2020 BDO World Darts Championship – Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde Preview & Prediction

THE FACTS

When is Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde taking place? Thursday 9^th January, 2020 – evening

Where is Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde taking place? Indigo at The O2, London

What channel is Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde on? Some BDO World Championship matches will be televised live on Eurosport and Quest in the UK, so it is worth checking their schedules

Where can I stream Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde? If televised on Eurosport, then the match can be streamed on either Sky Go or Eurosport Player

Where can I get tickets for Dennie Olde Kalter vs Mario Vandenbogaerde? Click here to purchase tickets

THE PLAYERS

DENNIE OLDE KALTER

• World Championship debutant Dennie Olde Kalter defeated number seven seed Nicky Kenny in an epic round one battle that went all the way into a deciding set.
• Olde Kalter impressively took out a finish of 111 to get over the line in the fifth set after Kenny had fought back from losing the opening two sets.
• His average of 88.15 was slightly lower than the 89.02 posted by Kenny and he was also outscored 5-4 on the 180 count by the Welshman.

MARIO VANDENBOGAERDE

• Mario Vandenbogaerde has had a long wait for his second match having opened the tournament with a 3-0 win against Sebastian Steyer on Saturday afternoon.
• Vandenbogaerde dropped only two legs in what was a good World Championship debut performance against Steyer. He finished the match with a checkout percentage of over 50% and hit four 180s in the last three legs of the encounter.
• He has recent experience of having a good run in a major tournament with a semi-final appearance at the World Masters in 2019 and his run at that tournament included a 95.93 average in defeating Jeff Smith in the last 16.

THE PREDICTION

Two World Championship debutants do battle for a place in the quarter-finals and with not much to separate them on their respective averages in round one, this could be a tight contest. Mario Vandenbogaerde has shown signs in some of his performances in big tournaments this season that he can play to a higher level than Dennie Olde Kalter and it is he who is predicted to take his chances at the key moments.