The PDC World Darts Championship continues with an evening session inside the Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday night as four more second round matches take place as a bunch of players get their campaign underway.
Gary Anderson is the headline draw over the course of the evening but we have the UK Open Dimitri Van den Bergh on show as well along with some players who could certainly have big runs here if they play well so the quality should be quite high.
Martin Schindler vs Callan Rydz
Two of those players clash in the opening match of the night when Martin Schindler opens his campaign up when he takes on the most impressive performance of the first round in ‘The Riot’ Callan Rydz.
Given how well Rydz played in that first round I was eyeing up backing him in this one but then I stumbled across the head-to-head record between the two players and see that it reads 7-0 in top level meetings between the two and worse than that overall and that puts me off getting involved in the result. I certainly don’t trust Schindler to hit enough pressure doubles to get the job done here but that record has to put people off taking Rydz. I looked at the 180s in this match but the line is probably one higher than I would have wanted so I’ll sit this opening match of the evening out.
Ross Smith vs Paolo Nebrida
The second match of the night sees the former European champion Ross Smith looking to make it into the third round once again when he goes up against the Filipino player Paolo Nebrida who has already caused one upset and will be out to deliver another here.
Nebrida took care of Jim Williams in the first round and overcame a barrage of 180s to do it so that will bode well for him because he is unlikely to keep up with the Ross Smith 180 hitting in this match. Smith will score well and if he finishes well then this is likely to be a tough night at the office for the Asian qualifier but to be fair to him he has nothing to lose having won a match and doubled his money. This has to be all about Smith though. He is extremely short to win but the 11/8 on him hitting a 180 in every set is a bet that appeals here. He has won his last two second round matches 3-1 and he has covered this bet in both of those games and often he comes up onto this stage and puts something of a marker down. The longer this match goes the more his scoring power will come to the fore so if he can hit a maximum in the opening set then I would expect them to follow regularly enough to take this bet down regardless of the score.
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Gary Anderson vs Jeffrey de Graaf
The penultimate match in the session sees the well-fancied Gary Anderson beginning his quest for a third world title when he takes on a Jeffrey de Graaf who is suddenly getting more success on this stage after a couple of wins last year and another in the first round here.
Anderson will be widely expected to win this and I do think he’ll win it pretty well but he will need to take de Graaf seriously because the Swede has little to lose and certainly has the game to trouble Anderson should the Scot miss some doubles and allow him to hang around. The 3-1 score against Rashad Sweeting probably doesn’t do de Graaf any favours but that would be harsh on the Bahamian. De Graaf averaged over 92 in that match and that isn’t too shabby. He’ll need to tidy things up to be competitive here unless he gets a below par Anderson but it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if that were to happen. I do think this will be closer than the odds suggest though. I expect Anderson to have enough in the end but de Graaf has enough about him to take a set before he departs. He averaged 95.94 in the third set against Sweeting and 105.71 in the last set and one of those here can take this one over 3.5 sets.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Dylan Slevin
The final match of the night sees the UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh looking to turn his form around when he takes on the Irish qualifier Dylan Slevin in a match which might have the feel of an upset about it given the struggles of the Belgian in recent times.
Slevin will probably fit the criteria of having nothing to lose here having won a match on this stage for the first time when he saw off his compatriot William O’Connor in the opening round and if he can serve it up to Van den Bergh he could quickly have the Belgian under pressure and then from there he would have every chance. Van den Bergh has so much TV stage experience that he should win this match but this is very much one of those where he has little to gain and a whole lot to lose and it will be interesting to see how he handles that position. A confident, in form Van den Bergh should be favoured to cruise through this one but there have been few signs of that level of the Belgian recently so I’ll sit this one out.
Tips
Back R.Smith to hit a 180 in each set for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Bet365
Back G.Anderson vs J.de Graaf – Over 3.5 sets for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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