2017 PDC World Championship
- Second and third round, day 11
- Wednesday, December 28th
- First session starts: 13:00 GMT
- Second session starts: 19:00 GMT
- Alexandra Palace, London
- Live on Sky Sports Darts (3)
Wednesday wrangles feature thrilling match-ups
Darts fans have been treated to some extraordinary arrow battles so far in the 2017 PDC World Championship, and Wednesday brings even more mouth-watering rumbles for viewers, with all of reigning world champ Gary Anderson, young talents Max Hopp, Jamie Lewis and Benito van de Pas plus oche entertainer Peter Wright in action over the two sessions.
Wednesday features both second and third round fixtures, as The Flying Scotsman eyes a slot in the quarter-finals, while Adrian Lewis faces Raymond van Barneveld in a clash of true tungsten titans as both strive to reach the last eight.
So, pull up a stool, read our 2017 PDC Worlds day 11 preview and enjoy as the tournament truly starts to churn out some thrillers. Prepare to be glued to your screens…
Kim Huybrechts v Max Hopp
First up it’s the turn of Huybrechts (odds-on 1/3 match favourite) and Hopp (12/5) to raise the curtain, with the experienced Belgian pitted against the highly-rated young German.
Seeded Huybrechts has won two of his three past encounters with Maximiser and whitewashed Hopp in their most recent bout. It’s doubtful The Hurricane will storm to such an easy victory this time around with his ever-improving opponent having coolly dispatched Vincent van der Voort already, but the older arrowsmith should still have enough quality to progress.
James Wade v Steve Beaton
Slow and steady Wade (2/9) should have little trouble winning the race against cult hero The Bronzed Adonis (10/3), who he has bested 17 times out of 20 in his career.
In this all-English affair, The Machine enters after making light work of Ronny Huybrechts in the first round, and this test should only require him to go up another gear.
Jelle Klaasen v Brendan Dolan
Northern Irishman Dolan is 11/4 to spring a shock on Dutch dartsman Klaasen (2/7), though despite their respective outright prices, it wouldn’t be such a surprise as The History Maker has had the better of five from eight clashes between the pair.
The Cobra has struck to win all his last three versus Dolan, however, and value can be found at 6/5 for Klaasen to secure victory by -2.5 in the handicap market.
Peter Wright v Jamie Lewis
Young Welshman Lewis (11/2) looked up to the task as he ousted Mick McGowan last time out, but scalping Snakebite (1/9), who racked up an average of over 101 against Jerry Hendriks in his opener, is an entirely different prospect.
Gary Anderson v Benito van de Pas
Defending champ Anderson (1/7) squares up to Big Ben (9/2) in the first of two round three frays on Wednesday evening.
The Flying Scotsman looks unlikely to be troubled by prospect Van de Pas, who showed flashes of brilliance to beat Terry Jenkins 4-3, but has still looked wobbly and inconsistent in his first two matches.
The match winning double is 7/4 to be Anderson’s favoured 20, with a Coral throwcast for the Scot to win on double 20 or double 10 at 10/11.
Though the world champ did collect successive Sid Waddell trophies by hitting his lucky number 12 in this tournament, and there’s a much more generous 10/1 for that to be the triumphant double in this tungsten tussle.
Adrian Lewis v Raymond van Barneveld
What a way to end Wednesday evening, with these two decorated dartsmen taking to the Ally Pally oche for a bruising battle while it is still fairly early in the competition.
Coral betting markets can’t split this star pair, with both rated 10/11 to triumph. That’s no surprise as the duo each enter this crunch clash yet to drop a tournament set and on the back of dominant second round results, with Jackpot and Barney each notching a 4-0 whitewash success, against Joe Cullen and Alan Norris respectively.
Backing Barney, who achieved a 103.59 average on Tuesday night, at 13/8 for victory in the handicap market (-1.5) is a tempting shout as the big Dutchman has beaten Lewis 32 times to 21 across his career and also emerged victorious in five of their past six meetings.
Jackpot did, however, oust Van Barneveld at the semi-finals stage of the 2016 Worlds and arrives a little fresher to the oche. There are odds of 9/2 for the English arrowsmith to win 4-3, but Barney’s form is a huge obstacle for Lewis to overcome.
