We have another double header of darts action in the PDC World Darts Championship on Friday with the play getting underway with the afternoon session which once again featured three first round matches and one from the second round.
Stephen Bunting is the seed opening up his campaign in the afternoon session but there a couple of other recognisable players on the card who will be looking to steal the show as we head towards the conclusion of the first round.
Stephen Burton vs Alexander Merkx
The opening match of the day sees an inexperienced on this stage Stephen Burton taking on a tournament debutant in Alexander Merkx who is making his debut in this tournament courtesy of his quests on the Challenge Tour.
He could have been playing in the WDF World Championship earlier in the month but chose to come to this tournament and will want to win a match and justify that decision. Burton has had a fair year on the tour but without too much to shout about but you would imagine he is vulnerable to an upset here. Merkx is probably going to need to play towards his upper level to achieve that upset but if he does then he could easily find Burton under the weight of being a favourite and soon find that the match is there for him. I wouldn’t put anyone off here but I could do without losing out in a close one and there isn’t oceans of value to make me side with Merkx.
Wessel Nijman vs Cameron Carolissen
The second match of the afternoon is expected to be a complete mismatch as the Dutch rising star Wessel Nijman, for whom the talent is well and truly out of the bag, takes on the South Africa qualifier Cameron Carolissen.
Nijman would have been all the rage against Steve Beaton here a year ago but failed to get the job done. He has kicked on since then and has been a star on the Development Tour in particular and then had his breakthrough in the Grand Slam where he posted averages over 100 in all three matches, albeit without winning a match. Carolissen took a set off Danny Noppert on this stage in his previous appearance but he only averaged 82 and you wouldn’t think that would get him very far. He is probably playing with the house money from here on in though and has nothing to lose but it would be a huge shock if Nijman lost a set given the numbers he has been posting of late, let alone the match.
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Ian White vs Sandro Eric Sosing
The last of the first round matches on the stage on Friday sees the veteran of the tour now in Ian White opening up another crack at the World Championship when he takes on the finalist of the Asian qualifying event in Sandro Eric Sosing.
Sosing posted a couple of averages in and around the 90 mark in that qualifying effort and he beat Lok Yin Lee en route to the final and that line of form doesn’t look too bad when we consider what the Hong Kong man did to Chris Landman on Thursday afternoon. White will be nervous going into this match. He lost to an Asian qualifier in the first round last year and if he can’t find his scoring boots or his finishing lets him down it wouldn’t take a huge amount for him to get embroiled in a match he doesn’t want to be involved in. I fancy Sosing to get a foothold in this match but while he is a little on the short side at 1.60 to win a set, the 1.80 for over 4.5 certainly appeals because the Filipino was quite regular with the 180s in that qualifying event and if he contributes one or two here then White should be good to do the rest. This could land in a 3-0 White win but were Sosing to run him close as I think he will then we’ll have all the time in the world to get to five 180s.
Stephen Bunting vs Kai Gotthardt
The one match in the second round of the tournament sees The Masters winner Stephen Bunting start out on a quest which could see him colliding with his practice partner Luke Humphries in the quarter final. Before he can think of that though he needs to dispose of the services of Kai Gotthardt, the German qualifier who ruthlessly took care of Alan Soutar in the previous round.
You sense this match is in the hands of Bunting. We can be pretty certain that he’ll score well, although Gotthardt hit three 180s in the win over Soutar and 46 more scores of 100 or more so Bunting might not be the only one doing the scoring. The big thing will be how Bunting goes on the doubles. He has put in some horrendous finishing this year and if he does that again here he’ll open the door for an upset. I was hoping for a little more juice on the price of Gotthardt to claim a set here but we haven’t got it. I might back it if my earlier bet has won or it drifts over the afternoon but until then this is a watching brief.
Tips
Back I.White vs S-E.Sosing – Over 4.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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