Barney And Hollywood Star On Day 8 At The Palace

Former world champion Raymond van Barneveld and reigning Masters champion Chris Dobey are just a couple of the big names in action as day eight of the 2024 Paddy Power World Darts Championships sees a bumper eight second round matches across two sessions.

Evening Session

One of the legends of the sport takes to the stage for the first time this tournament when Raymond van Barneveld takes on Radek Szaganski in their second round clash. ‘Barney’, whose last world title came in the unforgettable 2007 sudden death epic against Phil Taylor, will be hoping to at least equal his third round appearance of twelve months ago, which was his best performance at the Palace since his quarter final appearance five years earlier.

Poland’s Szaganski, a winner on the Pro Tour just a couple of months ago, showed little of that form when overcoming Marko Kantele in five sets in round one before finally stepping things up in the decider. The winner will face Jim Williams in round three.

Newcastle United fan Dobey reached the quarter finals for the first time last year before being whitewashed by a rampant Michael van Gerwen, ‘Hollywood’ winning just three legs on that occasion. He reached the same stage of the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championships after his Masters win, which secured him a debut in the Premier League. He faces William O’Connor, who impressively swept aside Indian qualifier Bhav Patel in the opening round, without dropping a leg. A third round tie with Ross Smith awaits the winner.

Elsewhere, 2023 semi finalist Dimitri van den Bergh opens the evening’s proceedings as he takes on Florian Hempel of Germany. Former World Matchplay champion ‘Dancing Dimitri’ will be hoping to improve on a poor second half of the year as he takes on qualifier Hempel, who disposed of Dylan Slevin in round one.

The other match of the evening sees Martin Schindler start his campaign against conqueror of Fallon Sherrock, Jermaine Wattimena. Schindler has a couple of major quarter final appearances to his name this year and will be hoping to recapture that form in his fifth appearance at the Palace.

Afternoon Session

The out of form and troubled by injury Dirk van Duijvenbode will be hoping to improve on his recent performances when he takes on Croatia’s Boris Krcmar in the final match of Friday afternoon. Early departures at the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals don’t bode well for Dirk and the capable Croat will be looking to take full advantage and set up a tie with Gary Anderson in round three.

Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski is a former quarter finalist and will be hoping his clash with Jamie Hughes will be the first step to achieving similar this time around. Hughes struggled in his first round match against David Cameron but eventually got over the line to get his first win on the Ally Pally stage. The man from Tipton will be hoping to kick on and show the darts he’s capable of.

Former World Cup of Darts pairing of Brendan Dolan and Mickey Mansell go head to head in the opening game of the afternoon. The pair reached the semi finals of the 2014 edition, with Dolan pairing up with Daryl Gurney in more recent years. Both players will be looking to get the better of their former team mate and set up a third round tie with former world champion Gerwyn Price.

The remaining match of the afternoon sees Jose de Sousa start his campaign against Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf. ‘The Special One’ is another player who has had a torrid time of late and De Graaf, who will take confidence from fighting back from two sets down to beat Ritchie Edhouse in round one, may fancy his chances of an upset.

Friday’s Order of Play

Afternoon Session

Brendan Dolan v Mickey Mansell (R2)

Jose de Sousa v Jeffrey de Graaf (R2)

Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes (R2)

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Boris Krcmar (R2)

Evening Session

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Florian Hempel (R2)

Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena (R2)

Raymond van Barneveld v Radek Szaganski (R2)

Chris Dobey v William O’Connor (R2)