Paul Nicholson, Colin Lloyd, Wayne Jones & Wes Newton all progressed through to Sunday's quarter finals after a fine afternoon's tungsten at the Circus Tavern on Saturday. The four remaining places will be decided by the end of this evening's play.
Adrian Lewis v Andy Hamilton
A couple of years back, with these two men seemingly forever on the verge of the world's top six, this would have been deemed as a real 'pick em' match. However, the recent upsurge in the form of Adrian Lewis has ensured that he enters this clash as a clear 1/2 favourite. 'Jackpot' has been on fire of late and we have to go back as far as November to find the last time he managed to average less than 100 in a match in a major tournament. There is real sense that a major tournament title is not too far away for the 25 year old. Fellow Stoke inhabitant Andy Hamilton has himself enjoyed a return to form as he has risen back up to 10th in the PDC rankings. We have two of the biggest 180 hitters on the circuit on show here with those firms brave enough to offer us the market setting their mark at 7.5 with Lewis a best-priced 5/6 to come out on top.
Mervyn King v Jelle Klaasen
No player was more impressive than Mervyn King in the opening round as he clocked a 102.18 average in taking four consecutive legs to see off world number three James Wade. We marked King's card here in our outright preview as an 11/2 shot to reach the semi finals; a market he is now 11/10 favourite for following our predicted demise of Wade & Gary Anderson in this section of the draw. Jelle Klaasen was outstanding in his 6-1 win over Anderson with the Dutchman himself registering a near 98 average - his highest ever on TV. The increased format, now best of fifteen legs, will be familiar to both men having played in last year's Premier League. King holds the edge on the head to heads having defeated 'El Matador' on eight of the their eleven meetings to date. He will certainly have his backers at 4/7 to progress to Sunday's quarter finals.
Phil Taylor v Terry Jenkins
As ever, the primetime TV slot is reserved for Phil Taylor as he continues his quest to retain his title with a second round clash with Terry Jenkins. For the big hitters, Taylor is a best-priced 1/12 favourite with the 'Raging Bull' available at over 10/1 on the exchanges. Jenkins does actually have form in beating Taylor over this distance. He was a comfortable 8-5 winner in the Premier League in Manchester two years back and has also recorded draws in each of the other three Premier League meetings between them in the last two seasons. Many firms have turned to the handicap markets to offer value with Jenkins available at 8/11 to take four or more legs.
Colin Osborne v Michael van Gerwen
Our other pre-tournament quarter betting pick, Colin Osborne, has safely negotiated his way through to round two with victory over Co Stompe. Like King, Osborne is now the market leader in his respective section of the draw and as short as 7/5 (from the 4/1 directed here). He is a general 8/13 chance to take his place in the next round and ultimately being one win away from yielding returns for the puntinplay followers. His opponent, Michael van Gerwen made light work of a potentially tricky tie with Jamie Caven and will hope he has finally found the game to compete with the big boys in the PDC. The pair cannot be split on the head to head records with five wins apiece. Their only TV meeting to date resulted in an 11-7 Osborne victory at the 2007 UK Open. At times, Van Gerwen lacks maturity on the big stage and in front of a raucous Circus Tavern crowd last thing on a Saturday night, the 8/13 (already disappearing) about Osborne, may be the route to take.
