SMITH can cause Whitlock a few problems in opener

The PDC Darts World Championship continues Tuesday night with Robert Thornton awaiting the winner of the opener (19:00) between Colin Lloyd and Beau Anderson.

Bookmakers make Jaws (Lloyd) the 2/5 (betfred) for the game as the 40-year-old makes his 15th consecutive appearance in this tournament. Lloyd is a former semi-finalist here (2002) and not since 2009 has he gone out in the opening round. His opponent is Australian Beau Anderson who is the brother to Kyle Anderson who give Ian White a game before going down 3-1. Beau is 5/2 (SPREADEX) to come through against his experienced opponent.

Jaws is not one of the most prolific 180 scorers on the circuit and as such it might be worth a little interest on the 11/8 (CORAL) on Anderson to get the most 180s in this game.

The second game of the night (20:00) is the battle of the qualifiers between Zoran Lerchbacher and Ben Ward. Ward is the 2/5 (boylesports) favourite for the game and qualifying by virtue of having coming second in the PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit behind Ross Smith who had already qualified. Austrian Lerchbacher is the 9/4 (GENERAL) outsider though as the early games have shown anything can happen in these short format.

The winner of the game will go up against World number two Michael van Gerwen. Mighty Mike was runner-up last year and will be desperate to get off to a good start in his bid to go one better this time around. The Dutchman is likely to roll through either man quickly and comfortably and can be backed at 1/8 (paddy Power) to come through 3-0.

The third game of the evening (20:30) should be one of the closer ones as it sees 30th seed Vincent van der Voort up against PDPA qualifer Matt Clark.

Bookmakers make the Dutchman the 1/2 (YOU WIN) favourite for the game as he leads the head-to-head record 3-1 though Clark can take comfort from the fact that he won the last meeting between the pair in June 2012. Van der Voort has never lost in the opening match of this tournament and made the last 16 last time out before going out to James Wade. His performances this year have been average though and Clark is 15/8 (sportingbet) for the victory. Clark is known by the nickname of Superman (no delusions there) and on his day can be a dangerous performer having reached the last 32 of the PDC in 2006 and the last 16 of the BDO in 1996. It might be worth a interest in the 5/4 (SKYBET/ladbrokes/william hill) on him to come out flying (sorry) and win the opener.

The final game of the night (22:30) sees the Wizard of Oz Simon Whitlock in action against the upcoming talents of Ross Smith. Bookmakers make Whitlock the 1/6 (GENERAL) favourite as the Australian is ranked number four in the World and has never failed to make it past the Third Round here. These two met recently in the Group Stage of the Grand Slam of Darts and it was Whitlock who came out on top 5-2. It was his second victory in three previous encounters with Smith. The 24-year-old from Kent though is an emerging talent and won four events on the PDC Challenge Tour in 2013 and I think he looks capable of taking at least one leg here. Take Smith then at 4/6 (boylesports) with a 2.5 start on the handicap.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Ross Smith +2.5 on handicap v Whitlock, 4/6 (BOYLESPORTS)
SILVER: Matt Clark to win opening set v Vincent van der Voort, 5/4 (SKYBET/ladbrokes/william hill)
BRONZE: Beau Anderson more 180s than Colin Lloyd, 11/8 (CORAL)

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17/12/2013     © Frixo 2026