*** World Darts Championship - Day 9 ***

Going to stick all the matches on 1 thread as opposed to the afternoon and evening like Friday. There seems to be a bit of confusion on running order between Oddschecker and PDC Website so I'm going with the official site and hoping its right

Kevin Painter v Ronnie Baxter:

R1 - Painter bt Leung Chun Nam 3-0
Ave: 94.97
180's: 4
HC: 160
CO %: 53%

Baxter bt Dennis Priestley 3-1
Ave: 88.72
180's: 3
HC: 89
CO %: 26%

Opening match of the day sees one of my favourite players Painter take on the veteran Ronnie Baxter. Painter had a virtual bye in the first round but played well under very little pressure. I don't think we'll ever see him contest world finals again but still a hard man to beat when he's on his game. Baxter is the one player who I never get right and he's so frustrating. Even in his win v Priestley he went from playing brilliantly to horrendously and he was lucky the match never went into a deciding set as it turned out. Painter marginal fav is probably about right but try as I may I can't dig out a bet in this match.

Recommendation: No Bet

Mark Webster v Colin Lloyd:

R1 - Webster bt Ian White 3-1
Ave: 97
180's: 7
HC: 145
CO%: 38%

Lloyd bt Darin Young 3-2
Ave: 94.22
180's: 5
HC: 124
CO%: 52%

Webster is a player who I have a lot of time for since backing him to win the lakeside after a tip from a friend off the forum (Cheers Callataxi!) I think he's got a lovely throw and seems a nice lad and I'd love to see him do really well. He has however had an awful season which is why his fantastic performance in the first round came as a huge shock. The question now is can he follow it up but he does have the pedigree so he may. Lloyd came through a real battle v Young in R1 and actually averaged more than I thought. He was very patchy but when the time came to dig in he came through and out the other end. The small bet I like here is the high check market as I expect this to go 6 sets minimum and both are very capable of high outshots. Webster hit a 145 in the 4th set of his opener which was pure class and I think this bet will cop for us here too.

Recommendation: 1pt win Over 130.5 HC @ 5/6 (general)

Raymond Barneveld v Brendan Dolan:

R1 - Barney bt Michael Smith 3-0
Ave: 108.31
180's: 8
HC: 121
CO%: 75%

Dolan bt Mark Jones 3-0
Ave: 92.98
180's: 3
HC: 120
CO%: 50%

Final match of the afternoon sees 2 players fresh off whitewashes in R1. Barney was brilliant and had the highest average and best doubling % of the whole first round. He looks like he has a lot of confidence since his GSOD win and maybe he can go deep in this tournament for the first time in too long. Dolan is one of those players who isn't flashy and seems to drag opponents down to his level but he does finish well which wins him a lot of matches. He played ok in R1 but was under very little pressure and this is going to be a totally different test. Barney is playing ever so well and I fancy he might just go pillar to post here. What tempers my enthusiasm for a punt is just the fact Dolan always seems to stay in matches and drag his opponents into an armwrestle. As such I'll be watching and hoping Dolan can win to give my Anderson outright bet a better chance

Recommendation: No bet

Wes Newton v Scott Rand:

R1 - Newton bt Johnny Haines 3-0
Ave: 86.9
180's: 0
HC: 135
CO%: 31%

Rand bt Kim Huybrechts 3-2
Ave: 97.82
180's: 2
HC: 104
CO%: 43%

Opening match of the night sees Wes Newton take on the super confident Rand. Newton did not play well in his R1 win and I'm not sure if he's putting extra pressure on himself to try and get in the PL. The commentators said he is struggling with a shoulder injury but I'm not sure how bad it actually is. Rand seemed to infuriate many on here with his facial expressions but ignoring that you can see he is a very good player. Doesnt throw many loose darts and I like the way he finishes too. He played well in R1 last year too then played very poorly in losing to Lloyd so not sure what to expect. Just because I think Newton is there to be beaten I'm going to have a small bet on Rand who is no more than fairly priced.

Recommendation: 1pt win Scott Rand @ 13/8 (fred)

Simon Whitlock v Colin Osborne:

R1 - Whitlock bt Haruki Muramatsu 3-0
Ave: 95.5
180's: 2
HC: 116
CO%: 41%

Osborne bt Lourence Ilagan 3-0
Ave: 94.51
180's: 2
HC: 164
CO%: 50%

Another match pitting 2 players fresh off the back of whitewashes against each other. Whitlock easily overcame the japanese qualifier Muramatsu and Osborne played his best darts on tv in 18 months to bt Ilagan. Whitlock is justifiably a short price here and I cant see Ossie troubling him in a race to 4. I think he can win a set or two though but for a bet here I'm going back to the high check market. Whitlock is in my view the King of the big outs probably helped by the fact he seems to leave himself a lot of them in every match. Osborne also had a 164 out in his R1 win at a vital time and he can also hit them when chances present themselves. Fingers crossed it comes in nice and early for us and we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the match.

Recommendation: 2pts win over 130.5 HC @ 10/11 (fred)

Adrian Lewis v Denis Ovens:

R1 - Lewis bt Gino Vos 3-1
Ave: 83.31
180's: 5
HC: 120
CO%: 26%

Ovens bt Max Hopp 3-2
Ave: 81.71
180's: 2
HC: 91
CO%: 43%

The last game of the day sees the winner from 2011 & 2012 take on the legend that is Captain Hobo. Lewis has played really poorly all year and could easily have gone out in the first round due to his poor play. He's throwing so many bad darts and missing doubles and I honestly think he's there for the taking this week. Unfortunately I don't think Ovens is the man for the job as he was also lucky to beat the german teenager Hopp in R1. His pace may trouble Lewis but I cannot see a thriller here due to both of them being below par. Don't fancy a thing in this due to the many doubts surrounding Lewis and again hopefully one of the short priced favs for the tourney goes out and helps my outright fancies

Recommendation: No Bet

Summary: 2 more checkout bets attract me tomorrow as well as an outsider in Rand who can hopefully do better than he did in the second round here last year. If any of the regulars think I've missed a bet or fancy sharing their thoughts then its welcome as always as is the usual chat and banter as the day goes on.

Best of luck to all who are punting and see you here again tomorrow
HH