eight match darts from Mensur Suljovic before he finally outlasted the Austrian in what turned into a real dramatic contest. I guess you could say the winner of this one will be the player who settles down earliest as there is a chance they could be away and gone before the other gets into the encounter. I suspect based on big stage experience that will be de Sousa but I’ve no real interest in betting in this one either way.
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Dave Chisnall vs Luke Humphries
The second match of the afternoon looks like it could be something of a classic between two former TV finalists as Dave Chisnall takes on Luke Humphries in a clash which promises to be full of high scoring and excitement.
These two will know that potential last 16 opponent Michael van Gerwen has bitten the dust and all of a sudden a pathway to go very deep in the tournament has opened up for whoever can come through here. That might add a bit of pressure and tension to both players throughout this contest. Bookmakers can’t split them and I think that is entirely fair enough but you’d have to be mad to trust either of these on the doubling and if you back either they are likely to guarantee you a heart attack. I can’t get that performance from Chisnall in the quarter final last year out of my head so if I had to pull the trigger I’d back the St Helens man but this is one to sit back and enjoy the excitement, tension and drama this is sure to provide.
Nathan Aspinall vs Callan Rydz
The final match of the afternoon sees the former semi-finalist in this tournament in Nathan Aspinall taking on the rising star Callan Rydz, who has come through the opening two rounds of the tournament without dropping a set.
Rydz hasn’t just come through without losing a set but against Brendan Dolan in the second round he averaged over 100 for his performance, barely missing a double that counted and then unleashing a barrage of heavy scoring on him the longer the match went on. That certainly wasn’t how the second round worked out for Aspinall who looked like he was heading out when he was 2-1 down to a Joe Murnan who wasn’t doing a lot wrong but wasn’t pulling up many trees at the same time. To be fair to Aspinall he banged in eight 180s overall and averaged a shade over 93 in getting the job done but I sense he has to up it to win this. The concern with that is that you only had to look at all that tape on the arm of Aspinall to know he is playing injured and over this length of time that has to be a disadvantage. He won’t give in or anything like that – this is the World Championship so why would he? But Rydz is fit, he is such a rising star in the game and he walloped Aspinall 7-2 in a floor semi-final back in February. I doubt Rydz wins this as comfortably as that but over seven sets I do think he’ll get his man.
Tips
Back C.Rydz to beat N.Aspinall for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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