World Darts Championship: Back Cullen to surprise Mighty Mike
Yorkshireman Cullen value bet to take a set of defending champion
Tuesday 16 December 2014 17:56, UK
Sky Bet's Ed Watson goes searching for value in the first round of the PDC World Championships, which get under way on Thursday. Here are some selected bets for the opening matches at Alexandra Palace, live on the Sky Sports Darts channel.
Michael van Gerwen to beat Joe Cullen 3-1 - 9/4 with Sky Bet
At 1/33 to beat Joe Cullen you would be forgiven for the thinking that reigning World Champion Michael van Gerwen’s path to the second round of the PDC World Championships will be plain sailing.
Cullen is not the most prolific scorer in the PDC, but strangely this could help him a little - Van Gerwen is the type of the player who ups his game when his opponent is playing well but when his opponent is not quite on the money, his own game drops a little too.
The Dutchman also knows the dangers of the World No 44 having lost to him four times during his career - most recently in October in a Players’ Championship event on the Pro Tour.
It is not just away from the TV cameras that Bradford-born Cullen has proved he can throw his weight with the big guns – rewind 12 months and he took five legs off eventual World Championships runner-up Peter Wright from just 11 shots at double (45.45% success) in their first round clash proving that given an opportunity he can take it. While an upset looks highly unlikely, odds of 9/4 for Cullen to steal a set from Van Gerwen - and lose 3-1 - looks like great value.
Terry Jenkins to beat John Weber 3-0 - 10/11 with Sky Bet
This year has seen a resurgence in form from Terry Jenkins after his peak years between 2006 and 2009.
He has reached the final of both the UK Open and European Championships, as well as reach the latter stages of a number of major TV tournaments. At world No 16, he now looks one of the toughest players to beat.
He faces relative unknown John Weber – a player who has made his mark in the southern hemisphere this year but lies outside of the top 200 in the world.
He is clearly a talented player, having hit two nine-darters in the Australian Victoria Premier League, but it still seems unlikely he will have the capacity to win three legs out of five to take a set against an in-form Jenkins, who will be keen to lay down a marker early-on knowing he is likely to face reigning World Champion Michael van Gerwen in the third round.
