The evening session of the PDC World Darts Championship on Wednesday is another which contains four second round matches inside the Alexandra Palace as we head towars the break for Christmas later in the week.
On the face of it we have four competitive matches on show in this session and even though we lack the elite names taking to the stage, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see plenty of drama and tension with third round spots up for grabs.
Nathan Aspinall vs Joe Murnan
The opening match of the evening sees the former Premier League finalist Nathan Aspinall taking on the man who certainly won’t have endeared himself to the crowd after he took out Paul Lim in the first round. That man is Joe Murnan.
Surprisingly when you consider what the two have achieved in their careers to date, it is Murnan who has won their first two meetings but I would be very surprised if he makes that 3-0. I’m not really going to read a lot into his first match because he was clearly impacted by the crowd being against him but even if Murnan plays to the level he has all season he will have to find more to stay with Aspinall. If there is a concern over Aspinall it is missed doubles but they haven’t been as pronounced recently so this should be the comfortable win that the odds expect it to be.
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Boris Koltsov
The most entertaining match of the evening could well be the second one onto the stage when Dirk van Duijvenbode takes on the Russian qualifier Boris Koltsov, who has already despatched one Dutchman in this tournament and will be looking to see off another.
Van Duijvenbode is probably still remembered on this stage for busting 180 a few years ago but he has the draw to make a bit of a name for himself here, and although his form on the big stages hasn’t been brilliant recently, he’s a confident fella who loves to get embroiled in an emotional contest and he’s sure to get that here from the fired up Russian. Koltsov was very good in beating Jermaine Wattimena in the first round and if he has a slight improvement in him here then I think we’ll see a cracking contest. Van Duijvenbode is now one of the heaviest hitters in the PDC in terms of 180s while Koltsov had three of them in the first round and two more fell out of the 60 so assuming this one goes four or five sets I don’t think we’ll have any problems getting over 8.5 180s in.
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Kim Huybrechts vs Steve Beaton
The penultimate match of the evening sees the Belgian star Kim Huybrechts beginning his campaign. This was the match where he was expected to be facing Fallon Sherrock with a tour card on the line for the ‘Queen of the Palace’. Steve Beaton didn’t care much for that script though and it is he who will take on Huybrechts here.
To be fair to Beaton, if he has the same level with him here that he displayed against Sherrock in the first round then he is entitled to lay a real challenge down to Huybrechts, and potentially beat him. Huybrechts has been playing well recently though and if he settles on the stage then he will believe it can be he who will face Gerwyn Price in the next round after Christmas. My gut instinct tells me Beaton will be competitive here but the days where I trust him to be that are well behind us so I’ll leave this one alone.
Simon Whitlock vs Martijn Kleermaker
The final match of a busy evening of darts sees a former finalist on this stage beginning his quest to go one better when Simon Whitlock takes on the Dutch debutant Martijn Kleermaker, who came through a competitive first game against John Michael earlier in the week.
Whitlock is in the middle of a really rough trot. He has lost 10 of his last 15 matches in all competitions with three of the five he has won coming on the same day. I don’t really ever read much into Whitlock’s floor results as he has never been brilliant in those events but I do focus on his TV outings and he has been ordinary in them recently. He went down to Ryan Searle in the first round of the Players Championship Finals where he averaged less than 90 and was 25% on his doubles. Prior to that at the European Championship he averaged 87 in a first round defeat where he was only 21% on the doubles. Those missed doubles have become a theme of his game in the last year or two and that makes me think Kleermaker is well worth backing to pull off an upset, if you can call it that. Kleermaker isn’t the most reliable on his doubles either but with less pressure on him as the outsider and a win under his belt he looks a big price.
Tips
Back D.van Duijvenbode vs B.Koltsov – Over 8.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
Back it here:
Back M.Kleermaker to beat S.Whitlock for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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