After the break in the PDC World Championships for Christmas, when the action returns on the 27th, there is going to be a cracker of a third-round scrap. It is 6th seed Daryl Gurney taking on 27th seed Glen Durrant. Duzza looks to have been underestimated in the draw, can he make a huge statement here?
Daryl Gurney v Glen Durrant odds*
Daryl Gurney 4/5
Glen Durrant Even money
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Can Gurney handle Duzza?
SuperChin Daryl Gurney is seeded 6th in the tournament and he had a comfortable opener in the second round. He breezed past Justin Pipe without dropping a set. Notably, the Northern Ireland darter fired off a three-dart average of 96, which a good return for an opening match. He’s going to be facing a lot more pressure in this one against former BDO World Champion Durrant. It’s not as if Gurney hasn’t been without his wobbles in the early stages of World Championship appearances. From six previous appearances in the main draw, he has made it past the third round once. That was when he went to the quarters back in 2017, his best finish at the tournament.
Head to head
All three meetings between these two have happened this year. It is Gurney who has opened up a W2 L1 head to head record. Both of his wins over Durrant were big ones as well. Durrant got his narrow win at the PDC International Darts Open in September.
Duzza ready for the challenge
Even though Durrant is only seeded 27th in the draw, he is the one player in the fourth section that no-one would have wanted to go up against. He is the reigning (three-time) BDO Darts World Championship and after swinging to the PDC this year, he is in his first-ever draw. The fact that he has seeded inside the top 32 shows what a fine season he has had and how well he has handled himself. Duzza has been to three televised semi-finals this year including at the recent Grand Slam of Darts. Given his consecutive titles on the BDO, he knows how to handle the pressure on the big stage. Definitely a threat.
Daryl Gurney v Glen Durrant Prediction and tip
Gurney has a little bit of form since the end of October, running to the semis of the European Champions and the last 16 at the Grand Slam of Darts and World Series of Darts Finals. But Duzza is a big-stage player and can cause an upset at 10/11 odds in the outright *(betting odds taken from bet365 on December 21st, 2019 at 3:10 pm). He may just have it over a long match.
