PDC World Darts Championship day 9 tips.
Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse01/01/1970 01:00 |
Damon Heta Win3-1 |
Brendan Dolan v Callan Rydz01/01/1970 01:00 |
Rydz Win3-1 |
Gabriel Clemens v Lewis Williams01/01/1970 01:00 |
Clemens Win3-1 |
Rob Cross v Raymond van Barneveld01/01/1970 01:00 |
RVB Win3-2 |
Day 9 in the PDC World Darts Championship and we are in for a treat with a bumper double session ahead.
Seasoned campaigners, Brendan Dolan and Mensur Suljovic get their tournaments underway. As well as former Grand Slam champion, Jose De Sousa.
The match we are all looking forward to though, possibly the match of the second round, Raymond van Barneveld vs Rob Cross is this evening, and what a match this could be!
Here are my tips for Day 9.
Im looking forward to this match, I think it could be a really good game. Damon Heta starts his campaign this evening in his third World Championship and will be looking to progress past the 2nd round for the first time in his career. Luke Woodhouse stands in his way, however, and this certainly won’t be an easy task.
Damon Heta has had another very solid season on the floor this year in the Players Championship Pro Tour events. He’s shown his great ability once again this season, with two fabulous runs to the final, unfortunately failing to win either of those. His seasonal average on the floor this year is a very impressive 96.31 and if he plays around that standard tonight, I think he should be ok.
He’s made steady progress over the past few seasons and has now broken into the top 32 in the World Rankings, a big milestone in the Aussie’s career. He will however need to address his form on TV this year as he has failed to get past round 3 in any TV Major this season, although he did have a run to the Quarterfinal in the World Cup of Darts, a team event.
Luke Woodhouse overcame a potential banana skin in the first round, beating James Wilson 3-1. Although looking a little tentative in the first few sets, he eventually worked it out and played some pretty good stuff to get the job done, finishing with a 91.52 average. He’s going to need a few more points on that average tonight though to trouble Heta.
I don’t expect this game to be the highest of standards but it will certainly not disappoint. Both these guys are very solid and will be desperate for a win and a good run in this tournament. Ultimately I think Damon Heta is coming into this tournament in good form and will be looking to address his TV performances. He will be too much for Woodhouse but I don’t expect it to be overly comfortable.
This is, without doubt, the standout tie of the afternoon session. Both of these players have had fabulous years and both will be looking to progress further than this point in the tournament. This has all the potential to be a classic Ally Pally match, and I believe it really could be a belter!
Brendan Dolan comes into this year’s World Championship, rejuvenated once again. He has done this a few times in his career but this time around, he’s quickened up his throw so his rhythm is miles better. I believe this is why his form has really picked up and he’s quickly climbing the rankings once again. His form on the floor in the Players Championship events has been fabulous, the highlight being a win in Players Championship 5 back in March. His seasonal average in those events of 96.29, shows his progress this year.
On TV he’s also starting to play much better, after having the reputation throughout his career of perhaps underperforming on the big stage. He had a brilliant run to the 6th round of the UK Open earlier this year and backed that up in the last TV tournament of the year before the World Championship with an incredible run to the Semi-Final of the Players Championship Finals where he lost out to Ryan Searle 11-6.
Callan Rydz is a player who’s really on the up. He possesses an outstanding natural ability and will undoubtedly become one of the game’s elites in the not so distant future. Two titles this year in the Players Championship Pro Tour events highlights his really quick rise this season. He’s now knocking on the door on the top 32 in the world and without doubt, will continue his path up to the top 16. He’s already played a game in this tournament and played pretty well winning 3-0 against Yuki Yamada, averaging 91.32.
This will almost certainly be a very tight game and it’s very hard to call, but After already playing a game in this year’s World Championship I think this will really benefit Callan Rydz. This game will be very quick also, something which Dolan may not be completely used to after only switching to a faster throw this year.
This match could be a lot closer than the bookies suggest. Lewis Williams is certainly not someone to underestimate and I’m positive Clemens will not be making that mistake. This could be a really good match and it may well be very tight.
Gabriel Clemens has had a bit of an inconsistent season by his standards. He’s normally extremely reliable and this year hasn’t quite produced the form of previous years. He’s certainly not played badly by any means, with a good showing in the Players Championship Pro Tours at times this season and had a good run to the final of Players Championship 25 in October.
He has however really struggled on TV this year failing to make it past round 2 apart from a good run to the 6th round of the UK Open earlier this year. He did have a great run to the 4th round at the World Championship last year, defeating defending champion Peter Wright on route, so will certainly not be lacking confidence on that stage.
Lewis Williams is a player who could be the next big thing, not only in Welsh darts but in World darts also. At just 19 years of age has made steady progress in his first season on the PDC tour and has impressed many! He will be looking forward to stepping onto that stage again after an extremely impressive first-round win against Toyokazu Shibata 3-0 with a 93.05 average.
I certainly wouldn’t rule out an upset this evening. I think Williams is a confident lad who could well cause a shock tonight, but it may well be a little too early in his career to get over that winning line. I expect it to be competitive, but I think Clemens’s experience will ultimately be the telling point in this contest.
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The tie of the session today and perhaps the tie of the second round as two darting heavyweights go head to head. Amazingly this is a round 2 match but that’s because Barney isn’t seeded after coming out of retirement this year. This will be a fascinating contest and could potentially go either way.
The reborn, rejuvenated, Rob Cross has had a magnificent year. After there were massive question marks over his ability to sustain his career in the elite, he responded superbly. At the beginning of the season, the question marks still remained after a 9th place finishes in the Premier League, with pundits and fans even suggesting it may be his last campaign for a while. The last few months however have been fantastic. With a win at the European Championship in October where he played very well, seemed to really rejuvenate Voltage and he hasn’t looked back since then. He backed that win up with a title in Players Championship 26 just a few days later, his first Players Championship win for 3 years. He then had a really good run to the Quarter Final of the Grand Slam losing a great game 16-14 to James Wade.
Rob Cross is an outside pick for a lot of pundits and fans to go on to win this year’s World Championship and I certainly don’t disagree. He’s one of the in-form players coming into this event but it’s going to be a tough start against a returning Raymond van Barneveld.
Raymond van Barneveld returned to the ally pally just a few days ago, with a packed-out auditorium of his loyal Barney Army. He certainly didn’t disappoint either with a seriously promising 3-0 win over a tricky Lourence Ilagan with a 96.70 average. That will do wonders for his confidence especially after bowing out so disappointedly in his first game just a few years ago. This is a real chance for Barney to stamp down his authority and show the world and his fellow players that he still has the game to win. A win this evening against Rob Cross would almost certainly send out that message so it’s, without doubt, a big night in Raymond’s career.
I believe this game will have it all, lots of 180s, high finishes and a lot of drama. It’s such a hard game to call. The stats definitely show Rob Cross is in better form coming into this match but I just think the crowd will play a big part in this game. If Barneveld gets into this game quickly and wins the first set I believe he will go on to win the match. The faithful Barney Army may well get him through this match, although being a very close one! I certainly don’t rule out Cross, either way, it will be tight.
James is the resident darts expert providing free tips and previews for major darting events.
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