The opening night of the World Matchplay sees the first round being played out in the top quarter of the draw and with this being an absolutely loaded section of the draw, we should be in for some outstanding darts to mark the return of the competition to its rightful home in Blackpool.
Among the stars on show on Saturday evening are the world champion Gerwyn Price, the Premier League winner Jonny Clayton and the defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh. The quality just keeps on coming throughout the night!
Dave Chisnall vs Vincent van der Voort
The opening match of the tournament is a repeat of a first round match from last year as Dave Chisnall takes on the veteran Dutch star Vincent van der Voort. The Dutchman won that meeting 12 months ago so this is something of a revenge mission for Chisnall.
Chisnall doesn’t go in here with much form though. There have been 20 floor events this season and Chisnall hasn’t made a quarter final in any of them. He has gone slightly better in the two TV tournaments he has played but that doesn’t really say much. Van der Voort has gone much better in 2021. Whether Chisnall’s slump is down to the pandemic and the struggles that has brought remains to be seen but even though this is effectively a home game for Chisnall, he’ll do well to win the crowd battle against the popular Dutchman. Chisnall is unreliable on the doubles at the best of times and with his confidence a little lower than he would like he feels like a man who needs to be taken on here.
Jonny Clayton vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
The second match of the evening sees what is probably the pick of the first round matches being played as the Premier League champion Jonny Clayton goes up against the much improved for World Grand Prix finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode for a place in the second round.
Whichever way you look at this one it has the makings of being an absolute pearler. Clayton is probably the player of the year so far after winning The Masters and the Premier League, as well as a couple of floor events. Van Duijvenbode isn’t a million miles behind though and he has also won a floor title this year and is a real threat to anyone he faces these days. DvD won their last meeting on the floor last month but Clayton has two emphatic TV wins over his Dutch opponent. I sense this will be a much closer match though which makes me think we’ll see a bucket load of 180s here. In the two TV matches between these two – in the European Championship last year and the UK Open this year – there were 22 180s in 27 legs of darts. 13 of those came in the 13 legs they played in the UK Open and I expect the scoring power of both to come to the fore here too. I like over 10.5 180s.
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Gerwyn Price vs Jermaine Wattimena
The third match of the evening sees the world champion getting back on the big stage for the first time in four months after a positive Covid-19 test sent him packing from the Premier League. He takes on a player who only got into the field after the late withdrawal of Mensur Suljovic in Jermaine Wattimena.
Whenever you get these late entries you always have to decide whether that player goes into the tournament unprepared or whether they approach it with little to lose. I hope it will be the latter as it is likely to deliver the better contest but in truth I don’t see it mattering too much because I expect Price, who was in sensational form at the Super Series last week, to be too good for the ‘Machine Gun’. Wattimena is better than he was 2-3 years ago but still doesn’t really convince on the big stage. I expect him to be beaten but this is a big night for Price which could affect his performance. That’s enough for me to leave this one alone.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Devon Petersen
The final match of the opening night sees the defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh getting his title defence underway when he takes on a Devon Petersen who you feel would have been a huge challenge 12 months ago but whose form this year makes me wonder if that will be the case.
Van den Bergh has had a decent enough 2021. He ran well in the Premier League until the final week of the group phase but he made the final of a floor event last week and his standing in the game is improving all the time. Petersen has seen his form really drop off in 2021 Last year his scoring power was phenomenal and the results came accordingly. That scoring hasn’t quite been there so far this year but the South African will need it again if he is going to come through here because the Belgian has been in fine form pretty much ever since he won this tournament last year. This is the biggest title he will have defended though so there will be nerves around. I’m not sure Petersen is in the right shape to capitalise but if he finds a purple patch he could be. This one is best left alone too.
Tips
Back V.van der Voort to beat D.Chisnall for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
Back him here:
Back J.Clayton vs D.van Duijvenbode – Over 10.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betway
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