ROUND THREE DAY TWO EVENING MATCHES
| | Adrian Lewis | Raymond van Barneveld |
| Odds | 4-9 | 2-1 |
| 64 ranking | 4 | 20 |
| Previous rounds | 3-0 vs Pallett | 3-0 vs Rodriguez |
| | 4-2 vs Brown | 4-3 vs Caven |
Oh my, this is going to be a tasty evening of darts.
Adrian Lewis has looked very good in his first two games, crushing Pallett with ease, before needing everything in his locker to push aside the challenge of Keegan Brown, needing to average over a ton (helped by Brown playing well obviously) and only managing to nick every set he won in a deciding leg, the key finish being a 122 to win the match after having lost the previous leg, missing match darts in the process.
Barney had a relatively easy time in his first round game against the young Austrian Rodriguez, before being pushed all the way by Jamie Caven, in a repeat of their game from last year, doing enough in the final set to win 4-3. The issue here was that Barney never looked like winning a set against Caven's darts - losing the first two without winning a leg, and then losing the sixth 3-2 when a break at any point would be enough to secure him the match.
Caven played well to give him credit, but the worrying thing if you're a Barney fan is that Caven was putting more pressure on Barney on his throw than the other way around, and (again no disrespect to Caven) Lewis will offer a lot more resistance than Caven will do.
This opened at something like 1-2/6-4 and has since been backed in on the Lewis side. I still think there's value there. Lewis has in general looked a lot better, and has shown the ability to do it when it matters when the pressure is put on. Barney's not been truly tested in that way and if Lewis nicks the first set on Barney's darts I don't think he can respond against that level of player. Lewis bet.
1u Lewis 4/9
| | Phil Taylor | Kim Huybrechts |
| Odds | 1-6 | 5-1 |
| 64 ranking | 2 | 16 |
| Previous rounds | 3-0 vs Artut | 3-0 vs Mansell |
| | 4-0 vs Webster | 4-3 vs White |
I think the only thing that can convince me to bet Huybrechts is if you think that Taylor might still not have clicked into true top gear. I tend to think that won't be the case - he still managed a ton+ average against Mark Webster despite the Welshman offering not a great deal more than token resistance. He's playing well, and against a stronger opponent than what he's played already, he should be able to turn up the pressure as needed.
I've got a funny feeling that Huybrechts might have been treating the game against White as a final, so to speak - I think most observers would have envisaged a close, hard fought game between two evenly matched players, and that's exactly what we got, with the Belgian just being able to summon up a run of legs when he needed it most to get over the line against the Stoke thrower. That match may have taken a chunk out of him that he'd need against the Power.
I'm leaving this one alone. Huybrechts on his A game can take Taylor out, as he is that good at his peak. I just don't think he does it enough, and think that even if he is in peak form, there's a bunch of spots where Phil is playing well enough that it doesn't matter. If this was a best of 9 sets I might bet Phil as it's then getting to the stage where it really favours the better player, but I'll just leave it alone.
| | Stephen Bunting | Michael Smith |
| Odds | 8-13 | 13-8 |
| 64 ranking | 21 | 14 |
| Previous rounds | 3-1 vs Marijanovic | 3-1 vs Suljovic |
| | 4-1 vs Wade | 4-2 vs Dolan |
From one intriguing Bunting match to another. Fresh off a win against James Wade, he now runs into the former world youth champion Michael Smith, who played 4 of the finest sets you'll see earlier today to book his own place in the last 16.
Looking at Smith first - in the writeup for the Wade game I said that he'd played well against Suljovic and, if anything, played better today - the first two sets excepted. Smith missed a trillion shots at double in the first set, which allowed Dolan to get into a 2 set lead. Then his form turned a complete 180, showing a huge amount of character and amazing form to roll off 12 of the next 14 legs. It's very hard to do that against someone of Dolan's quality.
Bunting did everything he needed to against Wade - which wasn't as much as it could have been as Wade wasn't completely at the races. Bunting hit quite a few maximums and got some critical big finishes, notably in the fourth with a 144 to take a two set lead. He also showed an unfortunate knack of missing what he wanted to on numerous occasions, drifting into the five a bunch, missing key doubles in the wrong bed, and pulling shots at the d16/d8 area quite badly.
I think Smith will give Bunting a much tougher test than Wade did. Smith's played two tough match players already and come through with flying colours. Bunting's had tough opponents as well, but hasn't looked quite as convincing, at least not enough to make me think he should be as big of a favourite as the line suggests. I've got the sense that this is going to be a breakthrough tournament for Smith, and we're being offered good odds to take him here.
1u Smith 13/8
