PDC World Cup Betting: English foes are worth opposing

/ Jaymes Monte / 01 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Burnett can help Webster and Wales go one step further.

"Despite an obvious respect for each other’s game and their eagerness to suppress any suggestions of a conflict, Lewis and Taylor are not bessie mates."

England are the strong favourites, but fell at the first hurdle last time. Can Taylor and Lewis make amends? Jaymes Monte doesn't think so...

I don't blame punters for making England their odds-on favourite for the 2012 PDC World Cup. They certainly tick all the boxes that an odds-on favourite should. Their team of two is made up of the current World Champion and the current world number one, they've won the last four PDC World Championship titles between them and their combined prize money for the last 24 months is well in excess of £1 million. They are Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis.

But, as Taylor found out last year, this unfamiliar format can throw up its fair share of shocks. Camaraderie, companionship and solidity within a team can get you far in this tournament.

When it was last played, in 2010, three of the four semi-finalists could certainly put a large part of their success down to team ethics. Spanish duo Antolin Alcinas and Carlos Rodriguez are nowhere near being amongst the best eight players in the world, but saw off England and Scotland, amongst others, en route to the semis.

The rapport between Barrie Bates and Mark Webster was enough to see the former reach only the second major final of his career, while the calming effect that Co Stompe had on Raymond van Barneveld's game has been highlighted by Barney's continued downward spiral since the Netherlands' success.

So, rather than taking the traditional approach and looking at form lines, head-to-heads, etcetera; we need to look a little deeper into this one and to the relationships within teams.

Firstly, we'll dismiss England at odds of around [1.7]. Despite an obvious respect for each other's game and their eagerness to suppress any suggestions of a conflict, Lewis and Taylor are not bessie mates. They're each too fiercely competitive for their relationship to be classified as anything other than purely professional. Maybe they don't hate each other, any more, but I doubt either man will be inviting the other round for dinner any time soon.

Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock are the only nation in the top six of the betting that are represented by the same two men as last time. For that reason they should be respected, but I'm not convinced that The Asset is a real team player, and so at odds of [4.5] we'll swerve the Aussies too.

Scotland are third favourites in the betting at [9.0] and are the first to turn my head. Peter Wright, born and raised in England but with Scottish grandparents, will partner Gary Anderson in this year's World Cup. Anderson often looks like he needs an arm around his shoulder, a kick up the backside or someone to tell him a joke. Snakebite can provide all three, but can also fling a fair arrer himself. They're not my main selection, but I will be taking some of that [9.0] on the Scots.

Fourth in the betting are defending champions Netherlands at odds of [10.0]. Quite frankly, I wouldn't touch them at that price with someone else's money. Without Stompe by his side I feel Barney would need someone of equally calming and jovial demeanour to successfully defend this trophy. Unfortunately Vincent van der Voort does not posses any of those characteristics. Quite the opposite in fact, and, far from them winning the thing, I'm worried about an early round exit for the Dutch.

Now, onto my bet of the weekend. Last year's runner-up Mark Webster is this year joined by his PDC World Championship first round conqueror, and good friend, Richie Burnett to make up the Wales team.

Both players are in good form, as we saw at Alexandra Palace and was reiterated by solid performances at the recent Benidorm Players Championships. But, more importantly, they are the type of player that can thrive in this format. Each man often needs a little gee-up and each one can beat any other player in the game when on form. Webster's relationship with Bates helped them to the final in 2010; his relationship with Burnett, and the extra quality the 1995 World Champion possesses, can take them one step further this time around.

Best Bet:
Back Wales to win PDC World Cup of Darts @ [13.0]

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