Darts’ second major of the season gets underway tonight with 106 players entering the fray with the intention of joining the top 32 in Friday’s third round action. Saturday sees the last 32 whittled down to just 8 with those arrowsmiths battling it to a finish on Sunday at the Reebok Stadium for the right to become the 2010 UK Open Champion. Below we take a look at where the profit is likely to be made on tonight’s action.
Scott Rand v Andy Murray
One of the latest PDC newcomers is Scott Rand. The Warwickshire man made his PDC bow less than two months ago in an effort to play the last three qualifiers for this event (the minimum requirement), qualifying in an impressive 83rd place; made all the more remarkable given that the rest of the field had a five qualifier head start. Rand has already pocketed £1800 in his short stint on tour with victories over established PDC players such as Brendan Dolan, Terry Jenkins, Steve Beaton, Colin Lloyd & Mark Webster. His opponent, Scotsman Andy Murray has little career achievement to write home about despite a short spell on the BDO circuit. He did participate in the ill-fated International Darts League in 2007 but was soundly beaten in all three of his group games, taking just two legs in the process. A bit of early interest in Rand has resulted in Ladbrokes going as short as 4/9 so we suggest that the snippets of 8/13 left out there are promptly gobbled up.
Colin Monk v Darren Johnson
Amongst the strong Yorkshire contingent currently on tour is Mexborough’s Darren Johnson. Under the stewardship of double World Champion Dennis Priestley, the PDC number 71 is finally beginning to reap the dividends after six years on tour. The four-time UK Open finalist has took cash prizes in 14 of his last 19 outings on the Pro Tour and finds himself as the even money outsider against former BDO favourite Colin Monk. In comparison, Monk has cashed in on just 10 prizes over the same period and possibly holds the dubious honour of not even being the best player in his house given the rise to fame of his son Aaron who is also in action tonight. Monk Senior continually put the BDO viewers through the mill at Lakeside but he has never settled in the PDC and does not justify favouritism here.
Peter Manley v Michael Smith
Life is tough for Peter ‘One Dart’ Manley at the moment. The former world number one has struggled on tour and he is desperate for a couple of good runs this summer as he runs the risk of falling out the world’s top 32 and into darting obscurity. Despite a proven track record of pulling it out of the bag when really necessary, the Tony Christie-wanabee is in serious danger of disappearing from our TV screens. An enforced one month break from the circuit for health reasons is far from ideal preparation and since his return in April, ‘One Dart’ has only managed to muster tour wins against the aforementioned Monk Junior and unknown German quantity Michael Schmidt in seven attempts. His opponent tonight is young St Helens thrower Michael Smith. The PDC number 114 can be hit and miss on the Pro Tour but sealed his place here with wins over Premier League stars Adrian Lewis & Terry Jenkins just three weeks ago in Wigan and he has also has previous over other leading names on tour. He was last in action just three days ago at a local tournament where he took the spoils, defeating BDO World Championship runner up Dave Chisnall en route. We had hoped that the above may have slipped through the radar and were looking at picking up Smith at around 9/4 before the layers went up yesterday. He is a best priced 11/8 & evens in places which is much closer to the mark.
Verdict
Scott Rand to beat Andy Murray at 8/13 (Various)
Darren Johnson to beat Colin Monk at Evens (Blue Square & Stan James)
