Gender duel at the Ally Pally
It wasn’t just at the Grand Slam of Darts that Fallon Sherrock showed that the women’s world of darts can compete when she progressed to the quarter-finals where she was narrowly defeated by Peter Wright. The ladies could cause a stir in the PDC World Championship as well. As first woman Lisa Ashton will stand at the oche on Thursday where she will meet Dutchman Ron Meulenkamp
The Dutchman is seen as the clear favourite by the bookmakers tested. On a men’s win, quotes are offered just at a peak of 1.37. However, the crowd at Alexandra Palace will be on Lisa Ashton’s side. There are three good reasons for this, as the Englishwoman is a local hero.
The Lancashire Rose lives in Bolton. As an Englishwoman, as an outsider and last but not least as a woman, the audience is likely to be rooting for her. But in general the mood at the PDC World Darts Championship is always exuberant. It remains to be seen whether that is an advantage for the Englishwoman. Nevertheless between Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton the prediction goes for a win of the Dutchman.
Beside the possible duel between Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright this match is the highlight of the evening. As an overture for the German darts fans there will be the opening match of Fabian Schmutzler against Ryan Meikle. That promises to be an exciting second evening in the Alexandra Palace, even if in the duel between Ron Meulenkamp against Lisa Ashton the tip should go to a clear win for the Dutchman.
Ron Meulenkamp – Statistics & current form
Current Position Order of Merit: 54
Seeded position: unseeded
Ron Meulenkamp is still waiting for his big breakthrough. The 33 year old Dutchman has not yet made a big name for himself in the BDO or the PDC. In his five participations in the PDC World Championships it didn’t go well either. Twice he failed in the first round. But at least he managed to win three times and to reach round two. But it was always over there at the latest.
Problems with Meulenkamp
Everyone was talking about “The Bomb” in the summer when he threw a nine-darter in the Hungarian Darts Trophy and a little later in the Players Championship. Between these two perfect legs no other player on the tour managed this feat. So he was only the sixth player after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock and James Wade to throw two perfect legs in a row.
Maybe the Dutchman rested a little bit on this fame because lately not much went together. From the last matches, all in the Players Championship tournaments and the final, there were six defeats in seven matches. So it’s a little surprising that such low odds are being offered on a win for the man between Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton on Thursday.
“The Bomb” last took a mighty beating in the first round of the Player Championships Finals. He had to accept a clear 1:6 defeat against the Pole Krzysztof Ratajski in a “Best-of-11-Legs”. With an average of only 85.49, the Dutchman remained more in the realm of an amateur player. But we assume that he has used the three weeks since his last match to regain a calmer hand.
Last matches of Ron Meulenkamp:
Players Championship Finals
11/26 2021 – Krzysztof Ratajski 6 – 1 Ron Meulenkamp
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Ron Meulenkamp 5 – 6 Martin Atkins-Wigan
Players Championship 29
11/03 2021 – Ron Meulenkamp 5 – 6 Jelle Klaasen
11/03 2021 – James Wade 3 – 6 Ron Meulenkamp
Players Championship 28
11/02 2021 – Steve Brown 6 – 3 Ron Meulenkamp
Lisa Ashton – Statistics & current form
Current Position Order of Merit: 83
Position in the seed list: unseeded
Even if it sounds a bit disrespectful, Lisa Ashton is the grand old lady of darts. The 51 year old has been for many years at the top of the women’s world in the BDO and secured no less than four world titles, admittedly in the women’s competition. In the meantime the ladies are allowed to take part in the PDC World Championship and the “Lancashire Rose” will play in the Ally Pally for the third time
Series of bankruptcies for Lisa Ashton
While the Englishwoman was still World Champion in the BDO in 2018, Lisa Ashton failed in the first round in both 2019 and 2021 at the PDC World Championship. So she still waits for her first win in these title tournaments. However, despite her experience, she has hardly played any matches in front of TV cameras, let alone in a live broadcast.
In addition, her form has been within manageable limits. Lisa Ashton has lost all of her last six matches. In the last three Players Championship tournaments she lost and in the preliminary round of the Grand Slam of Darts she lost against Joe Cullen, Michael van Gerwen and the Scot John Henderson who is not in the World Championship.
Lisa Ashton had it a little bit easier as a woman to qualify for the PDC World Championship as the two best ladies in the Order of Merit secured the two tickets to Alexandra Palace. Behind Fallon Sherrock the “Lancashire Rose” was ranked second. Whether that is enough to predict a victory for the 51-year-old between Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton is something we will leave up in the air.
Last matches of Lisa Ashton:
Grand Slam of Darts Group G
11/16 2021 – Joe Cullen 5 – 2 Lisa Ashton
11/14 2021 – John Henderson 5 – 2 Lisa Ashton
11/13 2021 – Michael van Gerwen 5 – 0 Lisa Ashton
Players Championship 30
11/04 2021 – Lisa Ashton 2 – 6 Simon Whitlock
Players Championship 29
11/03 2021 – Lisa Ashton 2 – 6 Lewy Williams
Ron Meulenkamp – Lisa Ashton Direct comparison / H2H record
To date, Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton have had two duels. One match was in 2020 and one was this year. Both encounters took place in the Players Championship. In September 2020 the Dutchman won relatively clearly with 6:3 legs. The last duel was played exactly half a year ago.
In Milton Keynes, England, the two opponents met early on. This time, too, Ron Meulenkamp prevailed, now even with 6:2 legs. So the Dutchman won both duels against the Lancashire Rose.
Ron Meulenkamp – Lisa Ashton Tip
The PDC World Championship could be a new beginning for Ron Meulenkamp but also for Lisa Ashton. Both didn’t perform well in the last weeks. The Dutchman won only one of his last seven matches but has already shown this year that he is a specialist for the 180.
The Englishwoman has conceded six defeats in a row recently. She’s also still waiting for her first PDC World Championship win. But we don’t expect that to change on Thursday. We are quite clearly leaning towards a Dutch win between Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton
The Dutchman has won the two direct duels so far, both relatively clearly. Therefore, we expect The Bomb to clearly prevail on Thursday as well. We think a three-set win is possible, but we have decided to play the odds on a handicap win (-1.5 sets) for the Dutchman between Ron Meulenkamp and Lisa Ashton.
