Will Wade fail to beat the Dutch favourite?
This World Darts Championship is becoming more and more of a farce every day. Meanwhile several world class professionals had to withdraw their participation due to positive tests. Numerous matches could not take place, so that one of the two players could be happy about a “walk-through” into the next round.
James Wade, currently fourth in the PDC Order of Merit, for example had to play only one match to progress into the last 16. There with Martijn Kleermaker again a Dutchman is waiting. But it remains to be seen whether the match will actually take place, as almost all players from the Netherlands have tested positive so far. First Raymond van Barneveld, then Vincent van der Voort and finally also Michael van Gerwen.
If the match will take place, the odds of the bookmakers already show that the Englishman is the clear favourite in the duel Wade vs Kleermaker. This is mainly due to the enormous experience of the often ice-cold Wade, but also because his opponent was allowed to throw arrows on the board for the first time in Alexandra Palace this year. In the previous rounds, however, it became clear that the 30-year-old should not be underestimated.
James Wade – Statistics & current form
James Wade has been active in the PDC since 2004. Only a few years later the Englishman who was in his mid-twenties at that time could celebrate his first big successes on the tour. Among others “The Machine” won the World Matchplay, twice the World Grand Prix, the UK Open, the European Darts Championship and the Premier League in 2009.
In the last few years it has become a bit quieter around the man from Aldershot, Hampshire. Several times Wade showed his enormous potential but couldn’t match the glorious days of his career beginning. The now 38-year-old also failed to reach the quarter-finals at the World Championship since 2017. His best general result at the season’s highlight is a semi-final in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
Wade must improve
The Machine would love to make it to the final round again this time, especially as he is extremely well seeded as number 4 and therefore has a good draw. If in the duel Wade vs. Kleermaker the bet on the victory of the favourite pays off, in the round of the last eight with Mervyn King and Hempel defeater Raymond Smith a feasible task would be waiting.
The good year he played in 2021 in particular gives hope in this respect. The UK Open title and strong matches at the Grand Slam have given the Englishman more confidence. In his first and so far only appearance at the Ally Pally, however, Wade had more problems than expected. He only threw an 83 average against Kuivenhoven, didn’t celebrate a 180 and profited only from the double out weakness of his opponent. In the following round van der Voort could not play.
Against this background we would be cautious to predict a clear success of the world number four between Wade and Kleermaker. We can well imagine that the match will be closer than expected. Especially because “The Machine” has never been the big scorer in his career, but lived much more from his consistency and impressive check out rate. High finishes could also be a sticking point in a competitive match on Thursday lunchtime
Last matches of James Wade:
World Darts Championship
12/27 2021 – James Wade 0 – 0 Vincent van der Voort
12/20 2021 – James Wade 3 – 1 Maik Kuivenhoven
Players Championship Finals
11/27 2021 – Daryl Gurney 10 – 7 James Wade
11/27 2021 – Callan Rydz 5 – 6 James Wade
11/26 2021 – James Wade 6 – 1 Ricky Evans
Martijn Kleermaker – Statistics & current form
Martijn Kleermaker is still a blank slate on the PDC Pro Tour. In the current season the 30-year-old once reached the last 16 of the UK Open or the European Championship. He also won smaller tournaments in his home country. Nevertheless, these results have on the one hand led to the Dutchman fighting his way up to 50th place in the world rankings and on the other hand to his qualifying for the World Championships for the second time in a row.
Last year, however, he was unable to compete on his actual debut because a positive test a few days before the start of the tournament threw a spanner in the works. The “Dutch Giant” was all the happier that it finally worked out this year. And even better than expected. Nobody would have thought that Kleermaker would reach the round of 16, especially in view of the complicated tournament tree.
Will Kleermaker surprise the next favourite?
While the 3:1 opening win against the Greek underdog John Michael was not yet a big surprise, this changed abruptly in the two following games. Both before the match against Simon Whitlock and afterwards against Joe Cullen Kleermaker was considered as an outsider, but he prevailed twice with 3:1 and 4:3 sets respectively.
The young Dutchman didn’t even convince with a strong scoring but with a good double quota. Against Cullen it was almost 46%, against the wizard from Australia also almost 40%. If he can keep up these figures in the last 16, the odds on a close match with many legs between Wade and Kleermaker promise a reasonable value.
Last games of Martijn Kleermaker:
World Darts Championship
12/28 2021 – Joe Cullen 3 – 4 Martijn Kleermaker
12/22 2021 – Simon Whitlock 1 – 3 Martijn Kleermaker
12/19 2021 – Martijn Kleermaker 3 – 1 John Michael
Players Championship Finals
11/26 2021 – Scott Mitchell 6 – 5 Martijn Kleermaker
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Martijn Kleermaker 5 – 6 Matthew Edgar
James Wade – Martijn Kleermaker Direct comparison / H2H record
Although James Wade and Martijn Kleermaker are not in their first year together on the PDC Pro Tour, they actually never came to a direct duel. The head-to-head record is therefore irrelevant for our Wade vs. Kleermaker prediction.
James Wade – Martijn Kleermaker Tip
On paper, James Wade is clearly favoured against Martijn Kleermaker. The odds are extremely clearly in favour of the experienced Englishman. In our eyes, even a bit too clear. Despite the fact that the fourth in the world ranking meets the 50th, it could be an exciting match. This is mainly due to the fact that both players are not classic power scorers and therefore a lot will be decided by the doubles.
Apart from that, it should give food for thought that “The Machine” has only played one match in London so far and could not convince with an average clearly below 90 points. Kleermaker on the other hand has gained a lot of confidence after wins over Whitlock and Cullen and now wants to continue his winning streak.
In our eyes it is a good option to bet on at least 23 legs to be played between Wade and Kleermaker.
