Monte's Multiple / Jaymes Monte / 02 June 2009 /

Talent show fever gripped the nation this week; well it gripped my household, as we all held our breath in anticipation of whether Susan Boyle would completely crack up in front of our eyes and in hope that Hollie Steel would forget her lines again.
I say Susan Boyle, but some of you may know her better by her new name - SuBo. This 'SuBo' explosion got me thinking; if sportsmen were known by the combination of the first syllables of their fore and surname maybe things would be a lot clearer.

First of all it would help explain David Seaman's pony tail, and Roy Keane's crusade to start a fight with any man who crossed his path. It would explain Kriss Akabusi's seemingly limitless levels of energy and most of all it would clarify why Mike Ashley thought appointing Joe Kinnear would have anything other than the end result we all enjoyed last Sunday.

However, I'm not sure where that leaves Monte's Multiple as my old dear knows nothing about sport...

Bet 1: Darts - UK Open

Phil Taylor finally relinquished the Premier League crown which he has clung to so tightly since the competition's introduction five years ago. He lost to his semi-final opponent Mervyn King, who subsequently relinquished his dignity when refusing to come on stage to accept his runners-up prize following a humbling defeat against James Wade in the final.

The big question in the darts world now is whether or not this is the beginning of the changing of the guard, or, as has been the case numerous times in the past, will 'The Power' come back better than ever? One thing is for certain, the chasing pack is closing on him with Wade, King and Gary Anderson leading that group.

This week's UK Open, nicknamed the FA Cup of darts could go a long way to answering some of those questions. The tournament's unique feature of not using any seeding when making the draw, means there is often some early round big name exits, opening the competition up to give the lower ranked players an opportunity to make a name for themselves.

The early round matches are littered with players from pub qualifiers and out of the top 100 rankings, and it's to one of those games that I am looking. Ken Dobson recently made the semi-final of the East Midlands Regional final where he was beaten by eventual winner Mark Walsh. His opponent Paul Knighton has not made it past the first stage of a regional event in his last five attempts and put simply, the odds are wrong.

Selection 1: Back Ken Dobson to beat Paul Knighton @ [2.0]

Bet 2: Cricket - Twenty20 World Cup warm-up

The world's best have descended on English shores in preparation of the Twenty20 World Cup which begins on Friday. The series of warm-up matches continue this week as the Sky cameras show up to four games per day. And to think some are saying there's a risk of overkill.

There have been a few low key warm-up matches already last week, but the big guns are in action this week as all the superstars are now sufficiently rested following the IPL. India are deserved outright favourites for the tournament and take on Pakistan at The Oval on Wednesday in both sides' final warm-up game.

Any side consisting of players such as Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Dhoni with the bat and Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh with the ball is rightly feared throughout the world. Pakistan on the other hand, have suffered a massive blow in losing Shoaib Akhtar for the tournament. Although the diagnosis may not be as detrimental to the Pakistan team as it will be to Shoaib's reputation with the ladies - 'genital viral warts' was the reason cited by the Pakistani medical team.

Although a warm up game, all nations will be keen on hitting the ground running when the tournament proper starts.

Selection: Back India to beat Pakistan @ [1.7]

Bet 3: Tennis - French Open

Rafael Nadal's defeat at the hands of Swede Robin Soderling has blown the French Open wide open. Any one of the players remaining in the tournament will fancy their chances of winning the Grand Slam which has resided in the hands of the Spaniard for the last four years.

The onus now falls on Roger Federer who, in winning this tournament, could add that elusive French Open title to his repertoire and at the same time equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. And thus surely ending all debate on who is the greatest player of all time. However, with that opportunity comes added pressure.

As was clear for all to see against Tommy Haas, Nadal's exit does not guarantee Federer the title. Spanish fans still have a representative here in the form of 16th seed Tommy Robredo. Robredo came through his fourth round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber in impressive fashion, hitting 43 winners throughout the four sets. His quarter-final opponent, Juan Martin Del Potro, is deserved favourite given his high profile and number five ranking in the world. But given Robredo has eight career clay court titles, and the nature of his victories throughout the tournament thus far, I think it will be a lot closer than the odds suggest. On that basis the value bet here has to be to take Robredo.

Selection: Back Robredo to beat Del Potro @ [4.8]

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