The second round of the World Matchplay gets underway on Tuesday evening when the bottom half of the draw plays down to the quarter final on what is expected to be another scorching night both in temperature and quality of action.
The first round saw some fantastic action and with the format moving up slightly and the better players coming to the fore we can expect some top quality tungsten action as the competition begins to head towards the business end.
Rowby-John Rodriguez vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The opening second round match sees the young Austrian ace Rowby-John Rodriguez taking on the former champion and man who has been in the last two finals of this competition in the form of Dimitri Van den Bergh in what could be a cracking contest if both play to their potential.
Rodriguez has already pulled off one upset in this tournament when he took care of Jonny Clayton in the opening round and if he repeats the performance he put in there he’ll have a chance. Van den Bergh was very impressive in the first round too but his win was over an opponent in Callan Rydz who wasn’t really there so it will be interesting to see how the Belgian goes if and when he is put under pressure. Rodriguez has actually won the last three matches between these two and they were all last year so they were recent enough to be relevant. I think he might come out on top here too but I’m on him to win his quarter and this might be the toughest test he has left in it so I’m happy to just let that outright bet ride without adding to it.
James Wade vs Nathan Aspinall
The second match of the night sees the former champion James Wade on show when he takes on the very much in form Nathan Aspinall in another game which should be a great watch if both play to their full potential.
Aspinall has a good recent record against Wade having won three and drawn the other of their last four matches and they were all within the last 15 months or so which means they carry enough significance. If we were judging the outcome of this match based on their first round performances then Aspinall would be near enough a certainty because he was much the better player of the two and in Luke Humphries had much the harder opponent as well. The problem with that is we know Wade always plays the opponent so he’ll raise his game against the better opposition. I still think the form Aspinall brought into the tournament makes him a worthy favourite here but at the same time I think the odds are about right.
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Peter Wright vs Krzysztof Ratajski
The third match of the evening sees the title defence of Peter Wright come into the spotlight once again when he meets the Polish star Krzysztof Ratajski in a clash which doesn’t just have significance on this tournament but also on the world rankings.
Wright heads into this match knowing that if he loses he will not only see his reign as the Matchplay champion come to an end but his time on top of the rankings will also finish as well. That is a fair bit of pressure on this match but he does look to have an ideal opponent because Ratajski has flattered to deceive on the PDC big stages throughout his career even allowing for the fact he made the semi-final here last year. The head-to-head between these two tells a story as it is 10-1 Wright and it is hard to see him losing here but those external pressures makes me happy to leave this one alone.
Michael van Gerwen vs Joe Cullen
The best match of the night is saved for last as we end the session with a repeat of the Premier League final as Michael van Gerwen takes on the man he beat to regain that crown in Joe Cullen, however the Rockstar will know that over this same distance he missed a dart at a double to get his hands on that title.
I fancy we will get a reversal of that outcome here and I say that for a couple of reasons, the main one being that this will be just the third match MVG has played since surgery and he hasn’t really looked that good in the first two. By his standards he was very ordinary against Adrian Lewis in the opening round, failing to average 90 and that was with a decent enough checkout rate. Cullen averaged 95.72 in his first round win over Damon Heta but you sense that there was more in him had Heta pushed him in any way instead of flattering to deceive on another big stage. These two have met six times this season and they’ve all been on TV, five in the Premier League in which MVG won four times, and once in The Masters when Cullen won. Their last three meetings went the distance though and when you consider MVG was fully fit and firing at that time and isn’t here I think there is enough to expect Cullen to come out on top in this one.
Tips
Back J.Cullen to beat M.van Gerwen for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Boylesports
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