I hope your Mario costume’s been dry-cleaned and you’ve thought of the cheekiest message your mum wouldn’t mind seeing you wave about on A4 piece of card on the telly because it’s time for that most smashing of pre- and post-Christmas sporting events, the PDC World Championship live from the Alexandra Palace in London.
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Top-notch arrers action is as big a part of Christmas as Brussel sprouts in our house – and can be just as gassy – but you could come up smelling of roses with our top tips over the course of the festive tungsten-flinging period thanks to Chris Hammer of the Sporting Life.
Here are his picks for opening night…
Correct Score: Adrian Lewis to win 3-1
The closest battle of the opening night could be with two-time champ Adrian Lewis taking on the dangerous Canadian Matt Campbell.
Most fans want Lewis to win because that would mean he’d played Gary Anderson in a ‘blast from the past’ match in the next round, but it could be tricky.
Matt Campbell we’ve seen on a couple of occasions at the Ally Pally. He lost both times though averaged well and taken it to a deciding set before. He also played in the Grand slam of Darts recently and was posting around that 90-average month, which would worry most players in the field.
I think he will take a set off Adrian Lewis, so the 3-1 scoreline at a bit over 2/1 is a good bet for the opening night.
Double: Lewis to Win & Most 180s, Evans to Win & Most 180s
For a double on the night, I’d look at Adrian Lewis to win and hit the most 180s and Ricky Evans to do the same in his match. That should work out a little bit better than 6/4 or thereabouts.
Matt Campbell only hit three 180s during 19 legs of darts at the Grand Slam and Adrian Lewis will have the firepower to beat that while winning the match.
Ricky Evans is very short price to beat his Nitin Kumar, who’s been whitewashed in both of his previous appearances here and over at least nine legs of darts Ricky Evans should hit most 180s as he’s a higher calibre player. I think that’d be a nice little double for the opening night.
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