First Round Matches
Steve Lennon v Callan Rydz, 7.15pm
Callan Rydz is a 21-year-old Englishman from Newcastle who finished top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, which is not an easy thing to do let me tell you.
Lennon, from Carlow, broke into the world’s top 32 this year and reached the final of the World Cup for the Republic of Ireland alongside William O’Connor.
He will have his work cut out for him against Ryatz though. A lot of people are saying big things about him and I think he’ll go through here in a big upset at 5/4.
William O’Connor v Marko Kantele, 8.10pm
Marko Kantele, from Finland, has never been past the first round in either of his previous two appearances at the Ally Pally and he lost 3-0 to big John Henderson last year.
Ireland’s William O’Connor is coming good right now. The Magpie was a World Cup finalist along with Steve Lennon. This is his third Worlds too and he’s getting more experience all the time.
I expect him to go through comfortably and My tip is O’Connor to win 3-1 at 23/10.
Vincent van der Voort v Keane Barry, 9.05pm
The very experienced Dutchman Vincent van der Voort was a quarter-finalist at the World Championship in 2011 and 2015. He’s a great character but has had a lot of back issues in recent times and he’s not quite the same player he was.
Keane Barry is nicknamed Dynamite, and you’d think it’s too much to ask from the youngster to cause an upset against Vincent van der Voort. But you never know, so I’m go for the 12/5 available on him to do the job here.
Second Round Match
Gary Anderson v Brendan Dolan, 10pm
The Flying Scotsman’s out of sorts right now. He is a two-time champion at Ally Pally, but was battered in the semi-final by Michael van Gerwen last year.
He has not had a year to remember since, but I think he’ll be just good enough to get past Brendan Dolan. It will be a scrap, but back Anderson at 1/3.
All our Darts punts can be found at PaddyPower.com* All odds correct at time of posting.
