The second day of third round action continues on Tuesday with a double session. The afternoon session is good in itself but it’s the evening session that looks to be the main focus of attention as three of the last four World Champions are in action. Once again our darts expert takes you through the six matches.
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Day Eleven of the Championships is on Tuesday 28th December
Steve Lennon vs Mervyn King
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 12:40pm
Irishman Lennon caused the first big upset of the tournament when he defeated Krzysztof Ratajski in the second round, building on his first round success over Madars Razma.
His success to this point has been built in two areas of performance his accuracy and consistency on the scoring part of his game. During the event he’s thrown just 4% stray darts when aiming for Treble 20 or Treble 19 and he’s hit 13 180’s in his opening two games.
On his fifth venture in the PDC World Championships he’ll be hoping to build on his best run ever in this event as he faces an opponent who he’s played four times previously and defeated on three of these occasions.
The last meeting between the pair and solitary meeting this year went the way of the pre-match favourite Mervyn King and he boasts a way superior experience in the event as he’ll be appearing in this for the fifteenth time.
He was a Semi-Finalist way back in 2009 but there’s reasonable grounds to suggest that King has been playing the darts of his life for the past 18 months having reached both the Players Championship Finals in November last year and The Masters in January.
This belief is backed up by the fact that in October he produced his highest ever TV average of 115.62 at World Series of Darts Finals as he beat James Wade 6-0.
He looked in all sorts of trouble in his opening match having trailed Ryan Joyce 2-0. He found a way back in to the match however and never looked back as he closed out a 3-2 victory, getting better as the game went on.
I expect the consistency of King to wear down Lennon over this longer format.
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Prediction: Mervyn King to Win
Ryan Searle vs Danny Noppert
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 1:45pm
On paper this looks an excellent game and is probably the pick of the afternoon session as it features two players enjoying an excellent end to 2021.
Ryan Searle was runner-up at the final tournament before the World Championships where lost 11-10 to Peter Wright.
He opened up with a 3-0 and comfortable victory over one of the most talked about players at this years event William Borland. He was always in control in that game and beat the lacklustre Scot with the minimum of fuss. He’s shown great consistency in this event the last few years and is certainly a player very much on the up.
Noppert is also on the up and has enjoyed a very strong end of season campaign by reaching the Semi-Final of World Grand Prix, where he lost to eventual champion Jonny Clayton after defeating Michael Van Gerwen in the first round. He then backed this up further by reaching the Quarter-Final of the next tournament, the European Championships.
This latter success was particularly poignant for this match as he beat today’s opponent 10-4 in the Last 16, in fact he leads previous meetings 5-0. Perhaps its the slower more deliberate style that slows down the fluent Searle.
Danny averaged just 88.42 in his opening 3-1 success against Jason Heaver but it was arguably a better standard than that. He lost the first set but rallied well, a few missed doubles dragged that average down and I suspect this could be a very close game.
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Prediction: Over 5.5 Sets
Joe Cullen vs Martijn Kleermaker
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 3:00pm
This should be played at a very decent pace and be a very easy watch between two big scorers.
Kleermaker missed last years event after having to withdraw due to contracting Covid. He’s making up for that in this years event and has won both his opening two rounds 3-1. He defeated John Michael with a 91.17 average in the first round, then backed this up by knocking out twentieth seed Simon Whitlock in the next round.
The Dutch speedster had always looked a good scorer and has had darts at the double in nearly 80% of the legs he’s played so far in this event. It’s his doubling that can sometimes lead him in to trouble. Coming into this event, on stage in 2021 his success on the outer rung was just 23%. He’s upped that to 33.9% here but as a golden rule you sort of want that to be up at 40% plus.
He’s a dangerous player, as reaching the final of Players Championship 11 shows but that still leaves him with a bit to find with today’s opponent who’s won two floor events himself this year and lost two further finals, he’s enjoying a decent 2021 on the dartboard.
On stage he’s also looked good at times. He was a Semi-Finalist in the European Championships finding only the eventual winner Rob Cross too good. He also performed well at the Grand Slam of Darts in November. He was defeated 10-5 by Michael Smith but he was the better player for much of this.
He’s always been one of those touted as a potential World Champion and this years draw represents a good opportunity for him to achieve his best run in this event, a Semi-Final is a real possibility. He can outscore Kleermaker on the big three treble visits and his superior doubling can be the difference.
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Prediction: Joe Cullen to win -1.5 Sets
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The EVENING treble ⬇️
Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 7:10pm
Two major winners collide in the opener in what promises to be an excellent evening session.
Cross, the 2018 World Champion has looked better than ever in recent months. Having drifted to 80/1 for the title in the summer, he came into the event as a widely tipped live outsider at 28/1.
That’s hardly a surprise as his throw seems to be bang on at the moment, akin to what it was when he became World Champion some four years ago. As a consequence his results have been much improved. He lifted the European Championship crown for the second time in three years in October, defeating Michael Van Gerwen 11-8 in the final.
He then backed this up by winning a floor event the following week along with a Semi-Final, Quarter-Final and Last 16 run. On each occasion it took his opponent producing a 100+ average to defeat him, when he did lose. To underline this he defeated Raymond Van Barneveld 3-1 in his opening match, withstanding everything Barney threw at him early on before running out a relatively easy winner.
Gurney also came through his opener 3-1, as he defeated Ricky Evans in what was a good quality match. The former World Grand Prix and Players Championship winner has looked more solid in recent months too.
He lost in the Quarter-Final of the Players Championship Finals at the end of November and produced back to back 100+ match averages for the first time since August, recording wins over Alan Soutar, Michael Smith and James Wade before losing 10-9 in a terrific Quarter-Final to Ryan Searle. These have met a number of times before and it’s Cross who’s won both match this year. In fact he lost just two of their last eleven encounters.
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Prediction: Rob Cross to Win
Peter Wright vs Damon Heta
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 8:15pm
No players has won more individual titles than Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright this year. He was impeccable in winning the World Matchplay, averaging 104.91 and brushing all comers aside with the minimum of fuss and he comes into this event having reached the final of the two most recent events prior to this, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals. He lost in the Grand Slam to Gerwyn Price and won the latter event, defeating Ryan Searle 11-10 in the final.
He came through his opener at this years Worlds with no bother as he defeated Ryan Meikle 3-0, averaging some 13 points higher than his opponent who averaged just 79.29. You have to think he won’t have it all his own way here though as 31 seed Damon Heta stands in his way.
The Aussie came through his second round clash with Luke Woodhouse 3-1 with a 94.65 average but it could’ve been so different. The usual big 180 hitter didn’t find his scoring boots until late on and at that point he could’ve been eliminated had Woodhouse took his chances. He didn’t and a plethora of missed doubles cost him dear, allowing Heta to pinch legs and sets he didn’t have any right winning.
It could be the kickstart at the Worlds Heta needed as he’s never looked overly at ease up on the Ally Pally stage but that was an improved display. The pair have met twice this year and it’s one win apiece. The most recent meeting was at the aforementioned Players Championship Finals where Wright won 10-8. This could have legs again and if it does these two relatively big 180 hitters can tot up the maximum count nicely.
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Prediction: Over 13.5 180’s
Michael Van Gerwen vs Chris Dobey
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Round 3
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Match due to start at 9:30pm
The nights action concludes with MVG taking in one of the best 180 hitters around Chris Dobey.
Dobey came through a tight encounter with Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 3-2 in the second round have trailed 2-0 early on. He had chances to win both those sets however and he just kept chipping away at his opponent, always believing he’d come out on top.
He only hit two 180’s in that match and they both came late on as he started to exert his authority, he’ll need those to be more regular if he’s to beat an opponent who he trails in the head to head 0-9.
MVG needs no introduction and will be desperately looking to reclaim the title what he always feels he should win to demonstrate his prowess as what he believes he is, the best in the World.
He defeated Chas Barstow 3-1 in his opening match which seems like it was an eternity ago. As usual a dropped set caused him a few issues but he was always the better player if truth be told. He regularly meets Ricky Evans at this stage in years gone, winning by 4-0 the past two years but his opponent today can push him much closer.
MVG hasn’t enjoyed the success he has in previous campaigns and currently he’s not a holder of a major title. He has been in the winners circle twice but that’s a barren year for the ‘Green Machine’. Dobey is regularly the on the wrong end of a thriller in the big TV tournaments and the same could be on the cards here. I do think however he could cause an upset here despite their head to head record. I’m not bold enough to tip that so stick to the safer option of him hitting the most 180’s.
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Prediction: Chris Dobey Most 180’s
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