2016 World Matchplay quarters: Taylor and Anderson headline Friday frays in Brit battles

Mervyn King v Phil Taylor

Now positioned in the latter end of the tournament, third seed The Power has a generous draw with compatriot King, though the 50-year-old thrower from Suffolk should be underestimated at Taylor’s peril.

The King has made the final four in Blackpool before and will be seeking to claim another shock scalp after ousting a former winner in James Wade at the first hurdle, before also bettering Raymond van Barneveld’s conqueror Brendan Dolan.

King is an outsider at 6/1 to knock The Power off his perch, having lost to the sporting legend in both of their previous World Matchplay wrangles and in 30 of 40 meetings overall, not including two draws.

Value can be had on Taylor, who did run into trouble against The King in the recent Players Championship in Barnsley but tends to bring swagger to the bigger Majors stages, to triumph at 17/2 by a clear six legs and a 16-10 scoreline. The Power has, more often than not, done better against this opponent in longer formats.

Gary Anderson v Steve Beaton

The Bronzed Adonis, a former BDO world champion and World Masters winner, appeared to have passed his peak in the PDC after the early 2000’s, but is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in the Winter Gardens.

Beaton proved that class is permanent by beating younger upstarts Jelle Klaasen and Michael Smith with decent match margins of 10-6 and 10-7 respectively, and now has world number two Anderson in his sights.

Yet, the popular Englishman, backed by the Bee Gees in his walk-on, last lost to his Scottish Borders-based foe in this very competition in the final 32 last year.

Anderson boasts a 10-5 winning record versus The Bronzed Adonis, with many of the latter’s victories arriving before the current PDC world champ became such a force in the sport. So, The Flying Scotsman makes sense at 1/10 for the match spoils, and can also be backed at 8/1 to win by a dominant 16-6 scoreline.

Related

For all the latest on the World Matchplay and more stop by our dedicated darts page.

Coral’s top tip: Anderson is excellent at 8/1 to win 16-6.