The best in the world suffered some serious shocks in Auckland last week, but the dart players are back in Melbourne for the Melbourne Darts Masters this weekend. Gary Anderson and Peter Wright both suffered poor losses in the opening round of the Auckland Darts Masters, but the Scottish duo head the betting for this week’s event.
16-time World Championship winner Phil Taylor continues his world tour and he didn’t lose many admirers when being beaten by young upstart Corey Cadby last week. Taylor and James Wade suffered losses in the semi-finals in Auckland, but Wade was embarrassed by the lower-ranked Kyle Anderson who is hoping to continue his good form in front of his home crowd. Can Australians Kyle Anderson and Cory Cadby make the final again for two weeks straight? Or will the best players in the world show why they’re so highly rated.
Melbourne Masters winning tip
Corey Cadby is a young player on the rise and his performance in Auckland was on par with some of the best players in the world. The Tasmanian rolled through Peter Wright 6-4 after giving up a couple of legs late and his run to the final also included a gusty win over Phil Taylor. Any player that can beat Wright and Taylor in one tournament deserves attention and his confidence is sky high at the moment. He will have the home crowd behind him and to think bookmakers are still offering a double figure price is quite outstanding. Cadby is currently 14/1 at bet365 and the future darting star is well over the odds at that price.
Melbourne Masters next best tip
Phil Taylor is too good to be left out of calculations and he only needs to start hitting his doubles. Taylor was beaten by Corey Cadby in the semi-final at Auckland 11-8, but he missed many chances at double to win the game which has been costing the best player to ever play the game.
It’s Taylor’s final season as a professional and he’s doing the right thing by touring all over the world. Australia would love to sing the Phil Taylor chant all the way to the final and we think Taylor could progress through to the deep stages. With Gary Anderson and Peter Wright not playing up to their ability on the world tour, this could be a great chance for Taylor to notch yet another win to add to his long list.
Melbourne Masters underdog pick
Raymond van Barneveld is a much-loved darts player who struggles with confidence. The senior player from the Netherlands can score with the best of them, but he does get down on himself when things aren’t going his way. Barney is always a sleeper pick for any tournament he plays and it’s about time he showed his best stuff on the world series tour.
Getting Barney at 12/1 with SkyBet is over the odds and he should take care of his opening two rounds against lesser-known opposition.
On his day he’s capable of beating just about everyone expect Michael van Gerwen – considering he’s not in the tournament, Barney could take the title and bring in some momentum to the bigger tournaments later in the year.