Saturday sees the remaining 16 arrowsmiths go head to head in the Totesport.com Players Championship with places in Sunday's quarter finals up for grabs.
Paul Nicholson v Steve Beaton
The Australian Geordie may not be everyone's cup of tea but he is making real progress on the PDC circuit. An extremely comfortable win over Dennis Priestley earned his place here and a further scalp will ensure he finishes the week inside the world's top 32 for the first time. He was one of only six men to average over the 95 mark in that first round win and is a general 4/7 jolly to take care of Steve Beaton. Beaton was as solid as he needed to be to turn over an out of sorts Tony Eccles in round one but will need to up his game if he is to live with 'The Asset'.
Kevin Painter v Colin Lloyd
Number 24 seed plays the number 8 seed in the second match of the afternoon session. Painter's relatively low seeding is based much upon his average floor form but he continues to produce when on the box. A 97.36 was more than enough to take care of Scotland's Robert Thornton on Thursday night. It's not always clear what we will get when Colin Lloyd marches onto the oche. A patchy performance in round one against Denis Ovens means that 'Jaws' is deemed the 8/5 (SportingBet) outsider here. Past experience tells us that Painter knows where the red bit is and he is a regular 180 hitter. He hit 17 in three matches at the recent World Championship whilst Lloyd could only manage 9 over the same distance. An offering of 5/6 from Totesport on Painter prevailing in this market may be too good to pass up.
Mark Walsh v Wayne Jones
Only Phil Taylor won more titles than Mark Walsh in 2009 yet the world number 12 continues to flatter to deceive on the big stage. A 6-4 first round win over Steve Hine should in truth have been much more comfortable for the Londoner. He takes on Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones in round two in what could be his greatest chance to shine in front of the cameras since his UK Open runner-up spot at Bolton in 2005. Jones was way below-par on Friday night; averaging just 81 (the lowest winning average of the round) against an under the weather Andy Smith. Jones shouldn't be as poor again and Walsh's continuing stuttering form in the big events should be a great leveller. Jones is a standout 15/8 (Boylesports) outsider.
Ronnie Baxter v Wes Newton
The match of the afternoon could well be the battle of the Blackpool men, Ronnie Baxter and Wes Newton. Both these have two have had fine years on the circuit. Baxter's form has signalled a return to the big time with him earning a place in the upcoming Premier League whilst Newton enjoyed a remarkable last quarter of 2009; a run of form that brought him in to this tournament as the number 6 seed. The latter seems to be finally realising his simmering potential with Friday's 97.59 winning average third only to Mervyn King & Adrian Lewis so far. Some firms have Baxter chalked up as short as 4/9 with Newton available at 13/8. It will be much closer than this suggests and we would not be surprised to see 'Av It' back here on Sunday. One department where he does have the edge on Baxter is in the 180 scoring. He had four in eight legs in his win over Peter Wright. 'The Rocket' has hit just 10 maximums in his last 8 televised appearances and for that reason, the 11/10 dangled on Newton will be eaten up by us at puntinplay.
Verdict
Kevin Painter to hit more 180s than Colin Lloyd at 5/6 (Totesport)
Wes Newton to hit more 180s than Ronnie Baxter at 11/10 (Various)
Join us later this afternoon for our evening session preview.
