The second day of action at the PDC World Championship sees two sessions of play taking place at Alexandra Palace with the darts beginning in the afternoon at the London venue and continuing in the evening.
The schedule for the afternoon is identical to the one we had on Wednesday evening with three first round matches to open up the session before it concludes with one game from the second round. With a world champion and a former Premier League player on show there should be a decent quality.
Steve Lennon vs Madars Razma
The afternoon begins with two men who are used to this particular stage meeting when Steve Lennon takes on Madars Razma in a match which probably pits two men who should have achieved more than they have against each other.
These two are very much steady rather than spectacular. Lennon is consistent and doesn’t do an awful lot wrong but can often lack an extra gear to separate himself from the rest. Razma is less consistent and when he’s good he’s very good but when he isn’t quite at those levels he can be something of a sitting duck. Other than a close contest I’m not sure what to expect with this one so I’m pretty happily to leave it alone.
Scott Mitchell vs Chris Landman
The second match of the afternoon sees two men who have had most of their success in the BDO colliding when the former Lakeside champion Scott Mitchell takes on the Dutch qualifier Chris Landman for the right to face Ian White in the second round.
Landman was always a consistent performer on the BDO scene and was a quarter finalist in the last World Championship that organisation delivered, losing to the eventual winner Wayne Warren, but I always thought he got where he did based on the volume of events he played rather than anything else. There is no doubt Mitchell achieved more in the BDO and he has begun his PDC career in the right direction too. His 93.31 average for the year is more than competitive at this level and if he plays to type he should have few issues coming through here.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Chas Barstow vs John Norman Jr
The last of the first round matches in the afternoon session sees two men with a big opportunity in front of them when Chas Barstow takes on the second Canadian player to grace the stage in the tournament already in John Norman Jr. A clash with the former champion Michael van Gerwen awaits the winner.
Barstow has done very well to qualify for this event through the Players Championship series because he doesn’t have a tour card but he made full use of the opportunities he got when card holders didn’t appear at those events and here he is. He has had the luxury of playing the Challenge Tour and the Online Live League in between those tournaments so he should be in a decent groove. Norman Jr is here courtesy of topping the Canadian tour where he won two titles on his way to that success. When you look through his outings on that tour he has averaged in the high 80s which is no mean effort over 20 odd games so he’s entitled to lay it down to Barstow. Both these men are debutants in the tournament though and the prize in front of them is a huge one so I would expect some nerves in this one which might skew natural logic a little too much to justify having a betting interest.
Daryl Gurney vs Ricky Evans
The one second round match in the session sees the former World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney going up against a Ricky Evans who has already come through one match in the tournament and will be looking to ensure his participation in the event after Christmas.
This hasn’t been the best year in the career of Daryl Gurney but his run to the quarter finals of the Players Championship offers up hope that he is coming to the boil at the right time from his point of view. He might need to play well here because Evans played well in the opening round on Wednesday evening, hitting four 180s and averaging 96 with a couple of eye catching checkouts. If ‘Rapid Ricky’ repeats that display he’ll be a tough nut to crack but hopefully he struggles a little more as I’m on Gurney for his quarter and a win here would get him into the tournament. I’ll sit this one out because there isn’t a huge amount of value to be had anywhere.
Tips
Back S.Mitchell (-1.5 sets) to beat C.Landman for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
