Players Championship Finals: Can Anderson repeat Minehead magic?
Published:
Holly Thackeray | November 25, 2015
- Players Championship Finals
- November 27th-29th
- Coverage begins: 12:45 GMT
- Butlins, Minehead, Somerset
- Live on ITV 4
Players Championship Finals takes to stage in Somerset
Minehead in Somerset once again welcomes the Players Championship Finals to town, as the top 32 tungsten heroes from the 2015 PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit prepare for a darting dust-up, with the World Championship due just weeks after in December.
This tournament will be the last chance for many of these darting juggernauts to warm up against the very best in a televised tussle, before the big event over Christmas and New Year. Yet, this competition is a coveted major in it’s own right also.
World champion Gary Anderson currently holds this title as well as the former, as he excelled during winter last year, but the Flying Scotsman’s darts have gone significantly downhill recently. Can he retain this trophy to get back on track in time for the festive season’s silverware?
November not kind to Anderson
With Coral, Anderson is understandably an underdog at 9/1 to keep this competition’s medal in his collection, after being ousted on Scottish soil in the World Series of Darts Finals by dark horse Terry Jenkins in only the second round, after crashing out at the same stage in the Grand Slam of Darts to Mark Webster before that.
The Scot will certainly be motivated to end a bad month in style, especially away from the pressure of home support, but the contest for his crown may be too much, as first up he faces an in-form Phil Taylor.
Speaking of the The Power, punters can pounce on enticing odds of 13/2 for the second favourite, after Taylor made the Grand Slam final and the semis of the World Series of Darts Finals. The English all-time great is always there or thereabouts, and has reached four of the seven finals since this event began, winning three.
All Wright on the night?
Yet again, fan idol Peter Wright will bring his beguiling brand of showmanship to Somerset, after once more coming agonisingly close to glory in Glasgow, where he was pipped to the World Series of Darts Finals post at the last by a magnificent Michael van Gerwen.
Despite routinely making finals and semis in the biggest events on the darting calendar, Snakebite is always the bridesmaid but never the bride and is yet to hold aloft a PDC major in his career. Can he go one further this time? Odds of 15/2 say the Scotsman will come back all guns blazing but, having given his all last time out to still come away with nothing, burnout could be on the cards.
Then, of course, there is Mighty Mike, who took this crown back in 2013 and is best value now at 6/4 to be a menace in Minehead, before his bullish performances begin and the odds inevitably shorten.
In case you lost count, Van Gerwen has now captured the Masters, European Championship, Grand Slam, World Matchplay and UK Open plus World Series of Darts Finals in 2015. The world number one looks truly unstoppable as he builds momentum with the biggest prize in eye-line.
As an outside shout, fellow Dutch darter Raymond van Barneveld is hitting form at just the right tungsten time. Barney has a generous draw, with his half unlikely to present problems until the quarters or semis, where Adrian Lewis and Wright are respective potential oche opponents, but certainly beatable, making the veteran an intriguing 18/1.
Related
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Coral’s betting tip: Dominant dartsman Van Gerwen is best to back now at 6/4 to win the Players Championship Finals. Grab him at this price while you can!
