Andy Hamilton to conquer World C’ship’s second quarter

With Phil Taylor dominating the outright betting market for the Ladbrokes World Championship Darts it leaves little wriggle room for punters who are jostling for some value.

But, with a bumper list of markets now available on the tournament there are plenty of prices that resemble low-hanging fruit ahead of the big throw-off.

Perhaps one of the most evenly matched markets revolves around who will win the second quarter of the draw, where the victor who reaches the semi-final from this section will ensure a payout.

The second quarter, the winner of which could face Taylor in the semi final, contains three players who can barely be separated in the betting.

Australian Simon Whitlock is the highest seed in the section, with only four men heading to Alexandra Palace with a higher rank. The Wizard of Oz is therefore understandably the 7/4 favourite to reign supreme in his quarter, but considering he’s only progressed past the quarter-final stage once in his five career outings, isn’t a banker by any means.

Andy Hamilton, seeded just one spot lower than the bearded Aussie, is rated as a 7/2 shot to topple all second-quarter comers and should be preferred considering his path to the quarter-final spot is easier than Whitlock’s, who has seasoned pro and two-time quarter champion Kevin Painter in his way.

The third contender, Kim Huybrechts, is the 12th seed for the tournament and is also afforded odds of 7/2. Should he topple his elder brother in the first round then he could meet Hamilton in the third, and considering the Belgian has an inferior 2-3 record in matches with The Hammer, should be avoided on this occasion.

13th-seed Painter heads the double-figured outsiders at 11/1, while the unseeded Dean Winstanley is curiously priced better at 20/1 than his first round opponent, and 28th-seed, Richie Burnett.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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