World Matchplay Darts - Tuesday
The World Matchplay goes into the Second Round on Tuesday, and we fancy an upset when Cristo Reyes and Peter "Snakebite" Wright meet.
Wright looked a little lost as he stumbled to a 10-8 victory over World Number 38 James Wilson over the weekend, and despite being ranked 3rd in the world, Wright looks vulnerable at the moment. He averaged just 89.3 in that victory, so will consider himself fortunate to remain alive and kicking here.
Cristo Reyes has been an improver season on season, and in his third main season as a main professional, is now into the Top 35 - a few more nicks and he can really kick on as major tournament entries will suddenly become more easily achieved - it would be no surprise to see him inside the Top 16 by the end of the season. At 7/2 Reyes looks decent value to repeat his recent victory over Wright (he won 6-5 in the European Matchplay in June).
Reyes to beat Wright at 7/2
In the opening match of the night, Mensur Suljovic can dominate Justin Pipe when the pair meet. Suljovic is a player who is really on the up at the moment - into 8th in the PDC rankings, he's risen in the world rankings every year since 2013. In 2017 already, he has won 20 of his 25 tour matches, and nine of those matches have seen him average over 100!
It's quite the opposite for Justin Pipe - who has been on a steady decline since peaking in 2012. Since then he's been slowly slipping down the rankings, and appears to have little idea about stopping the rot. He's only played 6 full tour matches this season, and averaged in the 80's in four of those.
Austrian Suljovic should make light work of Pipe in this one, so backing him on the handicap looks the obvious play to secure a more attractive price.
Suljovic (-3.5 games) to beat Pipe at Evens