The evening session on day six of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace is sure to be an extremely high profile one as three more first round matches and one from the second round entertain what is likely to be a lively Friday night crowd.
The three-time champion Michael van Gerwen is the headline act over the course of the night but we also have the Grand Slam semi-finalist and three popular dartists taking to the stage too so this card looks a decent one.
Mickey Mansell vs Tomoya Goto
The opening match of the night sees the man who went to the semi-final of the Grand Slam of Darts in Mickey Mansell going up against the energetic Japanese qualifier Tomoya Goto in what should be a cracking opening to the evening.
You could say that this is a clash in styles with Mansell likely to be quite pedestrian and dour while Goto will be full of beans and throws to quite a rhythm but the Japanese player has to be overpriced at 3/1 in this match. There is no doubt in my mind that had Mansell not reached the last four of the Grand Slam that he wouldn’t be anything like this short and while that effort shouldn’t be underplayed, he had such a bad year on the floor that he couldn’t finish in the top 64 on the Players Championship Order of Merit to make the Players Championship Finals which means that his last competitive match was that Grand Slam semi, over a month ago. Goto took care of Ian White with a blitz of scoring on this stage a year ago and he scored well in defeat to Ryan Searle in the second round. I think Goto is a big price here, especially as he showed that run was no fluke when he averaged a nudge under 95 with three more 180s in a 6-3 loss to Rob Cross at the Bahrain Masters earlier in the year. I think the 3/1 is overpriced on Goto, as is the 11/8 that he hits four 180s or more. Even in defeat we should see four sets here and one 180 per set on average for the Japanese doesn’t feel out of reach.
Florian Hempel vs Jeffrey de Zwaan
The second match of the night could well steal the show for the best one of the evening as the German player Florian Hempel will look to keep his perfect first round record in this tournament intact when he faces a returning to form Jeffrey de Zwaan.
De Zwaan had to come through the PDPA qualifier to get into this tournament such is the struggles he has had in 2024 but the fact he did so, and averaged around 100 for the day, as well as falling at the final hurdle in qualifying for the Grand Slam, would suggest that the Dutchman is finding some nice form once again. Hempel clearly likes it on this stage and will have a large part of the crowd behind him here so I’m expecting a cracking match here. If pushed I’d just edge to the German here but the best bet is for them to combine for over 7.5 180s. This could easily descend into one of those first round classics and these two know their way around the 60 bed. Were we to get four sets, which I have as a minimum, then we need one 180 per set for both on average and that should be well within the range of these two.
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William O’Connor vs Dylan Slevin
The last of the first round matches on Friday evening is the all-Irish battle between William O’Connor and his compatriot Dylan Slevin in a clash which could open up a huge chance for the winner with Dimitri Van den Bergh waiting for the winner.
O’Connor has plenty of experience on the Alexandra Palace stage and he goes into the match as the favourite based on that, but Slevin has been here and tasted the tournament and might well perform better than he did in defeat to Florian Hempel a year ago. Slevin averaged 90.21 in that match and a repeat of that will keep him interested here but the ‘Magpie’ averaged over 97 in both of his matches last year and if he has that form with him he’ll be dangerous here. Slevin had to come through the tour card holder qualifier to make it here so he hasn’t had a great year on the tour and I think O’Connor wins this but having backed him to have a good run here I don’t need to get involved again.
Michael van Gerwen vs James Hurrell
The last match of the night once again is the second round clash which sees Michael van Gerwen opening up another World Championship campaign when he takes on the former England captain James Hurrell for a spot in round three.
All eyes will obviously be on van Gerwen here, especially as he hasn’t had the greatest 2024 it has to be said. He will be expected to come through this match but Hurrell has the very definition of a free hit here and will be able to play with some freedom and we’ve seen a couple of players in that boat against a seed pull off an upset already this week. I don’t see it happening here but I wouldn’t want to rush to take van Gerwen to win this too easily. Hurrell could be competitive but I still fancy MVG to win but this one is a watching brief for me.
Tips
Back T.Goto to beat M.Mansell for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Boylesports
Back T.Goto – Over 3.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back F.Hempel vs J.de Graaf – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
