Sky Sports’ weekly darts fix returns with the opening night of the 2010 Whyte & Mackay Premier League. The O2 Arena in London plays host in front of 10,000 darts fans:
Ronnie Baxter v Terry Jenkins
Neither of these players have had particularly impressive starts to the New Year. Having both exited last month’s Players Championship Finals at the last 16 stage, Jenkins’ run to the last eight of last weekend’s tournament in Gibraltar is the only achievement of note so far between the world numbers five and six. This is the third televised meeting between the pair in the last twelve months with Jenkins gaining revenge for his defeat in June’s UK Open by taking a 17-12 win over the ‘Rocket’ to reach the World Matchplay Final in July. Rated by many as the two men most likely to be battling it out to avoid the wooden spoon in this competition, it’s the ‘Raging Bull’ who appears most likely to avoid that particular accolade as he assumes 4/5 favouritism in this clash with Baxter available at 21/10. Form suggests that this may be unjustified. In his last eleven TV ranking outings, Jenkins has failed to average over 94 in each of them, making the 5/6 offered by Bet365 that his average will be below 97 on Thursday night too good to miss.
Mervyn King v Adrian Lewis
Such is the quality of this year’s field; the layers will have you believe that these two players are unlikely not to make it into the final four. Mervyn King, a player of fantastic ability has not only beaten Phil Taylor in the last two consecutive years; he has done so twice in each respective year. He arrives at the Premier League in fine form despite not managing to take his maiden PDC TV title at Purlfeet in January, eventually succumbing to Paul Nicholson 13-11 in the Players Championship Final after blitzing his way through the field. It was a mixed bag for ‘The King’ over in Gibraltar with a last four finish on Saturday followed up by a first round exit to Yorkshire’s Chris Thompson in Sunday’s equivalent. Lewis has emerged as one of the leading lights on the PDC tour with a series of ultra-high quality performances on the box, having put in five consecutive 100+ averages over the course of the previous two tournaments. In his three games at the Circus Tavern, ‘Jackpot’ started the first leg of every game by hitting a maximum 180 score. Given his relatively superior scoring power, 4/7 (Skybet) on Lewis being the first to notch a 180 looks the way to go here.
Raymond van Barneveld v James Wade
As touched on in our outright preview, Raymond van Barneveld has not been seen since his World Championship semi final defeat to Simon Whitlock and it’s difficult to gauge how the Dutchman’s game is shaping up at the moment. Barring his renaissance against Whitlock in that semi final, Barney’s game showed signs of continuing deterioration in that tournament and he is vulnerable here to the fact that with others likely to step in, his place in the final stages of the Premier League this year is far from certain. Whilst van Barneveld continues to shun the non TV tournaments, Wade enjoyed runs to the last four and last eight in Gibraltar picking up £2500 for his troubles. Despite not quite hitting the heights of a couple of years ago where he picked up three TV ranking titles within the space of twelve months, the ‘Machine’ is still in fine working order, appearing capable of bursting into spell-binding form at any moment.The layers chalk up Wade as a general 11/10 favourite here, the uncertainty of van Barneveld’s game perhaps responsible for the hefty 6/4 quotes. The 7-7 draw is as short as 4/1. If both men hit their top form, there isn’t much to split these two – the head-to-head records suggest as much with Wade having recorded 12 wins compared to van Barneveld’s 11. Should we assume that Barney’s stamina troubles continue, Skybet’s innovative double result market is worth looking at. With things perhaps tight early on, the draw/Wade scenario is of speculative interest at 6/1.
Simon Whitlock v Phil Taylor
Reports surfacing from the PDC on Wednesday suggest that the opening night of the Premier League may go ahead without the 15-time Champion of the World. Phil Taylor is said to be struggling with illness having cancelled all media appointments for the week so far. These reports are solely responsible for the huge market shift where Taylor is now available to back at a scarcely believable 4/9 from an opening show of 1/4. With Whitlock having ran Taylor closer than most at last month’s World Championship final, the Australian would have had his backers before these revelations (the 13/2 has quickly become 9/2) but it’s worth remembering that Whitlock’s preparation has also been far from perfect. Visa problems prevented a return to the UK until Tuesday, meaning that the ‘Wizard’ had to make do with honing his game on the Australian tour at the weekend (winning both events) rather than travelling to Gibraltar. One department where Whitlock had the edge over a fully-fit Taylor at the Ally Pally was in the 180 department. The Aussie smashed the tournament record for maximum scores and is available at 6/4 to outscore the ‘Power’ yet again. With doubts over Taylor’s fitness and Whitlock’s lack of recent quality opposition making it unclear as to where his game is at, this encounter should make intriguing viewing – should it go ahead.
Verdict
Terry Jenkins to average under 97 at 5/6 (Bet365)
Adrian Lewis to hit the first 180 against Mervyn King at 4/7 (Skybet)
Simon Whitlock to hit more 180s than Phil Taylor at 6/4 (Totesport)
