The opening night of the World Matchplay sees four first round matches being played inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool as the top quarter of the draw play down to the round of 16 on a tasty looking Saturday evening.
It is a night where the defending champion and world number one headlines the show but this is an absolutely loaded quarter so the quality should be on show throughout the night to get this exciting tournament underway.
James Wade vs Joe Cullen
The opening match of the tournament sees the former winner James Wade looking to make it into the second round of the event he absolutely loves when he takes on a Joe Cullen who might think he has a point to prove.
That was certainly the case at the World Championship where he had a bee in his bonnet and you would imagine similar will come here but Cullen might have his work cut out here because Wade has caught fire in recent times so that will only add to the confidence that he usually carries to this venue. Wade is my outright pick so I automatically hope that he will win this match without investing another penny on him. I do expect that to be the case hence backing him outright so I’m happy with that as an interest in the opener for the night.
Danny Noppert vs Cameron Menzies
The second match of the night sees the former UK Open champion Danny Noppert, a previous semi-finalist at the Matchplay, taking on a Cameron Menzies who will be making his debut in the competition when he toes the oche here.
Menzies has done well to establish himself as one of the better players in the sport in the last 12 months or so but he hasn’t completely convinced on the big stage and that meltdown at the World Championship never leaves my mind when I try to consider him at this level. Noppert is a solid campaigner who does enough right and his experience on the stage and over the format makes me think that he is a pretty decent thing here. He is short enough to back but Menzies can miss doubles in bunches, especially on the stage and the Scot hasn’t really pulled up many trees with six wins and six defeats in his last 12 matches so it could be worth taking the consistent and reliable Noppert to cover a 2.5 leg handicap.
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Luke Humphries vs Gian van Veen
The pick of the first round matches takes place on the opening night of the tournament when the world number one Luke Humphries begins his title defence against the quality young Dutch star Gian van Veen in a standout clash.
Humphries will be expected to come through this match but it could barely have been a harder draw for him and he might be required to deliver his very best on the opening night to remain in the competition. The one positive Humphries has is that van Veen has never won a match on this stage but this is only the second one he will have competed in. Van Veen took Rob Cross to a deciding 25th leg in the opening round a year ago though so he certainly won’t be a pushover but if Humphries is on it he should come through. This has banana skin written all over it but I can’t quite bring myself to take on the defending champion. I’ll take a watching brief of this one.
Nathan Aspinall vs Wessel Nijman
The final match of the night could end up being the best one of the evening as the Premier League star and former winner of this event, Nathan Aspinall, goes up against the Dutch star Wessel Nijman who is looking for a breakout week here.
Aspinall knows how to go the course and distance here but he also knows that his opponent has a huge game and doesn’t have a huge amount to lose so he should expect Nijman to present a real test here. Aspinall will need to score well if he is going to contain the Dutchman but where this could be decided is at the end of the leg. Nijman has a tendency to go on huge sprees of missed doubles and if he does that here then he is in massive trouble. Aspinall isn’t the cleanest when it comes to the doubles but a man who has reached the Premier League semi-finals, won two European Tour events and made the final of the last Players Championship event he entered has built up a lot of confidence and the more his opponent misses doubles the stronger I would expect Aspinall to come and the world number seven to win this by two or more legs feels like the way to play this one.
Tips
Back D.Noppert (-2.5 legs) to beat C.Menzies for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Bet365
Back N.Aspinall (-1.5 legs) to beat W.Nijman for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
