World Matchplay Darts Preview – Tuesday, July 23rd at 8:15 pm
The expected second-round tie between James Wade and Mensur Suljovic has arrived. This is eighth seed Wade taking on ninth seed Suljovic. There was very different first-round action from them though with the Austrian powering his way through, while Wade had to rely on extra legs to make his progress to the second round. The winner of this faces either Michael van Gerwen or Glen Durrant in the quarters.
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic Odds*
James Wade 8/11
Mensur Suljovic 11/10
* (betting odds taken from Bet365 on July 22nd, 2019 at 11:25 pm)
Cna the Machine beat Suljovic?
There was high tension and drama for James Wade in the first round of the World Matchplay 2019. He was up against Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan and just couldn’t shake off his opponent. It went all the way down to the wire of needing extra legs to settle things. Wade got himself across the line with a 13-12 win.
That was some game in the end and the challenges ahead are not going to get easier in this tournament. Wade had suffered two first-round exits and a second-round exit in his three last three attempts at the World Matchplay. He is a former winner though having lifted the crown in 2017 and he has been to five other finals. The fact that he got through such a tough mental challenge early on shows that he’s up for the fight mentally.
Head to head
Suljovic and Wade have been up against each other seventeen times before. It is the Austrian Suljovic who is on top with a W11 L6 record against Wade.
Suljiovc comes out firing
What a performance it was from Mensur Suljovic in the first round of the World Matchplay 2019. He was up against Jermaine Wattimena and Suljovic powered his way to a 10-1 victory. That was always going to be a winnable match for him. The margin by which it was achieved, was unexpected. Given the struggles that Wade had in getting past his, arguably tougher, first-round opponent, Suljovic has every reason to be confident going into this one.
Suljovic was a losing finalist last year in Blackpool, getting beaten by Gary Anderson. That was his best-ever run in the competition. Just once in the last four editions of the tournament has he finished lower than a quarter-final place. So he does look to be a threat in this one. Suljovic was also a recent semi finalist at the German Masters as well. This could be a really good, long scrap between these two.
Predictions
This is likely to be an even match up. Suljovic is well worth a punt at 11/10 odds to come up with the victory here* (betting odds taken from Bet365 on July 22nd, 2019 at 11:25 pm). He’s always a dangerous floater in competitions and there’s no reason why he can’t come up with the goods here. Wade was rattled in his opener and the Austrian can’t stop the machine.
