Two picks for this evening's action!
It was a tough night for seeds last night as three were dumped out in dramatic fashion. Chris Dobey deservedly beat Gary Anderson with some great darts. Ian White played well too but Smith was so poor starting his legs. James Wade had plenty of chances too but King punished him. Starting on the double is really taking its toll! Not for Michael Van Gerwen, however, who played some unbelievable stuff. De Zwaan did not play badly at all but never even got close to MVG. The bottom half of the draw play this evening in their second round matches and I think it may be a bit more comfortable for some.
My first pick is Nathan Aspinall to win his match treble. He battered Vincent Van der Voort 2-0 in the first round and threw a match average of 92. He seems to relish the big stage and take everything in his stride. Noppert beat a desperately poor Gurney in the first round but he didn’t even play that well. Gurney offered him plenty of chances and to be fair to him he did take them but I can’t see Aspinall giving him the same opportunities. Aspinall’s all round game is just getting better and better and he will be confident of a quarter final place.
My second pick is the Dave Chisnall match treble. He threw five 180s against Price in a thriller and held his nerve to come through with the victory. He played some fantastic stuff and after his run in the European Tour he is one of the form players in the PDC. Stephen Bunting beat an under par Jonny Clayton but he didn’t have to play very well. He only averaged 77 and will need to vastly improve on that if he is to beat Chisnall. I can’t see Chisnall having too many problems tonight and he should go easily into the next round.
