World Matchplay Darts, round 1 Sunday second session: Anderson on the attack
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Blackpool is once again being lit up by the World Matchplay Darts and, as the thrilling first round draw continues with Sunday’s second session, there are more great darting duels on hand to enthrall audiences, featuring former winner James Wade and holder of Premier League and World Championship titles Gary Anderson.
Four further cracking clashes await, who are the best prices?
Dolan (evens for victory) is currently seven spots ahead of his competitor as he sits 11th in the PDC world rankings, yet the Norther Irishman has come unstuck against the Dutch Destroyer in all of their past three tussles, and has won just four of their 10 previous meetings overall. The last tie between these two ended a tight 5-6 in Van der Voort’s favour, so back him at 15/2 for an 8-10 triumph here.
Now the pair meet on the World Matchplay stage for the first time and, as the Bull has twice been a runner-up in this tournament, Serbian-born Suljovic is an outsider at 11/8 with his best finish so far the last 32.
The tongue-in-cheek nicknamed Bronzed Adonis has shown the ability to upset Anderson before but, despite being priced at excellent odds of 6/1, should fall to the Flying Scotsman (11/2 to win 10-4), who is in formidable form and has beaten Beaton in nine of 14 scraps.
After such a superb year, in which excellent Anderson claimed two major titles, he is understandably 10/11 to be King of the Oche (Player to win the match, most 180s and highest checkout. If any of the markets are tied, bets will be settled as losers).
As one of the most decorated stars in PDC history, the Machine has a point to prove following a poor Premier League season, and is odds-on at 2/7 to start strongly here by sinking the Original.
Aussie Anderson, meanwhile, has managed to slay Wade in two of their previous three meetings, and is 11/4 to do so again, though the best price for punters may be to back the Machine at 6/1 to pip him to the post and win 10-7.
