World Matchplay

Posted: 16.07.13 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

Here is our preview of the World Matchplay that kicks off on Saturday!

So it is the Matchplay next. Darts tournaments come thick and fast these days. The part time coverage of the Euro Championship was just two weeks ago! There will be no sharing of darts coverage with Le Tour though this time! I did spot this bike parked up outside my local pub in Brockenhurst. I bet this rider from “Team Stella” doesn’t wear lycra!

Anyway, darts, 28 degrees outside but we are still mad for darts aren’t we? Of course we are, we have the top 16 of the 2 year order of merit up against the top 16 of the one year order of merit, in other words a high class line up!

But high class or not can one of them stop the recent dominance of MVG and The Power? Lewis and Whitlock were the refreshing competitors in the Euro final a couple of weeks ago but the longer format of the Matchplay plays in to the hands of Phil Taylor in particular. The first round is best of 19.

An early mention of an offer from the sponsors BetVictor for anyone who perhaps agrees Phil is tough to beat over a long format or fancy the chances of anyone else other than Mighty Mike. Vic is offering a refund of up to £50 if you back Taylor (or any other player) but MVG wins the tournament. You can get 11/4 about The Power claiming his 6^th title on the bounce and possibly the only other contender (other than MVG himself of course) is Jackpot where Vic will give you 8/1 on Adie repeating the Euro trick in Blackpool!

We have a rule change too; it does not feel right when there is a tournament without one of them! In previous years the winner had to be ahead by two clear legs to claim victory. 10:9 was not sufficient and the match would continue until the 2 leg gap was achieved. Previously there was no limit to how many legs could be played until a winner was found. This has now been amended so after 5 extra legs a tie breaker will kick in if one player hasn’t managed to get 2 legs ahead!

Saturday July 20 (7pm-11pm)
First Round
Terry Jenkins v Andy Smith
Raymond van Barneveld v Mensur Suljovic
James Wade v John Part
Simon Whitlock v Jelle Klaasen

Tips

Get purring like Maurice and grab some of Vic’s deal on a refund if MVG if wins – The Power and Jackpot would be my uninspiring choices!

The Machine is always capable of a high finish and John Part proved his class with a 170 finish at the Euro event. The 9/10 from Boyles of a finish of 128 or over looks interesting.

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