The BDO world championship begins on Saturday with a whole host of established and up-and-coming names capable of going all the way at Lakeside.
England captain Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams, winner in 2007, is playing in his 17th world championships and has been made a slight favourite at 7-2 with five firms including Boylesports, Bet Fred and Sporting Bet.
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Adams is the current Winmau World Masters champion, having beaten Robbie Green 7-6 back in September – his second successive win in the event.
The Bridlington tournament is perceived as second only to the world championships in prestige in the BDO, although only four players have ever won both events in the same season – John ‘Boy’ Walton being the last to achieve the feat in 2000-01 (the Yorkshire player is a 50-1 shot with Bet365 this time out). Adams is also 1-12 on to defeat Australian debutant Anthony Fleet (6-1) in his first-round match on Monday – those odds with Bet365.
Scott Waites has impressed on the circuit in the last couple of seasons, being one of the most improved players on the tour – as shown by reaching No. 1 in the BDO rankings, and also by his run to the final of the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
The fact he has gone out to 4-1 from 7-2 – odds available at Sporting Bet, Boylesports and Sky Bet – should not deter punters. The Yorkshire player is the No. 2 seed and having reached the last eight in the last two years at Lakeside, is well capable of going far again. He is 1-12 on with Bet365 to defeat Scotland’s Paul Hanvidge (6-1 Bet365) first up on Sunday – with the only potential issue for Waites being the early start.
Tony O'Shea looks a decent shout at 9/2 with Bet365, who offer a £200/€200 bet on the tournament! Claim it here!
Can O’Shea go one better this year?
Tony O’Shea is the No. 1 seed, having recently won the WDF World Cup singles. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts and was runner-up to Ted Hankey in the 2009 final.
This will be his ninth time at Lakeside, and to go one step further this year he has been made a 9-2 shot – in from 5-1 – withBet365, Boylesports and Coral. Bet365 make him around 1-6 on to defeat Robbie Green in round one, although the Liverpudlian has been in decent form this year and with the match being the first of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, odds of 7-2 (Bet365) appear a half decent shout – particularly in light of his run to the final of the Winmau World Masters.
Champion Ted Hankey has endured an indifferent 2009 since his dramatic success over O’Shea. His ongoing battles with ‘oche rage’ surfaced again at the Grand Slam of Darts, when he blasted the Wolverhampton crowd for their reaction to him as he threw his darts. He bowed out at the group stage despite recovering in the tournament, going close to a last 16 spot. He did though win the England Open in June – but lost in the last 16 in Bridlington.
He is still 11-1 fourth favourite with Boylesports and Coral – which doesn’t look great value on recent form.
He also faces Gary Robson first up, who despite enduring a disappointing season, has reached the last eight at Lakeside twice – last time 12 months ago. Hankey is 4-7, with Robson 5-4 – odds available at Bet365. Robson is also 28-1 with Bet Fred to land the title, the joint-seventh fancy in the 32-man field.
The other main fancy is another player with Lakeside experience – Darryl Fitton. A semi-finalist last time out, the Stockport player has won a couple of tournaments in 2009 – including the Dutch Open, and the Zuiderduin Masters in mid-December. A heavy scorer and crowd favourite, if Fitton can see off Dave Chisnall in the first round, he is well capable of going all the way – and is available at attractive win odds of 14-1 with Stan James. Fitton is 4-9 to win his first match, with Chisnall, from St Helens and the 2009 British Open champion, a 13-8 shout (odds with Bet365).
In terms of winners coming from outside the established names, the likes of Ross Montgomery (20-1 various), Martin Atkins (33s), Robert Wagner (50-1 William Hill), Stephen Bunting (66-1 Bet Fred and Coral) and possibly Dutchman Willy van de Wiel (100-1 various) could all be considered – by virtue of previous Lakeside experience and tournament success recently.
Other potential first-round shocks (all odds available at Bet365) include Willy van de Wiel (13-8) to beat former champion John Walton (4-9), Bunting (13-8) – who is due a run in the tournament after going out in the first round last time to Gary Robson in a high quality encounter – to defeat Ian White (4-9), and the experienced Martin Phillips (7-4) to shock Dave Prins (2-5).
