World Darts Championship Day 4: Another golden night for Paul Lim?
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Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright are the star names on show today as the World Darts Championship gears up for a super Sunday at the Alexandra Palace.
Chizzy and Snakebite will take to the stage in separate second round ties. But before that there’s a whole host of first round matches to get through in each session.
We’ve previewed all of the evening’s matches in our daily darts tips.
Luke Humphries v Adam Hunt
The first match of the night pitches two first round debutants against each other, as Luke Humphries and Adam Hunt square-off in a tight looking tungsten tussle.
Cool Hand has shown some decent form on the floor of late and reached the semi-finals of a Players Championship event in Barnsley two months ago before bowing out to Adrian Lewis.
Two evenly matched players are 4/1 to finish level on the 180 count, although it’s Humphries who should have the quality to edge through. Expect a close game to finish 3-1 or 3-2.
Matthew Edgar v Darius Labanauskas
Tonight’s second match looks equally difficult to call. Edgar will start off as the narrow outsider at 4/5. The more experienced Labanauskas is currently chalked up as the even-money favourite.
It’s difficult to compare the duo’s respective form lines, although it’s fair to say that the Lithuanian has been in devastating form on the Nordic and Baltic Tour.
That should hold him in good stead here against an opponent who isn’t used to winning much at all in the floor tournaments. Labanauskas could make it through as a result.
Ross Smith v Paul Lim
Paul Lim nearly brought the house down 12 months ago after hitting eight perfect darts against Gary Anderson. Only a wayward D12 denied him another slice of history 28 years after his first.
Now he’s back and gunning to reach the second round for the second year in a row. He’s a 6/5 chance to do just that against Ally Pally debutant Ross Smith, who’s odds-on at 4/6.
The Englishman has been in decent form on the tour. But Lim is a wily old sort who saves his best arrows for this North London venue. Not only do we think he has an excellent chance of progressing.
We also think he could hit the Most 180s at 9/5 after peppering the lipstick for fun on the PDC Asian Tour. He’s 5/4 to hit Over 3.5 Maximums in the match.
Peter Wright v Toni Alcinas
This could be a tougher match than the odds suggest for Peter Wright. Snakebite is a 1/10 chance to win through against Toni Alcinas, who is available at 6/1.
There’s no doubting the Scotsman’s quality. But his performance is largely dependent on what equipment he’s using and if the fluency is there in his throwing. Too many times in 2018 has Wright underperformed as a result of both issues.
If the variables aren’t there tonight, then Alcinas may fancy his chances of nicking a set or two off the tournament second-favourite. We go 11/5 about a 3-1 win for Snakebite and 5/6 for Over 3.5 Sets.
Click here for all our PDC World Darts Championship odds.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
