2017 PDC Worlds day 6 preview: Barney grapples with Green, The Wizard set to star

Holly Thackeray | 20.12.2016

2017 PDC World Championship

First round, day six

Tuesday, December 20th

Session starts: 19:00 GMT

Alexandra Palace, London

Live on Sky Sports Darts (3)

Barney and Green in Ally Pally Tuesday tussle

Tuesday sees more top tungsten action on TV, for fans unable to make it to Alexandra Palace for day six of the first round of the 2017 PDC World Championship.

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld famously lifted the Sid Waddell trophy for the only time back in 2007, after stunning Phil Taylor.

A decade on and Barney is back to challenge once more – but is he better than ever? The Dutch great has a difficult opening duel against Robbie Green, and his path doesn’t look likely to get any easier after that, with The Power and Michael van Gerwen potential future opponents.

In Tuesday night’s other tungsten showdowns, Brendan Dolan battles Christian Kist, while preliminary qualifiers Boris Koltsov and Dragutin Horvat fight it out for the chance to take on Simon Whitlock, who was a runner-up at the Ally Pally in 2010.

So, read on for our 2017 PDC World Championship day 6 preview…

Boris Koltsov v Dragutin Horvat

Koltsov and Horvat open Tuesday’s action.

Unsurprisingly this preliminary pair, who begin proceedings on day 6, have never met before. But, Russian chucker Koltsov looks a tempting shout at 6/4 to set up a scuffle with Whitlock.

Horvat is the odds-on 8/15 favourite, but this will be his first Ally Pally appearance, while Moscow-born The Viking previously featured in 2015, making it past the preliminary stage before being downed in the first round proper by Kevin Painter.

There’s potential value in this scuffle at even-money to go over 2.5 sets and also at 10/3 for Koltsov The Viking to conquer Horvat 2-1.

Brendan Dolan v Christian Kist

Dolan v Kist features in Coral’s 2017 PDC World Championship day 6 preview.

This is a match-up that could really go down to the wire, with Northern Irish arrowsmith Dolan even-money to get the better of Dutch dartsman Kist, having won three of their four previous meetings.

Despite this, Kist is still 4/5 favourite for the match, as The Lipstick’s star has been shining bright of late. The 30-year-old reached the Players Championship Finals quarters in 2016, and can count reigning world champ Gary Anderson, Dave Chisnall and Mensur Suljovic among his scalps.

Dolan’s experience will not make for an easy match-up however, and there are odds of 20/1 for the pair to tie for highest checkout, while a 6/4 price for over 4.5 sets is also enticing.

Raymond van Barneveld v Robbie Green

Van Barneveld v Green odds are up for grabs with Coral.

Fan hero and favourite Barney is 2/7 to overcome Kong (11/4), though this may be a closer run rumble than it first appears on paper.

Darts great Van Barneveld lost narrowly 5-6 to Merseysider Green only as recently as October at the PDPA Players Championship Ireland, but it’s one victory apiece in head-to-heads as the veteran and former world champion previously trounced his upcoming opponent 6-3 in the higher profile 2014 Grand Slam Of Darts.

Barney should still have more than enough in the tank to crush Kong, who is yet to lift his maiden major aged 42, at his first PDC World Championship. So, value can be found with Van Barneveld at 11/10 for most maximums in the match and also at 9/4 for a 3-1 victory.

Simon Whitlock v Koltsov/Horvat

Whitlock is a fan favourite.

Whitlock The Wizard will also make his first outing in the so far fascinating 2017 PDC World Championship, and will be watching the opening encounter between Koltsov and Horvat to find out who his first round foe will be.

Seeded 17th and with a second round wrangle against Darren Webster in his sights, the beloved Aussie sportsman should have more than enough tricks up his sleeve to make either opening opponent disappear.

Check out our darts section for more arrow action.