Sunday night at the World Matchplay promises to be an exciting night of darts with the world champion Gary Anderson making his bow in the event and former champion James Wade setting off on his quest for another title. Terry Jenkins is also on the card so we should be in for a good night.
Dolan vs van der Voort
The action begins with an interesting clash of styles as the Northern Irishman self-confessed History Maker Brendan Dolan takes on the lightning fast Vincent van der Voort. If this was a floor match Dolan would be a strong favourite but it isn’t and that could be why the Dutchman is favourite.
Another reason could be their recent head to head form where van der Voort has won five of their last six meetings and a couple of them have been very one sided so it might be that the Dutchman’s relentless speed upsets the flow of Dolan’s throw.
Records like that are hard to ignore and another record tough to ignore is Dolan’s only won one match here in the three times he has been in this tournament and that was only against Steve Beaton. Dolan was given a bit of a towelling by Richie Burnett here last year and while he might not get thrashed 10-4 in this match I think van der Voort will be tough to beat with his confidence high on the big stage.
Jenkins vs Suljovic
The clash of styles continues in the second match of the evening as former finalist Terry Jenkins takes on the mercurial Mensur Suljovic. Suljovic is having a very good year and is very capable of upsetting the big names on the big stage but he’s playing a guy who doesn’t really care much for what his opponent is doing so he could well have his work cut out here.
Terry Jenkins has been in excellent form in the European Tour events this year making a final, semi-final and a quarter final so he’s going along nicely and we know he loves this stage so I’m expecting a good performance from the popular Englishman here and I think his solid scoring and eye catching finishing will be too relentless for Suljovic and I expect a fairly comfortable win for Jenkins here.
G Anderson vs Beaton
The third match of the night is a clash of the world champions as the current one takes on the man who won his world title 19 years ago when Gary Anderson takes on Steve Beaton. It will be interesting to see how Anderson performs in this match because he is chasing the historic Triple Crown but also because there is plenty of expectation on his shoulders and that could weigh him down if he lets it.
Anderson will be pleased that he is facing a Beaton who is unlikely to cause him too many problems unless he lets him but I’m a little bit wary of taking a 4.5 leg handicap in this round even though I expect Anderson to come through with plenty to spare. There isn’t enough in the price so I’ll watch and see what form the Scot is in before getting involved later in the event.
Wade vs K Anderson
The final match of the second day of action sees the Australian qualifier Kyle Anderson taking on one of just six men to have won this title in James Wade. Wade is a bookies favourite in this match and he has the record to back that up for Anderson is dangerous and if Wade isn’t on song then the Aussie could make this awkward for him.
Anderson hits a lot of 180s and will probably outscore Wade for long periods of this match and if he hits his doubles then he has every chance of the big upset. For those who want to play safe a 3.5 leg line looks a good start for the Australian but I had this down as a potential upset when the draw came out and having seen Wade below his best in Germany last week I’m taking Anderson to get the job done here at a value price.
Back V.van der Voort to beat B.Dolan for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Boylesports
Back T.Jenkins (-2.5 legs) to beat M.Suljovic for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
Back K.Anderson to beat J.Wade for a 2/10 stake at 4.33 with Paddy Power
