The second round of the World Matchplay comes to a close on Wednesday evening when the four matches in the bottom half of the draw take place on a night where the action is set to sizzle inside the Winter Gardens once again.
We saw some great darts in the top half matches on Tuesday evening and with two former world champions and a couple of TV tournament winners on show over the course of the night we should get much more of the same on Wednesday.
Daryl Gurney vs Danny Noppert
The opening match of the night sees two players who faced each other in the World Cup meeting when Daryl Gurney, the only unseeded player remaining in this half of the draw, meets the UK Open champion Danny Noppert.
Noppert won that clash at the World Cup and looked very impressive in the opening round of this tournament, coming from 6-4 down to the other Northern Irishman in this tournament in Brendan Dolan before winning the last six legs to power clear with a 100 average and a barrage of 180s. Gurney wasn’t quite as impressive in beating Gary Anderson in the first round but he got the job done nicely enough and will be looking to continue his good form and reach the last eight once again. I’m hoping Noppert wins this as I’m on him outright but the bet I like is for there to be more than 10.5 180s. Noppert is a real heavy hitter of them these days, as he showed us with seven in his first round win, while Gurney ploughs them in too when he gets into a rhythm on the 60. While I hope and expect the Dutchman to win this, I do think it will remain relatively close so there should be plenty of time to get those 11 180s in.
Jose de Sousa vs Rob Cross
The second match of the evening sees a Jose de Sousa who will be hoping to build on his first round win and turn his season around when he takes on the 2019 champion Rob Cross who has already showed title winning credentials this week.
Cross found himself 8-2 down to Chris Dobey in the first round with absolutely nothing going for him but he refused to give up and eventually won 11-9 to continue his quest for a second title. De Sousa came into this tournament in wretched form but he found his scoring power against Gabriel Clemens to come through although his doubling was still a concern. That would make me think Cross is a good thing here although I’m aware that if the improved scoring gives the Portuguese ace confidence on the doubles then he could be an awkward challenger. I like Cross but he’s short enough to give this one a miss.
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Gerwyn Price vs Dave Chisnall
The penultimate match of the evening sees two seasoned campaigners looking to continue their quest for a first World Matchplay title as the former world champion Gerwyn Price takes on the local lad Dave Chisnall.
I think it is fair to say that for much of their first round matches these two played a little below their best stuff but when they needed to pull out the goods in the final session to get over the line they were able to and now they will be looking to play like they can right from the outset. We didn’t see the scoring power of Chisnall in his win over Kim Huybrechts but his doubling was solid. We saw the Price scoring but his finishing wasn’t always on tap so the winner here will probably be the one who finds the missing part of his game the best. You would imagine that will be Price but his record here doesn’t convince me enough into backing him but without the scoring power I’m not sure Chisnall can win this so I’ll leave this one alone.
Michael Smith vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
The best looking match of the night is the last one of it as the world finalist Michael Smith takes on the form horse Dirk van Duijvenbode in a clash which could be a memorable one if both play to the potential we know they have.
Smith had to come from 8-4 down to see off Andrew Gilding in the opening round and like a lot of players really had to fight with himself to find his best form before finding it just when he needed it. It was the same for van Duijvenbode who found himself 6-3 down to Ryan Searle and without a single 180 before finding his scoring power to come through with a bit to spare. Both will know they will need to start well here because if they allow the other to get away from them then there might not be any reeling them in but the fact both will fancy their chances here but will know they are in for a tough game might just see that happen. Smith is carrying the confidence of his run to the world final and a decent June into this one while DvD has won his last eight matches. This should be a firecracker and with the way they plough in 180s, they are the two biggest 180 hitters on the circuit this year, I’ve got to think we’ll get the 13.5 180s line covered in this one.
Tips
Back D.Gurney vs D.Noppert – Over 10.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back M.Smith vs D.van Duijvenbode – Over 13.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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