2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Preview

We got underway last night and Joe Cullen gave us our first winner of the week. James will be covering EVERY match this week, check out his 2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon tips below.

Danny Noppert vs. Martin Schindler

Noppert continues to blow hot and cold. He has won six of his last ten matches and he has averaged 103 down to 85 and everything in between. He is able to win when not at his best and he has had a plenty of decent runs on the Euro Tour without ever looking like winning one.

Danny has played Schindler three times and won all three, the last two in a deciding leg. Noppert has now played in four Matchplays and he reached the semi-final last year.

Schindler has also won six of his last ten matches but he is playing with more consistency. Just one sub 90, one ton plus but there rest are mostly mid to high 90 averages. Schindler made his Matchplay debut last year and lost 8-10 to Gerwyn Price.

Noppert is the 1.75 favourite but he is on the drift as the money is going down on the German. Given his recent form, that seems fair. Another close match? Very possibly.

2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Tip: 1 point Martin Schindler to win @ 2.20 with SpreadEx

2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Tip: 1 point over 16.5 legs @ 1.80 with Boylesports

Dirk van Duijvenbode vs. Kim Huybrechts

As Dirk returns to better fitness and more practice, so his form has picked up. He has a 74% win rate in 2023, has won three Players Championships and been runner up in two Euro Tour events. He hit four ton plus averages in PC16 on Tuesday before a substandard 89 allowed Ryan Joyce to knock him out in the quarter final.

The Aubergenius was back to smashing in the 180s, hitting 38 across 76 legs. That’s 0.50 per leg and anymore of that and its goodnight Kim.

Losing Streak

Huybrechts has a win rate of just 54% and is averaging 92.4 in 2023. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and the last six in a row. He does have a very good H2H record against Van Duijvenbode, winning four of their six previous matches.

Most of that form is a bit stale and Dirk is a much improved player than he was a few years ago. Kim has played in eight previous Matchplays and only won a single match.

Dirk is the 1.33 favourite with Kim 3.80. Given their relative form, Dirk does look like a stick on and it may be a case of not who wins, but by how big a margin does Dirk win by. Huybrechts’ average losing margin in seven first round matches is 4. This could be something similar, or worse.

2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Tip: 2 points Dirk van Duijvenbode to win -2.5 legs @ 1.75 with Ladbrokes

Damon Heta vs. Josh Rock

This could be fun. Heta warmed up for this by winning PC16 on Tuesday, his second Players Championship title of 2013. He has won nine of his last ten matches and looks in top form.

Heta has lost both his first round matches here and his record in the ranked majors does need improving. He has lost five of his last six first round matches in the ranked majors (Grand Slam excluded due to the group phase).

He has now played Josh Rock six times and it is 3-3, but it was Heta who won their first three, and Rock the last three, all six played in 2022. The last two were both Players Championship semi-finals and Rock won them both 7-3.

Rock Not Firing

Rock is not in great form, losing five of his last ten matches and there were a couple of lame performances in the two Players Championship events this week. We can forgive him the odd blip but he’d have preferred to have won a few more matches in the build up to his Matchplay debut.

This is only his 6th ranked major and so far, he has won six of his thirteen matches in them. His best run was in this year’s World Championship, so he is getting there.

This is a tricky one. Heta’s red hot form or Rocks recent hold over Heta? The Heat will be nervous given his less than stellar record in the majors, while Rock is on his Blackpool debut.

Rock is the 1.70 favourite with Heta 2.33. Rock is too short for me, given Heta’s recent form. However, Heta is not banker material in majors.

Rock has hit the most 180s in four of their six matches and I’ll take to do it again.

2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Tip: 1 point Josh Rock to hit the most 180s @ 2.15 with Hills

James Wade vs Chris Dobey

Wade is in good form having reached the semi-final of the European Matchplay two weeks ago and backed that up with a quarter final in Tuesdays Players Championship 16.

He has put on nearly two points on his seasonal average in 2023 and in the last couple of weeks he has been consistently scoring in the high 90s and he hit three big ton plus averages (104, 107, 109).

Wade is known as a lethal finisher, not a particularly heavy scorer, but he has been the complete package recently. He even hit ten maximums in his 5-7 defeat by Luke Humphries in the Euro Tour semi-final.

Wade has a 5-2 H2H record against Dobey. They haven’t played since 2021 but not a lot has changed since then. They have played two first to ten leg matches, Wade beat Dobey 10-4 in the 2021 Masters and Dobey beat Wade 10-9 in the 2018 Players Championship finals.

Useful Experience

Chris Dobey will have picked up useful big stage experience after playing in this year’s Premier League but much of that experience was of losing. His recent form sees six wins from his last ten and he was playing some great stuff in this week’s Players Championship events.

He only won three matches but he hit three ton plus averages. He is still putting in too many sub 90’s, less of them recently, but he is more likely to hit a flat spot than Wade.

Wade is the marginal favourite at 1.91, Dobey 2.00. Wade is a former Matchplay Champion and a five time runner up. He has only lost three first round matches in seventeen appearances.

Dobey has played in three and lost in the first round every time. That is the difference for me. Wade will feel much more comfortable on a stage where he has enjoyed a lot of success, while Dobey has come up dry every time.

2023 World Matchplay Sunday-Afternoon Tip: 2 points James Wade to win @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes, Betvictor

-JamesPunt