World Matchplay Darts Preview – Sunday, July 21st at 9.30 pm
World Number One Michael van Gerwen will be looking to set the record straight after early exits at the last two World Matchplay tournaments. Nightmares of his short-lived tournament twelve months ago at the Winter Gardens will be coming back to either haunt him or inspire him. MVG gets what appears to be an easy opener against veteran Steve Beaton, who is still doing the rounds.
Michael van Gerwen v Steve Beaton Odds*
Michael van Gerwen 1/9
Steve Beaton 11/2
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 17th, 2019 at 7:12 pm)
Will Van Gerwen avoid first-round exit repeat?
Last year at the World Matchplay, Michael van Geweren was left stunned after a first-round exit. As were the crowds gathered at the Winter Gardens. He fell at the hands of his Dutch compatriot Jeffrey de Zwaan in a 10-6 defeat. The seasons before that MVG had failed to get past the quarter-finals. So those were some uncharacteristic blowouts by the world number one. But the bookmakers are fully expecting a fightback from him as he is the tournament outright favourite.
Van Gerwen has been racking up the titles again this year. He recently won his fifth Premier League title and was crowned World Champion once again at the start of the new year. He also won his fifth straight Masters title this year. The only major PDC tournament that he has fallen short in during 2019 was at the UK Open where he was beaten in the fourth round by Mervyn King. He will be visiting the Winter Gardens in Blackpool hoping to pick up his third World Matchplay title.
Will Steve Beaton upset MVG?
55-year-old Steve Beaton, aka The Bronzed Adonis, is suddenly back in the picture. That is because of his quarter-final place recently at the UK Open. He used to be one of the great BDO players but it just never managed to happen for him in the PDC really. So maybe his recent run at the UK Open can be pieced together with some World Matchplay form? No, that’s not there. Beaton has bombed out in the first round in five of the last six editions. The one exception was his quarter-final run in 2016. His best-ever finish at the event was a semi-final place in 2001.
Prediction
We can only see Beaton having a rough time at the oche. This match should not last long which is ironic as Beaton is referred to now as the Marathon Man. Anyway, Michael van Gerwen losing this would be a bigger shock tenfold that his first-round exit against De Zwaan last year. MVG – 4.5 handicap on a best of 19 legs? Yes at 5/6* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 17th, 2019 at 7:12 pm)
