Van Barneveld and Webster out to avoid shock defeats
Published:With number two seed James Wade being surprisingly dumped out of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, a pair of other fancied stars will be hoping to avoid following suit at Alexandra Palace.
Raymond van Barneveld will be the first in action in the second round and will be keen to continue his formidable record against Kevin McDine.
Van Barneveld has won all three previous meetings between the pair and is a big favourite at 1/10 in the darts betting to do so again.
However, McDine came close to claiming a victory in the only other match the two contested in 2010 when pushing the Dutchman all the way in a 6-5 reverse in a UK Open qualifier in March.
McDine did a professional job in seeing off Barrie Bates in the opening round and is 11/2 to beat Van Barneveld.
With the number three seed always prone to starting slowly, it may be worth backing Van Barneveld to progress with a 4-1 victory, which is available at 9/4.
Meanwhile, Mark Webster has made serene progress through the opening two rounds without dropping a set and will want to build on this form in his third round showdown with the unseeded Mark Hylton.
Webster has blitzed past Steve Maish and Ronnie Baxter and is 1/5 in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship betting odds to brush aside Hylton to advance into a probable fourth round tussle with Phil Taylor.
It is 11/4 that Webster beats Hylton 4-0, although the same price on a 4-1 triumph may prove more profitable.
Hylton impressed when beating Colin Lloyd in the second round and will also be out to get revenge on Webster for a 5-3 defeat at the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
He is 10/3 to beat Webster.
A £10 stake on Hylton beating Webster 4-2 would return £140. New customers can sign up here for a free £10 bet.
