World Matchplay - Preview

Tomorrow in Blackpool the World Matchplay will start beside the World Championship the oldest and most important tournament of the PDC.
This year the tournament in which till now only two nine-darters were thrown - 2002 by Phil Taylor and 2010 by Raymond van Barneveld - has got with Sky Bet Mobile a new sponsor.

Two things distinguish the tournament from other PDC tournament. First the top 16 of the two years Order of Merit will clash with the top 16 of the current Players Championship Order of Merit, that means with those players who really were in form on the Pro Tour events in the first half of 2011 and second every match has to be won by two clear legs which ended in some epic matches in the past.

This year one can wonder who out of the top 16 of the Order of Merit really will play in top form. Phil Taylor certainly was not as commanding as over the last years, it is hard to assess in which form Raymond van Barneveld will appear as he only played the Pro Tour on rare occasions this year. World Champion Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock showed some varied performances, though Whitlock seemed to start to recover. The same can be said of Terry Jenkins and Mark Webster. I personally have no idea about Mervyn Kings form at the moment.

The really convincing players out of the top 16 recently were James Wade who managed to win the UK Open, Gary Anderson, Wes Newton, Paul Nicholson and Vincent van der Voort whom I would not see under the favourites for the title.

But which players from the Players Championship Order of Merit really could have an impact? Should John Part have conserved his really good form from the circuit and manage to get a good start against Mark Webster he could have a good run which would really bring him back. Kevin Painter after his eye surgery could prove old strength as well and to be sure Adrian Lewis will have no easy first match against him. Dave Chisnall, John Henderson and Mark Hylton could have a surprise in store as well though Mark Hylton has to win against Phil Taylor first. But at the moment I can't imagine one of those three will win the tournament.

The betters at Sky Bet see Phil Taylor as the winner but I myself go more with Sid Waddell who predict James Wade and Gary Anderson will be the players to watch. But you never know with the World Matchplay - might be the champion in the end will be an outsider as in the very first year of the tournament when American Larry Butler shocked the British darts world.

To get in the right mood for the tournament here a link to a short video with highlights of the past years:
Highlights







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