The evening session in the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday looks an absolute belter as the third round of the tournament continues with the top two players in the world on show as well as a very good support cast.
You often get one of those sessions at Alexandra Palace which looks an absolute belter and this is very much one of those as Gerwyn Price and the defending champion Peter Wright look to make it into the last 16.
Jim Williams vs Gabriel Clemens
There were just three unseeded players remaining in the tournament at the start of play on Tuesday and one of those opens up the evening when the former world finalist Jim Williams takes on the German star Gabriel Clemens for a place in the last 16.
This is a big opportunity for two men outside the top 20 in the world to make it into the last 16 where the money begins to get extremely significant from a ranking point of view. Williams looked very good in taking care of James Wade in the previous round. While Wade didn’t turn up, Williams never let his standards drop to give Wade a way back into the match and that will please him. To be fair, Clemens produced one of his best stage performances in a while if not ever to defeat William O’Connor in the second round and a repeat of that will have him in very good stead here. I just don’t believe that repeat will come, particularly on the clutch finishing which is often his downfall. This is entitled to be a close match but the fact that Williams has come through two deciders might well benefit the Welshman. I would back him to be the better in the clutch moments and at odds against he is the bet here.
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Gerwyn Price vs Raymond van Barneveld
The pick of the matches on the first day back after Christmas is the second one in the evening where the world number one Gerwyn Price takes on the man who beat him twice at the Grand Slam of Darts last month in Raymond van Barneveld.
Those wins over Price really add an edge to this match. I don’t necessarily think they will make much of a difference to what we see other than Barneveld, a man who relies on fragile confidence, knows he has the beating of his man. I suspect those defeats will only motivate Price further but he won’t need me to tell him he needs to be a lot better than he was in the second round against Luke Woodhouse but at the same time with the longer format and an opponent who is top class it would be a surprise if Price isn’t right on his game. Barneveld showed at the Grand Slam that he can still operate at this level and perhaps more importantly that he can do it over the longer format.
If I was forced to bet on the match outcome I would go with the Dutchman purely because I’m far from convinced the crowd will let Price have a fair crack at this but I’ve a few outright bets that get a lot stronger with a Barneveld win so rather than see the Dutchman stumble at the finish line which is perfectly possible in a match of this magnitude, I’ll take him to hit more than 5.5 180s. Barneveld hit seven in four sets against Ryan Meikle in the last round and we’re guaranteed to get that many sets here. Realistically this one is going to have five or probably six sets at least and if we get six sets we need one 180 per set on average. One of the heavier scorers the game has ever had is more than capable of that. Barneveld hit five in nine legs and six in 29 legs against Price at the Grand Slam, with the latter being very early on a Sunday afternoon unlike this primetime slot. I can’t believe Barneveld doesn’t hit six 180s regardless of the outcome here.
Peter Wright vs Kim Huybrechts
The final match of what is likely to be an excellent session of darts sees the defending champion Peter Wright taking on a man who he has already beaten at the Grand Prix this season in the form of Kim Huybrechts.
Huybrechts always puts up a decent challenge on the big stage so Wright is going to need to play a whole lot better than he did against Mickey Mansell in his opening game, and to be fair he’s probably going to need more than what he has shown for much of the second part of 2022. We know he has those gears in him though and the longer format might well bring those out. If it doesn’t then Huybrechts has a great chance here although he too will need to perform much better than he did in the previous round. The Belgian can be cut some slack though because Grant Sampson was well out of his depth and that was obvious from a very early stage. I’m expecting a good game between these two, one which Huybrechts has a chance in but if Wright performs like he can the Scot will probably win. It is 12 and 11 days respectively since we’ve seen these two on the stage and a lot can happen in that time so we’re guessing about the form of both men so I’ll sit and watch this one.
Tips
Back J.Williams to beat G.Clemens for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Coral
Back R.Barneveld – Over 5.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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