Taylor and Van Barneveld clash yet again in Auckland Darts Masters
Published:
The Auckland Darts Masters continues tomorrow morning after a Friday session laden with shocks.
The first round stage saw the Australian qualifiers do battle with the PDC’s seeded players, producing some surprise results.
First, two-time World Champion Gary Anderson was sent packing with a 4-6 defeat to namesake Kyle Anderson.
And then, in the major shock of the day, Peter Wright was dumped out of the competition by 22-year-old protégée Corey Cadby.
It would take a bold man to go against Cadby, who showed his initial quality last year by knocking Phil Taylor out of the Perth Masters.
We reckon the 7/4 on offer for Cadby to beat Michael Smith (4/9) in the next round is excellent value.
Back to Kyle Anderson though, and he faces Simon Whitlock in a battle of the Aussies in the next round.
Whitlock has improved of late but we fancy Anderson at 10/11 to level up their head-to-head meetings at three apiece.
In the only all-British quarter-final James Wade faces the fast-improving Daryl Gurney.
Northern Irishman Gurney has been a revelation of late, making it to the final of the US Darts Masters and the semi-finals of the World Matchplay in Blackpool last month.
Meanwhile, Wade has been out of sorts.
A defeat in the first round of the US Masters to the unknown Dawson Murschell was followed up by another first round exit at the World Matchplay to Darren Webster.
It seems likely that the form will dictate this one and we fancy Gurney to prevail at odds of 4/7. Wade is available at 11/8.
The last quarter-final tie sees two old rivals clash for the second tournament in a row as Phil Taylor takes on Raymond van Barneveld.
Their last meeting at Blackpool last month proved to be anything but an epic encounter, as Taylor romped home 11-3 en-route to his 16th Matchplay crown.
We think this match-up could be a similar story and go 4/9 for a Taylor win, with Barney priced up at 7/4.
Ladbrokes Latest Betting:
Auckland Darts Masters Outright betting
Phil Taylor – 13/8
Daryl Gurney – 9/2
Michael Smith – 5/1
James Wade – 7/1
Raymond van Barneveld – 7/1
Kyle Anderson – 10/1
Simon Whitlock – 10/1
Corey Cadby – 20/1
Click here for our latest Auckland Darts Masters betting odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
