PDC World Championship of Darts 2012

[Choppa]

Yes, the World Championships are infact just about upon us once again! Starting Friday morning from the venerable Alexandra Palace in London, 6am AEDST. Adrian Lewis will be attempting to defend his title but of course the man to beat is the 15 time world champ, Phil Taylor. Coming off an upset defeat to Mervyn King last week in the Players Championship, you can be sure he'll be set to try and make it 16 World titles.

The preliminary and opening round draw has been conducted, and here it is (preliminary round matches identified with (P)); and markets for these matches courtesy of Sportingbet (no odds for the prelim matches or 1st round matches involving the prelminary round players):

Preliminary Round
Connie Finnan (Republic of Ireland) v Warren French (New Zealand)
Haruki Muramatsu (Japan) v Dennis Nilsson (Sweden)
Devon Petersen (South Africa) v Jose De Souza (Portugal)
Joe Cullen (England) v Oliver Ferenc (Serbia)
Kevin Munch (Germany) v Lee Choon Peng (Malaysia)
Paul Barham (England) v Scott MacKenzie (Hong Kong)
Per Laursen (Denmark) v Petri Korte (Finland)
Dietmar Burger (Austria) v Christian Perez (Philippines).

First Round Draw Bracket
Phil Taylor (1, England) v Muramatsu/Nilsson
Mark Dudbridge (32, England) $3.00 v Dave Chisnall (England) $1.36
Vincent van der Voort (16, Netherlands) $1.65 v Mark Hylton (England) $2.15
Andy Hamilton (17, England) $1.36 v Antonio Alcinas (Spain) $3.00
Raymond van Barneveld (8, Netherlands) $1.10 v James Richardson (England) $6.25
Brendan Dolan (25, Northern Ireland) $1.70 v Kim Huybrechts (Belgium) $2.08
Paul Nicholson (9, Australia) $1.17 v Mensur Suljovic (Austria) $4.75
Alan Tabern (24, England) v Burger/Perez
Simon Whitlock (5, Australia) $1.20 v Dennis Smith (England) $4.25
Steve Beaton (28, England) $1.35 v Magnus Caris (Sweden) $3.05
Mervyn King (12, England) $1.07 v Geoff Kime (Australia) $7.50
Colin Osborne (21, England) $1.85 v Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) $1.90
Gary Anderson (4, Scotland) $1.05 v Jyhan Artut (Germany) $8.75
Steve Brown (29, England) v Petersen/de Sousa
Colin Lloyd (13, England) $1.36 v Darin Young (USA) $3.00
Andy Smith (20, England) $1.40 v Scott Rand (England) $2.85
Adrian Lewis (2, England) $1.14 v Nigel Heydon (England) $5.25
Robert Thornton (31, Scotland) $1.60 v Ian White (England) $2.25
Wayne Jones (15, England) v Barham/MacKenzie
Jamie Caven (18, England) $1.60 v Roland Scholten (Netherlands) $2.25
Wes Newton (7, England) $1.08 v Kurt van de Rijck (Belgium) $7.00
Justin Pipe (26, England) $1.15 v Sean Reed (Australia) $5.00
Terry Jenkins (10, England) v Cullen/Ferenc
Co Stompe (23, Netherlands) $1.29 v Michael Smith (England) $3.40
Mark Webster (6, Wales) $1.28 v Richie Burnett (Wales) $3.50
John Part (27, Canada) $1.57 v John Henderson (Scotland) $2.32
Mark Walsh (11, England) v Finnan/French
Kevin Painter (22, England) $1.50 v Arron Monk (England) $2.50
James Wade (3, England) v Laursen/Korte
Peter Wright (30, England) $1.70 v Jelle Klaasen (Netherlands) $2.08
Ronnie Baxter (14, England)$1.34 v Steve Farmer (England) $3.10
Denis Ovens (19, England) v Munch/Choon Peng.

Four Australians in the draw: Nicholson, Whitlock (returning from injury), Kime and Reed.

[Strong Play]

kevin painter and scott rand both huge value at 1.50 and 2.85 respectively.

[grunter]

Mark Hylton @ $2.15

[Choppa]

Big double session underway tonight. Jelle Klaasen already through to Round 2, defeating the in form Peter Wright.

Matches to come tonight:

Baxter 1.36 vs Farmer 3.10
Thornton 1.60 vs White 2.25
Tabern vs Burger/Perez

Beaton 1.35 vs Caris 3.05
van der Voort 1.65 vs Hylton 2.15
Nicholson 1.17 vs Suljovic 4.75
Ovens vs Munch/Choon Peng

I'm looking at Ronnie Baxter, who should be too solid, at the $1.36 mark. Both Caris and Hylton both represent value, but will prefer to watch.

[Choppa]

Baxter putting on one of the WORST displays of darts at the highest level I've seen for a long, long time. Well done son!

[Choppa]

Is it over for Raymond van Barneveld? Out of sorts for a while now, and whitewashed by the previously pretty much unknown James Richardson this morning, who, to be fair, threw very well, particularly when it counted.

Tonight brings us:
Prelim Round: Per Laursen $1.30 vs Petri Korte $3.30
Round 1 matches:
Andy Hamilton $1.36 vs Antonio Alcinas $3.00
Mervyn King $1.07 vs Geoff Kime (AUS) $7.00
Kevin Painter $1.50 vs Aaron Monk $2.50
James Wade vs Laursen or Korte (no odds available)

Don't see much by way of upsets in Round 1 tonight, but if Kevin Painter has a championship hangover (after winning the last major event), Monk has potential to take advantage.

[Choppa]

Round 1 is now done and dusted. Thirty two players remain. The two biggest upsets in Round 1 would be the defeats of Raymond van Barneveld and Mark Webster, whilst the finalists from last year, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson, should have both lost, but managed to squak through. Most impressive - The Wizard, Simon Whitlock, who on one leg (7 weeks after breaking a leg/ankle), threw a 3 dart average of 105 (easily the best of the round)!!!

Here's the Round 2 match-ups and prices (where available), courtesy of Sportingbet:

Friday morning:
Wayne Jones $1.25 vs Roland Scholten $3.80
Adrian Lewis $1.13 vs Robert Thornton $5.50
Wes Newton $1.40 vs Justin Pipe $2.85
Intersting matches coming up this morning, probably plump for Wes Newton at the $1.40 mark as my way to go.


Saturday morning:
Kevin Painter $1.74 vs Mark Walsh $2.05
James Wade $1.20 vs Jelle Klaasen $4.40
Steve Farmer $1.40 vs Kevin Munch $2.85

Wednesday morning:
Terry Jones $1.48 vs Co Stompe $2.60
Richie Burnett vs John Part
Andy Hamilton $1.78 vs Vincent van der Voort $2.00
Kim Huybrechts $1.62 vs James Richardson $2.25
Phil Taylor $1.10 vs Dave Chisnall $6.50
Paul Nicholson $1.28 vs Alan Tabern $3.50

Thursday morning:
Mervyn King $1.48 vs Michael van Gerwen $2.60
Simon Whitlock vs Steve Beaton
Colin Lloyd vs Scott Rand
Gary Anderson vs Devon Petersen

[Choppa]

The World Championships resume after a few days off for Xmas.

Round 2 matches continue, with action getting underway in less than an hour. A massive double session today.

Session 1:
Terry Jenkins $1.48 vs Co Stompe $2.60
Richie Burnett $1.74 vs John Part $2.05
Vincent van der Voort $2.00 vs Andy Hamilton $1.78
Session 2:
Kim Huybrechts $1.62 vs James Richardson $2.25
Phil Taylor $1.10 vs Dave Chisnall $6.50
Paul Nicholson $1.28 vs Alan Tabern $3.50

Three words: Go the Co!!!

The value probably lies in the matches in the opening session. Note that Burnett has not beaten Part ever, including four defeats in 2011. Be wary of taking the shorts on Taylor against Chisnell. Whilst Richardson threw very well against Barney, Huybrechts is going quite well and a $1.62 quote seems reasonable. I actually think Nicholson is the sleeper for the championship, but this could be a banana skin, so he'll need to be on his game.

[Choppa]

Late word is that Co Stompe has a minor hand injury, after being bitten by a dog of all things....might be worth to lay.

[Choppa]

That's good... when exactly is this?

Tournament is on now, I believe the final is on January 2. If you're in Australia, it is televised live on Fox Sports (you'll need to consult your program guide for exact details if you have Foxtel/Austar). Today's play start at 12am AEDST (in less than 2 hours); and the late session is at 6am AEDST. Otherwise go to pdc.tv for details.

Now, if you followed the lead from last night, you would have been led into Part and Huybrechts; and avoided doing your balls on Phil 'The Power' Taylor, whose bid for a 16th World title fell short at the hands of Dave Chisnall in Round 2.

Today's play consists of (odds via Sportingbet):

ROUND 2:
Mervyn King $1.48 vs Michael van Gerwen $2.60
Simon Whitlock $1.23 vs Steve Beaton $4.00
Scott Rand $1.70 vs Colin Lloyd $2.10
Gary Anderson $1.07 vs Devon Petersen $7.50

ROUND 3:
Adrian Lewis $1.20 vs Wayne Jones $4.40
Terry Jenkins $1.50 vs Justin Pipe $2.50

The value here is with Justin Pipe. I do also like van Gerwen to upset King, though not sure if I'll back it. Don't really recommend much else today - expect the Rand-Lloyd match to be very close (quite possibly a 4-3 result), and Lewis vs Jones could be closer than expected. If you want to take the shorts on Anderson, go ahead - he should win.