Darts World Matchplay preview, tips & odds – Taylor favourite

Phil "The Power" Taylor strong bet to defend title at Blackpool

Blackpool will be lit up with the talents of the greatest darts players in the world, as the 2010 World Matchplay gets under way. Phil “The Power” Taylor will be defending his title at one of his favourite venues, after beating, no, make that hammering Terry Jenkins 18-4 in the final of last year’s tournament. Taylor is the outright favourite to win again, and that is no surprise, as the won the World Championships for the 15th time in his career earlier in the year, along with the UK Open and the Premier League. The man just does not show any signs of slowing, and in fact he has been getting better statistically, in his averages and win percentage. If Taylor can with the World Matchplay again in 2010, it will be the 11th time in his illustrious career which has been crowned.

2010 World Matchplay Outright Odds

Phil Taylor: 4/9 at Stan James
James Wade: 12/1 at SportingBet
Simon Whitlock: 14/1 at Bet365
Raymond Van Barneveld: 18/1 at BetFred
Gary Anderson: 22/1 at Extrabet
Adrian Lewis: 33/1 at SportingBet
Mervyn King: 40/1 at Totesport
Ronnie Baxter: 80/1 at SportingBet
Andy Hamilton: 80/1 at Extrabet
Colin Osborne: 80/1 at Coral

The tournament runs at the Blackpool Winter Gardens from July 17th to the 25th. Taylor is landed in the fourth quarter of the draw, and start the defence of his title against Barrie Bates, who met Taylor in the final of the UK Open. The toughest quarter of the draw is the second one, with genuine title hopefuls Raymond Barneveld, Adrian Lewis and Andy Hamilton all in there. Lewis is probably one of the biggest threats to Taylor, and it would make for something of a spectacular final if they meet there, in a master v apprentice kind of way. They are in separate halves of the draw, so it could well happen. Lewis suffered defeat against Taylor in both the World Championships and UK Open this year, but has a decent enough record in the World Matchplay to suggest that he get reach the final. Lewis plays Mark Webster in the first round, in what could be a potential banana skin.

Darts World Matchplay Draw for the First Round By Date (seeding and match odds in brackets)

Saturday, July 17th
(14) Dennis Priestley (11/8 at Ladbrokes) v Vincent van der Voort (4/6 at Totesport)
(11) Colin Osborne (8/13 at SportingBet) v Wayne Jones (11/8 at Boylesports)
(2) Raymond van Barneveld (4/9 at BetFred) v Denis Ovens (4/9 at Blue Square)
(6) Ronnie Baxter (8/13 at Victor Chandler) v Jamie Caven (6/4 at Ladbrokes)

Sunday, July 18th
(10) Andy Hamilton (4/6 at Extrabet) v Co Stompe (11/8 at SkyBet)
(7) Adrian Lewis (8/15 at Stan James) v Mark Webster (7/4 at Ladbrokes)
(3) James Wade (2/9 at William Hill) v Andy Smith (4/1 at BetFred)
(15) Alan Tabern (18/19 at Bwin) v Wes Newton (10/11 at Stan James)

Monday, July 19th
(5) Terry Jenkins (4/11 at Coral) v Steve Brown (5/2 at Ladbrokes)
(12) Simon Whitlock (1/5 at Blue Square) v Tony Eccles (9/2 at SportingBet)
(13) Robert Thornton (3/1 at Ladbrokes) v Gary Anderson (3/10 at Totesport)
(4) Mervyn King (4/9 at Totesport) v Jelle Klaasen (9/4 at SportingBet)

Tuesday, July 20th
(9) Colin Lloyd (10/11 at SkyBet) v Kevin Painter (Evens at Paddy Power)
(8) Mark Walsh (8/13 at William Hill) v Mark Dudbridge (6/4 at Boylesports)
(1) Phil Taylor (1/20 at William Hill) v Barrie Bates (20/1 at SkyBet)
(16) Paul Nicholson (8/15 at Stan James) v Steve Beaton (13/8 at Boylesports)

If you take Phil Taylor out of the field though, the tournament looks pretty open to be honest, but it will take a brave punter to go against The Power! A good bet would be James Wade who has a 13-2 match record at the World Matchplay. He should have a fairly smooth ride to the quarter finals one should think, and has reached three of the last four finals, winning one of them. Raymond Van Barneveld has gone out at the quarter final stage of the World Matchplay in the last three consecutive years, and it is a tournament which he hasn’t won. He is still one of the class acts in the world though, and a dominating presence at the oche. The World number two has a tough draw on his hands though, and will need to be at his very best. Terry Jenkins, ranked 5th is also worth looking at after making the final last year.

Here are the Brackets for the Tournament, broken into quarters:

World Matchplay Quarter 1:
James Wade, Ronnie Baxter, Colin Osborne, Vincent Van Der Voort, Jamie Caven, Dennis Priestley, Wayne Jones, Andy Smith
World Matchplay Quarter 2:
Raymond Barneveld, Adrian Lewis, Andy Hamilton, Co Stompe, Mark Webster, Alan Tabern, Denis Ovens, Wes Newton
World Matchplay Quarter 3:
Gary Anderson, Simon Whitlock, Mervyn King, Terry Jenkins, Robert Thornton, Jelle Klaasen, Tony Eccles, Steve Brown
World Matchplay Quarter 4:
Phil Taylor, Paul Nicholson, Colin Lloyd, Mark Walsh, Kevin Painter, Mark Dudbridge, Steve Beaton, Barrie Bates