The last day of darts for 2021 takes place on Thursday and we have another double session of action at the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, as we complete the line up for the quarter finals to kick off 2022.
The first of the two sessions comes along in a very competitive afternoon session where I think it is fair to say six players who maybe weren’t expected to make the last eight will all be on show looking to get their hands on the £50,000 bounty that comes with a spot in the quarter final.
Raymond Smith vs Mervyn King
The opening match of the day sees the sole remaining Australian in the tournament in Raymond Smith in action against the oldest man left in the field in the form of Mervyn King, with both men sensing a huge chance to go much deeper in this tournament.
These two men are in the open quarter of the draw with the winner facing either James Wade or Martijn Kleermaker in the last eight. Both players have been impressive in this tournament, especially Smith who has averaged more than 93 in each of his three wins. You could argue the draw has opened up for him but he would have been competitive with those darts even if it hadn’t. King has won seven sets on the bounce since he went 2-0 down to Ryan Joyce in the second round and although he hasn’t been at his brilliant best in all of them, he has shown signs of his best form. I hope this is a close match but the one thing putting me off backing it to be is that Smith earns a tour card with a win here and we’ve seen many a player fold under that burden. That makes me think King might win with a bit in hand but I respect Smith enough and if he does turn up a handicap might not land. Better bets come later in the day.
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Alan Soutar vs Callan Rydz
Two men who slayed mini giants of the sport on Wednesday meet in the second match of the day when Alan Soutar, who took care of Jose de Sousa in the previous round, faces the rising star Callan Rydz, who blitzed Nathan Aspinall 24 hours ago.
These two men won’t need telling this is a huge chance for one of them to make a world quarter final and have a free shot at Ryan Searle or Peter Wright on Saturday. Whoever wins here is going to do wonders for their ranking so there is plenty at stake here but I think there is less pressure on Rydz even though he’s the favourite here. These chances will come again for Rydz in the future but whether they will for Soutar is less certain. You would have to say that without any disrespect to the Scot, he has ridden his luck in all three matches so far. He has had to come through a deciding set in all of them and had to dodge eight match darts from Mensur Suljovic in the second round and another from de Sousa on Wednesday. Credit to him for digging in and winning those games but he averaged 90.92 and 88.54 in them and that level isn’t getting the job done in this event from here on in. Contrast that with Rydz who is yet to drop a set and who has averaged 102.73 and 98.35 in his last two matches and there looks to be only one winner here. Rydz is no price though but you can bump his price up to even money if you backing him to win and hit the most 180s. Soutar has registered 180 totals of four, four and five in his three matches so far – or 13 in 17 sets, one of which was extended. Rydz has 17 in 10 sets. That even money shot looks secure here.
Chris Dobey vs Luke Humphries
The final match of the afternoon session was expected to be Michael van Gerwen vs Dave Chisnall but with Covid-19 catching both of those out it is the two men who gained byes as a result who close out the afternoon when Chris Dobey meets Luke Humphries.
You can’t bet as confidently on this match as the others because neither of them have played for a week or more and they’ve only played once in the tournament so their form is going to be camouflaged slightly, however there is no doubt that Humphries was much the more impressive of the two in the second round, dispatching of Rowby-John Rodriguez in straight sets with a 97 average at seemingly no fuss at all. Dobey found himself 2-0 down to Rusty-Jake Rodriguez before outlasting him but his 92.68 average was at its highest at the end of the match. Dobey has been finding weird ways to lose matches this year – he lost a best of 11 at the Players Championship Finals to William O’Connor despite hitting 10 180s and he should really have lost in the second round here. Humphries has a good record here and oozed confidence in the second round. Based on that he looks the likely winner here.
Tips
Back C.Rydz to win and hit most 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back L.Humphries to beat C.Dobey for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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