Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship Tips – JP
Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship Preview
It was another good session for James Punt last night. He landed three lovely winners from five picks, let’s hope for more of the same today. His Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship preview and tips are below.
John O’Shea vs. Darius Labanauskas
What has happened to Lucky D? A player who had been steadily moving up the rankings, getting into the big events but has rarely been sighted in 2022. He had to qualify via the PDC Nordic & Baltic qualifier.
Darius has won just three of his last eleven matches on the pro tour and those were against Jimmy Hendriks, Darren Webster and Danny Jansen. Labanauskas reached the quarter finals here in 2020 and his Ally Pally record is played 11 and won 7.
Poor Form
John O’Shea is not in much better form, losing six of his last ten matches. His seasonal average is 89.7, a fraction better than Labanauskas’ 88.5. The Irishman is making his Ally Pally debut. These two have met twice, both this year, and both won one match, both ending 6-4.
Labanauskas is the 1.90 favourite and O’Shea 2.10.
This looks like the proverbial coin toss. Labanauskas’ Ally Pally experience might be the deciding factor, but the match makes no appeal betting wise. No bet.
Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship Tip: No Bet
Martijn Kleermaker vs. Xicheng Han
I have always opposed the Chinese qualifiers as their quality in generally very low. It will change one day and their original qualifier, Zong Xiao Chen, who won the Chinese Premier League, looked like he could be the one. However, due to Chinese Covid restrictions, he is not able to take his place and is replaced by Xicheng Han, the runner up, but he isn’t in the same class. His seasonal average is 80.6.
Martijn Kleermaker reached the 4th round last year but he hasn’t had much success this season. His seasonal average has dropped to 89.9 and his recent form sees six defeats in his last ten matches. He beat Nathan Aspinall at the recent Players Championship finals, but he has averaged under 90 in nine of his last ten. The good news is that should still be good enough to win this. He is unbackable at 1.13 to win the match but a correct score is in order.
Of the last seven Chinese players to get to Ally Pally all but one was whitewashed.
Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship Tip: 1 point Martin Kleermaker to win 3-0 @ 1.75 with Ladbrokes
Callan Rydz vs. Josh Rock
The big draw on the bill today. The hottest property in darts, Josh Rock, vs. the previous hottest property in darts, Callan Rydz.
Rydz hasn’t kicked on in the way many expected but he has won two players championship titles in 2021, reached three major quarter finals, including here last year, and a European Championship semi-final.
He has won six of his last ten matches and reached the quarter finals of the recent Players Championship quarter finals. The truth is that he was lucky to do so as he just played some poor opponents. His scoring was poor, and we have not seen the kind of regular heavy scoring that he was dishing out this time last year.
Game Of 2 Halves
Josh Rock played a game of two halves in his opener against Jose Justicia. He was nervous and poor in the first two sets, losing the second, but he then settled and won the last two in a canter. Afterwards he said that he was now in the tournament, that he has got the nerves out of the way and now he is going to win it. He lacks not for confidence nor talent.
If Rydz was in the same sort of form as he was 12 months ago, we could have had a cracker but while Rydz’ seasonal average is 94.0, more recently it’s nearer 90 and Rocks nearer 100.
Rock is the 1.36 favourite and Rydz 3.50. They haven’t met before and it would be good to see them both in full flow, but right now, I have to expect Rock to win. Rydz is a very fast player, and he can unravel very quickly when things are not going well. I expect Rock to be able to knock Rydz out of his stride and get the win, possibly by a comfortable margin.
Wednesday Afternoon PDC World Championship Tip: Josh Rock to win -1.5 sets @ 1.80 with Ladbrokes
Dave Chisnall vs. Andrew Gilding
Andrew Gilding was a lucky boy in his first-round match against Robert Owen. The Welshman was subject to a high level of abuse from the crowd, mainly for being Welsh, which is deemed enough for the pissed-up, coked-up football fans in the crowd.
Despite this, he took the game to Gilding, winning the first set, should have won the second but lost it 2-3. Gilding took the lead by winning the third before Owen squared it 2-2. Gilding won the final set as Owen’s finishing deserted him. It was a match that Owen should have won but he struggled with the fact that he was playing the crowd. Some will say that ‘he asked for it’, but that would be the same people that abuse anyone who isn’t English.
No Abuse
Dave Chisnall is English so he will be free from abuse. He is also a better player than Gilding. He beat Gilding in the final of the Belgian Darts Open in September, is 6-3 up in their H2H’s and has won their last four. Chisnall has won six of his last ten matches, but he is playing very well.
Seven of his last ten matches have seen ton plus averages and he ended the players championship events with back-to-back semi-finals, reached the European Championship quarter finals, won PC25 and the Belgian Darts Open all in the last three months. That is playing to a very high standard for a long period of time.
Goldfinger Still Seeking Maiden Win
Gilding has also won six of his last ten matches, has hit two ton plus averages in those ten but seven were sub 93 averages. Gilding has never won a PDC title of any description in a ten-year career. He has now won three matches at Ally Pally, with a highest average of 92.0. Chisnall has played 29 and won 19 at the Palace on the Hill. Fifteen saw averages of 98+. Chizzy has played 11 last 64 stage matches here, winning nine, winning five 3-0, two 3-1 and two 3-2.
Chisnall is the 1.36 favourite, Gilding 3.50. Gilding is capable of better than he showed the other day, but he would probably still need Chizzy to have an off day.
