The evening session at the PDC World Darts Championship on Wednesday will be one of the most hyped up ones of the tournament so far as three more first round matches take place along with a juicy looking second round clash.
The former world champion Peter Wright is the headline act in this session as he gets another title quest underway. There are a couple of former world finalists and a couple of other talents on show on a good looking evening of arrers.
Ryan Joyce vs Alex Spellman
We begin with a first round clash between the semi-finalist at the Players Championship Finals last month in Ryan Joyce and the American player Alex Spellman who came through as a qualifier from the CDC circuit back home.
Joyce hadn’t had a spectacular year in terms of the TV events but he made full use of the opportunity that he created for himself in Minehead and you sense he will go into this tournament, where he has previously reached the quarter final, in a positive frame of mind. Spellman makes his debut at the tourmament in this match but he has been showing good signs over in America and got some big stage experience in the World Series event in that part of the world where he lost 6-2 to Luke Humphries. I would imagine Spellman will give a good account of himself here but I would expect Joyce to have too much for him but he isn’t a favourite I’m in a huge rush to get behind.
Richard Veenstra vs Ben Robb
The second match of the night sees the first round of the tournament continuing when the Dutch star Richard Veenstra takes to the Ally Pally stage for the first time when he goes up against the New Zealand player Ben Robb.
Veenstra might be gracing this stage for the first time but he has plenty of World Championship experience at Lakeside to fall back on so I don’t think things will get to him like it has some of the other debutants this week so far and off the back of beating the world champion Michael Smith at the Players Championship Finals he should be coming in here full of confidence. Robb played on the Modus event a couple of weeks ago to give him some competitive match practice ahead of the tournament but he kind of levelled out in the mid-80 averages in that week and you sense it would need a lot of missed doubles from Veenstra or one of the performances of his career from Robb for this to go the way of the Kiwi. I expect Veenstra to win this and cover a 1.5 set handicap.
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Christian Kist vs Luke Littler
The last of the first round matches on the evening is probably the most anticipated of the lot of them as the former BDO world champion Christian Kist goes up against the man who stormed to the World Youth Championship last month in Luke Littler.
Much will be made that Littler is still a 16-year-old but he showed in winning that tournament in Minehead that he has a game of a seasoned campaigner and potential to be one of the best in the world. That display has piled the expectation on his shoulders though and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that here. That showing probably did Kist a huge favour because he can fly under the radar here but you don’t win the Lakeside if you can’t throw a dart and when he is fit and healthy, the Dutchman can go with anyone in the game. That is the question mark here though. There has been talk of Kist suffering from tendonitis recently but he has suggested he will be pain free here. Assuming he is he has every chance of taking Littler out based on his performances on the pro tour this season, where he has been competing without a tour card, and also the Challenge Tour. Kist has a nine dart finish this year and is seasoned on the stage so if he is 100% fit this one should live up to the expectation. Assuming we get four sets I expect the 7.5 180 line to get covered here, especially when you consider that Littler hit seven of them in 10 legs in that World Youth final.
Peter Wright vs Jim Williams
The night concludes with a clash from the second round as arguably the best fixture in the list of that part of the draw takes place when the former winner Peter Wright takes on the man who has been to a world final before in the form of Jim Williams.
Williams has history of upsetting the seeds in this tournament after taking care of James Wade at this stage last year and he’ll be looking to repeat the feat here. He will need to up his game from his first round win but I expect that to happen naturally because he wasn’t tested in the slightest in that match. Williams has been one of the better performers on the tour this year and interestingly one of the bigger 180 hitters too. Wright is under some pressure in this match as he is defending the prize money he won for winning this tournament two years ago so an early departure will send him tumbling down the rankings. Wright hasn’t been fantastic this season but when he has played well he has looked as good as ever and if he has that game with him he should contribute to what I expect to be a decent 180 total. Four of the nine second round matches have had over 8.5 180s and another two have had exactly eight so I think these two 180 hitters can combine for another nine at least.
Tips
Back R.Veenstra (-1.5 sets) to beat B.Robb for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back C.Kist vs L.Littler – Over 7.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betway
Back P.Wright vs J.Williams – Over 8.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with Unibet
