Before a dart was thrown the anticipation of this being a second round match was something all darts fans were looking forward too. Josh Rock is very much the player everyone is talking about as he’s really burst on the scene. For many causal darting fan they probably haven’t heard of him but this lad can play. Only Michael Van Gerwen has averaged more than Rock over the course of the season, who just has all the attributes to succeed in this game. He made his debut in this event on the weekend and he defeated Jose Justicia 3-1 hitting three 180’s in the process. It was professional if unspectacular and we know he has levels he can go up. He’s hit 180’s throughout 2022 at a rate of 0.30 per leg, just under one, every three legs and he’s hit three or more maximums in 69 of the 131 matches he’s played, which you have to remember are often very short format matches in comparison to this tournament. Rydz is also a very good maximum hitter. He’s notched them up at 0.26 per leg in 2022, just over one every four legs and although at times he’s been inconsistent, when he peppers that red bit he musters the maximums up at a much better rate. During last years event Rydz reached the Quarter-Final and hit 6, 4, 7, 2 and 11 maximums in these matches. Throughout this year he’s also notched up three or more in 45 of the 94 matches he’s played. If these turn up and give us anywhere near the match we expect, the both players to hit 3 or more 180’s mark should easily be surpassed.

Dave ‘Chizzy’ Chisnall has for many years been one of the best 180 hitters in World Darts, in fact it’s undoubtedly his biggest strength. This year he’s playing better than ever and is really fancied to go deep in this event. Throughout 2022 he’s hitting maximums for fun at 0.35 per leg, one every three and half legs and he’s hit more than his opponent in 62% of the matches he’s played this year. Looking at his recent form he’s notched up four or more 180’s in 13 of his last 15 games. If you compare this to that of Andrew Gilding, he’s only managed to register four or more 180’s in 2 of his last 15 games. This includes in his opening round victory where he hit just 3 in 20 legs of darts. Whilst Gilding has enjoyed a superb year himself, his 180 per leg hitting needs some improving to trouble Chizzy on that metric here. His 180 per leg ratio in 0.23 per leg, just under one every four legs and he’s hit more than his opponent in 42.5% of matches this year. All of which leaves him with something to find against Chisnall here.

With 8 matches today there’s plenty to look at to build an Acca for interest. Beginning with the opening match of the day and John O’Shea should hit more 180’s than Darius Labanauskas who’s one of the least efficient maximum hitters on the pro tour. His 180 per leg ratio is 0.10 per leg, one every ten legs and he’s hit more than 1 in a match just twice in his last 22 games. O’Shea in comparison hit’s them at 0.19 per leg, one every 5 legs of darts, double that of his opponent pretty much. Labanauskas comes into this bang out of form too.

The next leg sees Martijn Kleermaker, who should have way too much for his Chinese opponent, who by rights is the second choice from the Chinese Premier League. Han during this event found the maximums at just 0.10 per leg, which in low in comparison to Kleermaker who hits them at 0.22 per leg. Kleermaker averages 10 points higher per turn than his Chinese opponent and should be able to win the match and hit the most 180’s comfortably.

The next part moves on to the evening action and Danny Baggish against Mervyn King. The American came through his opening match against Matt Campbell in straight sets to win 3-0 and hit just one 180. This game should have much more legs however and the 180 line of 1.5 looks easily beatable for ‘The Gambler’ who in his previous ten matches coming into this event hit 2 or more maximums in nine of them.

The bet concludes with Stephen Bunting in the final game of the day and I like the look of his average being higher than 92.5. He comes into this match on the back of an average of 83.98 but prior to that he beat this mark in his previous 8 matches and his seasonal average this year is 2 points higher at 94.85. Whilst he was eliminated in the opening round last year averaging 88, he collapsed late on really and was above this mark for much of the match early on. The year before in this event he reached the Semi-Final and he averaged above 92.5 in all matches. I think they’ve underestimated his capabilities here.