The opening night of the World Matchplay tournament sees four matches taking place inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool as the second biggest ranking event of the season gets going with an excellent schedule of play.
We have to wait until Monday evening for the two eagerly anticipated matches in the first round but the opening night will see the world champion and the current title holder both looking to make it through on a good looking night of darts.
Gerwyn Price vs Daryl Gurney
The first match of the tournament sees the 2022 finalist Gerwyn Price looking to make early progress in the event when he faces a Daryl Gurney who has twice been to the semi-finals in this event and clearly loves the vibe in Blackpool.
Price is having a bit of a mixed season. He didn’t really compete like we know he can in the Premier League and has missed the odd night in that and other events including the World Cup a couple of weeks ago. The Welshman did win a World Series event but the only other final he has made this term was on the European Tour which is lost and you just sense he isn’t anything close to the best version of himself. That will give Gurney some confidence and he arrives here having made a final on the floor last month. He clearly loves Blackpool and he will enjoy the competitive, feisty nature of this match too. I think we’re in for a bit of a tussle to open the tournament and the 6/5 on over 16.5 legs appeals here. Matches between these two tend to be close. They have four Premier League draws against each other while their World Championship quarter final a few years ago went to a deciding set. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this remain close throughout either.
Jonny Clayton vs Raymond van Barneveld
Two men who have won on the floor this season battle it out in the second match of the night when the 2023 finalist Jonny Clayton takes on a Raymond van Barneveld who for all he has achieved in the game has never really seemed to enjoy the Blackpool stage.
Much of that was often down to the heat but in the coldest UK summer for a while that shouldn’t be an issue here. What might be an issue for the Dutchman is the fact that there are signs that Clayton is coming back to form after a year in the doldrums has he has battled things off the oche. Clayton won the most recent Players Championship event having reached the final of a European Tour event at the end of May where Michael van Gerwen were among his victims. I think Clayton is coming into form at the right time and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win this fairly comfortably but RvB has the scoring power to stay close and if he can keep the pressure on the Welshman, you never know if he’ll crack with a lack of wins on the big stage recently. I’ll watch this one.
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Luke Humphries vs Ricardo Pietreczko
The penultimate match of the evening sees the world champion Luke Humphries beginning his quest to hold the two biggest ranking event titles in the game when he goes up against the German unseeded player Ricardo Pietreczko.
Pietreczko will take hope from the fact that he took Humphries to a deciding set at the World Championship at the back end of last year but he is here largely off the back of winning a European Tour event last season because his form this time around has been very poor. He arrives for his Blackpool debut having won just four of his last 18 matches dating back to early April and just one win in his last eight. It is the exact opposite for Humphries who has generally been in decent form throughout the season and who will be looking forward to getting back onto the stage where he made the semi-final last year. The world number one is clearly a warm favourite here and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins this easier than expected and a 4.5 leg handicap isn’t asking too much of someone with the scoring power and confidence of Humphries. I see him winning this 10-5 or easier.
Nathan Aspinall vs Luke Woodhouse
The last match of the night sees the defending champion Nathan Aspinall beginning his title defence when he takes on the second debutant on the night in the form of Luke Woodhouse, who will be looking to cause a bigger shock than the odds suggest.
Woodhouse is relatively short in the betting here when you consider it is his debut but that is largely because Aspinall is nursing an injury, one which he is taking time off after this tournament to nurse and get sorted ahead of the big events later in the year. Aspinall hasn’t shown much in the way of form since the end of the Premier League but there were signs on the floor last week that he might be able to resist the pain and put up a creditable title defence. Woodhouse is solid but he isn’t going to outscore Aspinall leg on leg so if the defending champion is reliable enough on his doubles he should be able to get the job done here. With his injury concerns though I’ll give this one a swerve.
Tips
Back G.Price vs D.Gurney – Over 16.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Betfair
Back L.Humphries (-4.5 legs) to beat R.Pietreczko for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
