The darting drama continues on Wednesday with another double session and a further eight second round games to get stuck into. Our darts expert previews them all for us.
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Day Eight of the Championships is on Wednesday 22nd December
Ryan Searle vs William Borland
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 12:40pm
Every year there are a few players who emerge with an ever increasing profile and a lot of credit and the Scot William Borland is one of those that fits that bill this year.
He was already a part of the match the tournament with Bradley Brooks before the last leg deciders but to produce a nine darter to seal the win in the final leg was the stuff of dreams. The crowd went berserk and Ally Pally was electric.
Since then he’s been the talk of everyone watching the darts but he could be brought right back down to earth here as he faces the in form and dark horse for the title, Ryan Searle.
‘Heavy Metal’ as Searle is known is enjoying a fine 2021. A winner on the floor in the 22nd event played this year he’s also had numerous other good runs. He’s been a runner-up a further three occasions and reach one semi-final and four quarter-finals.
He’s also been good on stage. He reached the Last 32 of the UK Open, the Quarter Final of the World Grand Prix and was a runner-up in the final event before the Worlds, the Players Championship finals.
He has a steady record in this event, he’s averaging nearly six points more than Borland over the course of 2021 and he won their solitary meeting back in July 6-3. Everything is in the favour of Searle and I expect him to come out on top here.
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Prediction: Ryan Searle to Win
Glen Durrant vs William O’Connor
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 1:30pm
Since winning the Premier League back in 2020 not a lot has gone right for Glen Durrant. He’s had Covid and his form has deserted him. It’s gutting to see such a talented player struggle like he has and nothing would delight me more than to see a resurgent ‘Duzza’ show some of that previous form here.
He’s averaging just 85.55 for 2021 and his normal key component of his game, his doubles is just 26.45% and as a result his match win percentage is just 25%. In a recent interview, he suggested he’d potentially turned a corner but he’ll need to, to have any chance in this match.
His Irish opponent William O’Connor is coming into form at just the right time. He reached the Semi-Final of the penultimate Players Championship event of the year and he looked superb in the opening round to average 96.02 as he came through an absolute classics 3-2 against rising American star Danny Lauby Jnr.
The stats all point to a win for the Irishman and the price in the betting reflects this dominance. ‘Duzza’ has been whitewashed on eight occasions this year and unfortunately for him in three of his last four matches. Whilst I don’t think he’ll be whitewashed in legs he could well be in sets.
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Prediction: William O’Connor to Win -2.5 Sets
Luke Humphries vs Rowby-John Rodriguez
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 2:30pm
This could well be the match of the afternoon. Humphries a back to back Quarter-Finalist here in 2019 and 2020 is rapidly shooting through the ranks in the PDC and the former World Youth Champion will surely at some point in the future get his name on this trophy.
Whilst it would be folly to suggest that this will occur this year he is a danger to all and could be in the mix come through latter stages of the event.
He’s reached four finals this year and although he’s lost on each occasion every opponent has 100+ against him, this includes his defeat to James Wade in the UK Open back in March after dismantling Michael Van Gerwen in the Semi-Final.
He’s also performed excellently in defeat in the other televised events this year including the Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championships, Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship finals. It always takes a good performance to beat him.
There has also been a lot to like about Rowby-John this year. He came through a tough group in the Grand Slam of Darts before losing emphatically to James Wade in the Last 16.
He was also superb in his opening round victory over Nick Kenny on Saturday night. He won 3-0 averaging 97.50 and lost just one leg. He won’t find things so easy against ‘Cool Hand’ Luke here and the first set could become very important.
At this stage in their careers Luke is just a bit more advanced. I think he’s ready for the next big step up and take him to hold sway here.
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Prediction: Luke Humphries to Win
Joe Cullen vs Jim Williams
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 3:30pm
These pair have never met and this promises to be an interesting tie to finish the afternoon session.
Cullen has enjoyed a good 2021 on the oche having won two floor events this year and finishing runner-up in a further two including the final floor event of the year.
He’s also performed admirably in the stage. He reached the Semi-Final of the European Championships, losing to eventual champion Rob Cross. Even in defeat he’s looked solid. Gerwyn Price at the Masters, Michael Smith at the UK Open and Peter Wright at the Matchplay all produced 100+ averages to beat him. He was also outstanding in this event last year and he lost the match of the tournament to Michael Van Gerwen 4-3.
Jim Williams is a former BDO World Finalists and was unlucky to be eliminated at the group stage of the Grand Slam of Darts, winning two matches of the three and that’s normally enough to secure a passage through the knockout phase.
He defeated Ted Evetts in the opening round with a steady performance, averaging 89.71 in a 3-1 victory.
He failed to hit a 180 in the first round and at the Grand Slam of Darts he hit 5 in 23 legs which equates to 0.22 per leg. Cullen is a big hitter in this respect at 0.32 per leg and he should be too powerful.
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Prediction: Joe Cullen to Hit the Most 180’s
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Nathan Aspinall vs Joe Murnan
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 7:10pm
The first round game between Joe Murnan and Paul Lim was one of the worst matches at this year’s event. It seemed to drag on and was a match devoid of quality.
In that game both players averaged below 80 and struggled to get going. Having said that there was no disputing that Murnan was the better player. I think the pace affected him and I believe with a match much more suited to his speed we should see him put 10 points or so on his average. Whether that will be enough to trouble Aspinall is another thing.
‘The Asp’ loves this event, a back to back Semi-Finalist in 2019 and 2020, he will be buoyed by the return of a full capacity Ally Pally which was detrimental to his performance here last year. He really is in those players who feeds off the crowd’s energy.
He’s had a steady if unspectacular year but his performances of late have warranted more than he’s achieved as he’s notched up ten ton plus averages in his last fourteen matches.
His draw has given him a decent opportunity here this next week or so he’ll be looking to get off with a win without any drama.
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Nathan Aspinall to Win 3-0 or 3-1
Dirk Van Duijvenbode vs Boris Koltsov
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 8:00pm
Russian arrow-smith Boris Koltsov enjoyed himself in the opening round as he easily brushed aside Jermaine Wattimena 3-0.
In his post match interview he suggested that he’s changed his approach on stage to enjoy the occasion more after the passing of his father last year. It’s fair to say however that his shenanigans didn’t go down well with his opponent who didn’t shake hands at the conclusion of the game.
His final average of 90.50 seemed like it would’ve been higher but it was good enough on the day and with darts that’s all that matters.
His opponent Dirk Van Duijvenbode is also a live wire on stage and this should be an enthralling encounter. The Dutchman isn’t quite enjoying the season he had last year but statistically he is the biggest 180 hitter in the game this year and a mammoth 0.38 per leg, more than double his opponent’s rate of 0.16 per leg. The price for him to hit the most 180’s is an absolute steal!
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Prediction: Dirk Van Duijvenbode to Hit the Most 180’s
Kim Huybrechts vs Steve Beaton
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 9:00pm
Huybrechts had trouble arriving here after the borders were closed in France to prevent the spread of Covid. This may have derailed his preparation as he had to reroute himself and if that’s the case, that would be a shame as he’s very much had a resurgent end of 2021, showing glimpses of the old Kim Huybrechts.
He’s averaged 100+ in five separate matches since 31st October and really has been a star performer over the past month.
The Bronzed Adonis was involved in a classic first round match with Fallon Sherrock but he came through 3-2 defeating the Queen of the Palace and the crowd in what was a very professional, polished display.
His final average in that match was 90.69 but for a good chunk of this match he was averaging in excess of 100+ and withstanding everything Fallon threw at him.
That will be a big confidence booster for him after he came into the event in dreadful form, losing 16 of his 21 matches and you have to say he rolled back the years on his 31st consecutive World Championships.
If he can replicate that and with the issues Huybrechts has had getting here he could cause an upset, the safer proposition may be to go for over 3.5 sets.
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Prediction: Over 3.5 Sets
Simon Whitlock vs Martijn Kleermaker
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Round 2
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Match due to start at 10:00pm
The evening’s action concludes with what should be a fascinating match between Simon Whitlock and Martijn Kleermaker.
Kleermaker had little trouble in defeating John Michael in fact the biggest trouble is himself as he often makes a mess of the doubles. He was down at just 23% for 2021 heading into this event and those troubles resurfaced at times before he closed out the match with a master class in the final set.
His opponent here is ‘The Wizard’ and he came into this event last year widely tipped to do well but this year he comes into this, not in the same vein of form.
His best effort on the floor is just a solitary Quarter-Final and on stage he replicated that by losing in the Quarter-Final of the UK Open to eventual champion, James Wade.
Disappointingly he failed to qualify for the Matchplay and the World Grand Prix and want his usual self representing Australia at the World Cup of Darts. It’s not the easiest match to call but I’m going for Whitlock to just about edge this one, being the more reliable of the two at the business end of legs.
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Prediction: Simon Whitlock to Win
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