The PDC World Darts Championship continues on Tuesday when we have two more sessions of play as the first round finishes and the second round continues inside Alexandra Palace, where crowds are still in place at the minute.
The action on Tuesday afternoon sees two of the dark horses for the tournament getting their campaign underway as well as a couple of promising youngsters looking to make a name for themselves on the big stage.
Lewy Williams vs Toyokazu Shibata
The opening match of the afternoon sees the promising Welsh talent of Lewy Williams making his World Championship debut against another man who is playing here for the first time in the form of the Japanese qualifier Toyokazu Shibata.
Usually the player who comes through that Japanese qualifier is of a decent standard so Williams will need to show some of the form which he has had with him on the floor events, which has been good enough to qualify him for this tournament. A lack of big stage experience would be a concern, although Shibata isn’t exactly full of it himself. The fact that he’s here over the likes of Seigo Asada and others is very much a positive and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him lay down a challenge here, but Williams is highly rated and if he’s as good as people think he’ll be he should still win this one.
Jason Lowe vs Daniel Larsson
The last of the first round matches to be played out sees Jason Lowe back on the stage he graced last year when Michael Smith was among his victims. He takes on Daniel Larsson for a shot at the former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa in the next round.
Lowe isn’t flashy but he is solid enough and could be hard to break through for a Larsson who has played 12 matches on the tour this year and only won one of them. Larsson can play and I would imagine he’ll have put plenty of work in for this but this match is all in the hands of Lowe. We saw him give Gerwyn Price a challenge in Minehead last month but missed doubles cost him there. Missed doubles are Larsson’s only chance here but whether they come or they don’t I’m happy to leave this one alone.
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.
Mervyn King vs Ryan Joyce
It is second round action all the way from here on in on Tuesday with Mervyn King looking to secure a return to the Palace after Christmas and a date with Steve Lennon when he goes up against Ryan Joyce, who had a solid win in the opening round.
King arrives here having started the year brilliantly with a run to the final of The Masters and along the way he recorded a 115 average at the World Series of Darts Finals but in recent TV events his form hasn’t been to the level we would expect from him so it will be interesting to see which King turns up here. Joyce has been to the last eight of this tournament before and showed at the Grand Slam that he can compete at this level. Missed doubles were costly for him at the Players Championship Finals and he wasn’t brilliant on them in the first round here. I think that will allow King to win this and do it with a little in hand.
Dave Chisnall vs Mike de Decker
The final match of the afternoon sees the former world finalist Dave Chisnall on show when he takes on a man who is already making the most of his second chance in the tournament in the shape of the Belgian player Mike de Decker.
Chisnall generally has a good record here and made it all the way to the last four here last year, which included that emphatic win over Michael van Gerwen in the quarter final, but his TV form recently has been patchy to say the least. He hasn’t gone deep in any event and in truth hasn’t played well on TV for a while. With the pressure that is on him in this match that is very much a concern. Whether de Decker is good enough to take advantage if Chisnall is sloppy here remains to be seen. He averaged less than 90 in beating Darius Labanauskas in the first round and if he does that here you’d think he’ll lose. I’d have looked to get involved in the 180s here if we knew Chisnall was going well but as we don’t I’ll leave this one alone.
Tips
Back M.King (-1.5 sets) to beat R.Joyce for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with William Hill
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
