WAYNE DEWS (@Dewsy21) shares his best bets from the semi-final stage of the PDC World Darts Championship.
We’re now down to the final four – and what a tournament it’s been so far!
Fabulous excitement with nail-biting games have been the darting staple diet over the festive period and it’s likely to get even better until the 2016 World Champion will be crowned on Sunday evening.
Anyway, enough of the blasphemy, let’s get down to the important stuff – tips for the semi-final action!
Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld | Saturday 20:15 | Sky Sports 1
An epic contest is in prospect here as the former two-time World Champion, Adrian Lewis takes on five-times past winner, Raymond van Barneveld.
‘Barney’ has produced some herculean performances already in this tournament with narrow wins over Stephen Bunting, current World number one Michael van Gerwen, and Michael Smith on Friday night.
Lewis, by contrast, has had a much smoother passage to the semi-final stage, without dropping a set against, Jan Dekker, Andrew Gilding and Mensur Suljovic. Current world number four, Peter Wright was expected to be a stern test for the 30-year-old but a comfortable 5-2 win eased Lewis into the final four.
Englishman Lewis is the favourite with the bookmakers to step forward to the final and can be backed at the best price of 3/5 with Bwin to prevail, while Dutch master RVB can be taken at the top odds of 17/10 with Marathon.
The bet that takes my eye in this contest is in the Handicap Betting market, where Lewis can be backed to overcome a -1.5 set handicap at 9/10 – again with Marathon.
My main reason for this selection is that Barney has had a very tough tournament so far, and this game – that is arguably his toughest yet – will be a step too far for the ageing star.
Barney was 3-0 down against Michael Smith on Friday night and but for his serious drop in averages, Smith would surely have claimed victory. Lewis however, will not drop his level significantly and is a confident selection.
Gary Anderson v Jelle Klassen | Saturday 22:30 | Sky Sports 1
The ‘Flying Scotsman’ Gary Anderson was in imperious form on Friday afternoon with a 5-1 win over a below-par James Wade, to add to his trail of tournament destruction so far.
Jelle Klassen however, was involved in another Ally Pally highlight with a narrow 5-4 win over unranked, Alan Norris. Klassen stared defeat in the face but somehow found the necessary arrows to turn the contest around.
Anderson – who is the tournament favourite – is the obvious market leader in this clash at the generally available 2/7 with William Hill, while Dutchman Klassen can be had at the top price of 41/13 with Marathon.
These two rivals met in the 2015 event with Anderson narrowly scraping home 4-3, in a contest where Klassen had his opportunities to oust the eventual winner.
The bookmakers believe that this game will be another routine win for the reigning champion – that may well be true – but Coral’s offer of 8/11 for the contest to play out Over 8.5 sets is the bet for me.
Klassen has an overall tournament average that is just 0.65 below his rival and that will make the former BDO champion highly competitive in this contest if he can maintain his recent form.
Best Bets
Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld – Adrian Lewis -1.5 set handicap (9/10 Marathon)
Gary Anderson v Jelle Klassen – Over 8.5 sets (8/11 Coral)
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TOPICS Darts Tips
