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So if you’ve been following my free BDO World Championship betting tips this week, you’ll know I’ve been waiting for the shocks to happen, with the biggest so far being Wesley Harms being put out on his backside. However, day five nearly gave us the shock we had been waiting for. And when I say shock, it doesn’t get any bigger than the number one seed getting put out by a player ranked 100 in the world. However, it wasn’t to be, as Paul Hogan missed match darts to beat Glen Durrant and went from leading 3-0 to losing 4-3. It was an amazing game, and it was just unfortunate that Paul Hogan couldn’t get the job done and really open up the draw and maybe get a shock winner, too.
Scott Waites vs Mark McGeeney
The first match of the day sees 2016 Lakeside Champion Scott Waites facing the 2016 World Masters finalist Mark McGeeney. What’s interesting is that they faced each other at the World Masters and McGeeney won 3-2 in the last 16. In fact, McGeeney has won both their meetings, wit the other win coming at the 2015 British Open 6-3.
In the first round, Mark McGeeney averaged 90.96 in his 3-1 win over James Hurrell. He looked a bit iffy in the first set, but then pulled away to take the win comfortably. Waites averaged 90.54 in his 3-1 win over Dennis Harbour, which is roughly what I expected from him. On paper, it looks tight just going by their first round matches, but the bookies have Waites as a relatively short price to win this. However, McGeeney’s head to head record just ends me a bit of a signal that he’s not to be taken lightly and the fact he’s around 7/4 looks like madness to me, so we’re going to take a bit of that and we’ll be backing Mark McGeeney to win.
Darius Labanauskas vs Krzysztof Ratajski
Is this the game that gets darts even bigger in Eastern Europe? Probably not, but it would be nice to think it had an effect. This pair has met once and their meeting came in the 2016 Police Masters. Labanauskas won 4-3 that day, so as expected, it was close. Ratajski has played two games to Labanauskas’ one game, thanks to his prelim match, and his tournament average is around 86, after an 88 and 84 average in his two games. He wasn’t spectacular, but he was solid, especially beating Wesley Harms 3-0. Labanauskas was never truly pushed in his 3-1 win over Conan Whitehead, but his 91.74 average was still handy enough and is a sign that the Lithuanian has got the game to go deep at the Lakeside.
Labanauskas will be bursting with confidence right now, as his game is constantly improving. We’ve seen what he can do in his first round match and if he can keep it at that level, he should have enough. Ratajski might just find this one game too far, as I don’t think he’s got gears to raise his game to the next level required to make a quarter-final at the Lakeside. Take Darius Labanauskas -1.5 sets in this one.
Danny Noppert vs Richard Veenstra
An all-Dutch battle to finish off the day, and it looks like it could be a tasty one if their first round matches are anything to go by. They’ve faced each other once before in the Grand Slam Qualifier in 2015, which Noppert won 5-4. In his first round match, Noppert averaged 98.07 against David Cameron, while Veenstra won 3-1 over Ross Montgomery with an average of 91.47. Noppert is also rightly favourite for this, but he will definitely have a fight on his hands in this one, no doubt about it.
I like Danny Noppert a lot, but I really do think he’s too short here. There’s no doubt about it that Noppert is a class act, but Veenstra is handy himself, with his run to the semi-final in 2016 proving that. I value Lakeside experience a lot and as this is Noppert’s debut year at the event, you have to wonder if and/or when the pressure will get to him. I can’t be backing him at such a short price, but 12/5 for Veenstra looks like a touch of value, which you know I love, so I advise backing Richard Veenstra to win.
I’ll be back with more free tips for day seven, quarter-final day, of the 2017 BDO World Championship tomorrow, so I’ll see you then.
