The final day of darts in 2015 sees the third round of the PDC World Championship come to a conclusion when the final three matches of the draw are played out at the Alexandra Palace in London on Wednesday night.
The venue will still be reeling from the exit of Michael van Gerwen on Tuesday night. He lost an all-time World Championship classic to Raymond Barneveld to open the door right up for the rest of those still left in the competition.
At the end of the session just eight men will be left in the tournament to come back in the New Year to fight it out for the prestigious title and the huge first prize so the pressure is really cranking up right now.
The night begins with a Christmas cracker as Dave Chisnall meets Peter Wright before two men who graced Lakeside finals collide as Alan Norris goes up against Mark Webster. The action concludes with Phil Taylor taking on Jelle Klaasen.
Chisnall against Wright is all set up to be a match of epic proportions. Both are top class players and both are completely at home in the big matches on the big stage so we should get a World Championship classic here.
Looking at the odds and it is Wright who is a marginal favourite but I’m not sure that is right. Wright’s first round opponent Keegan Brown hardly showed up and his second round foe Ronny Huybrechts was completely out of form and never got started until the match was done.
Chisnall in contrast has seen off two competent and dangerous challengers in the shape of Rowby-John Rodriguez and Christian Kist and each time he has been put under pressure he has responded well and that will stand him in good stead here.
Another thing that is on Chisnall’s side is the head to head between the two with the St Helens ace leading 9-4 and that includes winning four of their last five battles, the latest two on TV in the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts.
I’m not surprised at that because Chisnall is the more consistent and relentless scorer of the two and Wright has been known to miss the doubles on the end of important combos when under pressure and that could be the difference here. I’m with Chisnall in this one.
Two men who made their name at Lakeside meet in the second match of the night when Alan Norris plays Mark Webster. Webster is the favourite for the match and on experience and reliability under pressure that is about right.
I expect Webster to win but I’m on him both outright and for the quarter so I don’t need to get involved in this match so I’ll keep my powder dry for the final match of the night.
Phil Taylor has given off the confidence of a confused man so far in this tournament. He has been talking a good game but I wouldn’t expect any different but in and around the talk you can comfortably see that he is battling some demons in his mind.
Taylor has missed doubles in big matches all year and he did the same against Kevin Painter in the second round of this tournament. Painter wasn’t composed enough to take advantage but with the added scoring power Jelle Klaasen has combined with the ability to hit certain doubles it would be a surprise if the Dutchman doesn’t compete fully here.
Whether Taylor wins or not is probably up to him and how he handles the pressure situations which are sure to come along at various points along the way. If anything there could be more pressure now van Gerwen has gone. Everyone left in now believes they have a realistic shot at the title. I certainly think Klaasen, who has won their only meeting this year, can take a couple of sets off Taylor if not all four.
Back D.Chisnall to beat P.Wright for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back J.Klaasen (+2.5 sets) to beat P.Taylor for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
