The penultimate day of action at the PDC World Darts Championship prior to Christmas takes place on Wednesday and it does so with a double header of sessions beginning in the afternoon where some dark horses take to the stage looking to book a third round spot.
I think it is fair to say that the tournament went up a notch on Tuesday now that the first round is done and dusted and there is no reason to expect any different on what looks like a decent afternoon of darts on Wednesday.
Ryan Searle vs William Borland
The opening match of the afternoon sees the recent Players Championship Finals finalist Ryan Searle beginning his quest for the world title when he takes on the man who broke social media with his epic nine dart finish in the first round in William Borland.
That deciding leg was one of the most epic things you’ll ever see in darts and now the Scot has to attempt to back up that performance. He won’t have had a lot of time on the practice board given all the attention he has rightly had since then so that would be a concern. I’m also not convinced the huge finishes he took out to keep in front of Bradley Brooks will be repeated here. Borland isn’t without a chance here though because Searle can be absolutely horrendous on his doubles in the early stages of a tournament so if Borland can average close to the near 95 average he posted in the first round he could well win this. I hope he doesn’t though because I’m on Searle to win this quarter so I am hoping he makes progress.
Glen Durrant vs William O’Connor
I have to say this second match of the afternoon is one I’ve not been looking forward to as I’m a huge Glen Durrant fan but he has been pretty hard to watch of late. He’ll look to put all his struggles behind him when he meets William O’Connor, who came through a cracking match against Dan Lauby in the first round.
If you watch darts regularly you will have seen the struggles that Durrant is going through on the oche. It isn’t nice to watch anyone struggle like he is at the minute, least of all a likeable bloke who has dined at the very top tables in the game. He is struggling though and while I really hope the Teesider turns up and averages 95 and wins, 2021 as a whole would tell us that is unlikely. O’Connor played very well in that opening match with Lauby. He slammed in seven 180s and a 96 average and a repeat of that should see off Durrant here. Duzza has won just one of his last 28 matches and that run would tell us he’s unlikely to win many legs here so the O’Connor match treble at odds against looks worth a bet. It is likely to be 11/10 he gets the highest checkout.
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Luke Humphries vs Rowby-John Rodriguez
The most entertaining match of the afternoon is likely to be the third match onto the stage when the UK Open finalist Luke Humphries takes on the man who made it to the final of the World Cup alongside Mensur Suljovic in Rowby-John Rodriguez.
The Austrian was one of the best players in the first round and if he can repeat his 97 average here he will be a problem for Humphries. To be fair to the former world youth champion, Humphries has a pretty decent record on this stage so you would think he would be more than up for the challenge. The issue here could be missed doubles, of which Humphries can be guilty of providing. That cost him badly in a defeat to Paul Lim here last year and he won’t be able to afford them with the way RJR is playing. There is a case to be made for Rodriguez being value and if the O’Connor match treble has landed I might well get involved in him but I’m happy to leave it for now.
Joe Cullen vs Jim Williams
One of the better looking second round matches concludes the afternoon session when Joe Cullen takes on Jim Williams in a quarter which is beginning to open up after the demise of Dimitri Van den Bergh on Tuesday evening.
Cullen was last seen on this stage pushing Michael van Gerwen all the way and while his early record on this stage was pitiful he’ll be hoping that his run here last year put all that to bed. In the main Cullen has played well this year and he looks a worthy favourite to win here. Williams did well to see off Ted Evetts in the first round but his performance wasn’t the best. He’ll probably relax a bit here and improve naturally but he keeps talking about having other things going on away from darts and I never like to hear that, especially in a tournament like this. Nevertheless, if he’s on it or if Cullen misses doubles, Williams has the class to hang around here so I think the best bet is to take the even money on Cullen hitting more than 4.5 180s. He hits a lot of 180s these days, so much so that in a 5-0 win over John Henderson at the Grand Slam last month he hit four in those five legs. He also hit six in 12 legs in the first round here last year against Wayne Jones in a match he won 3-0. That means we don’t need Williams to be competitive for this to land but if he happens to be then the chances of it landing is even better. I’ll take the over.
Tips
Back W.O’Connor to win, most 180s and highest checkout vs G.Durrant for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back J.Cullen – Over 4.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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