The knockout stages of the Grand Slam of Darts begins on Wednesday night as the annual PDC and BDO get together really kicks into life at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton. All eight players on show on Wednesday will know they are just four wins from the title and a significant first prize.
After three matches over the best of nine legs to make it through their groups I’m sure all eight will be overjoyed at the fact we are over the best of 19 legs now which eases some of the pressure and should allow for even better darts than we’ve seen so far.
Gerwyn Price vs Brendan Dolan
The evening begins with two capable players who are just below the very elite in the PDC battling it out for a quarter final spot. Gerwyn Price did very well to overcome an opening loss to Dimitri van den Bergh in his group to win it while second in his group was the best Dolan could ever hope for with Michael van Gerwen around so credit to him for finishing there.
If this was over the best of nine or 11 I’d give Dolan every chance of hanging on in there but over this distance I’m with the Welshman here. I think he has a little extra zing on his scoring and he is generally decent enough on his finishing, or certainly no worse than Dolan. The Northern Irishman hits too many flat spots for my liking so I’ll take the Welshman to win and come through with a leg or more to spare.
Phil Taylor vs Jeff Smith
Not many would have expected this as a second round match as the greatest player to have lived takes on the beaten Lakeside finalist. Looking at the odds and the betting trends Taylor appears a certainty for this one and while I think he will win I’m not sure I can be quick to plough into a handicap after his last two performances.
I do like one bet here though and it comes in the checkout line for Jeff Smith. His line is 91.5 which looks a little on the low side given he has banged out ton plus finishes in each of his previous two matches including the 170 against Simon Whitlock. He may not win many legs but given his inferior scoring any he does win will need to come via significant checkouts, something we became accustomed to during that Lakeside run.
Michael van Gerwen vs Robert Thornton
The match of the night is the third one of the evening as MVG looks to continue his cruise towards another TV title. This time he faces a stuttering, inconsistent but potentially excellent on his day Robert Thornton and he does so knowing full well that Thornton has beaten him on TV over a long distance before in the World Grand Prix final last year.
Thornton has played better in this tournament despite the pressure of being the seed in a short format and I’m expecting him to go well here given he has nothing to lose. Over the last 6-9 months his finishing has let him down and that could be the difference here so for a bet I’m going to focus on the scoring power of both men.
To date they have 14 180s between them in the tournament which is a decent enough return and when the two meet 180s tend to flow. Going back to last year’s World Championship where they met in the quarter final which had 27 180s in seven sets, to their World Grand Prix final which had 27 more in nine sets with a double start through to a recent meeting in the Champions League which contained 13 180s in 15 legs. Those stats suggest we’ll get more than 9.5 here.
Peter Wright vs Darryl Fitton
The evening closes with Peter Wright taking on Darryl Fitton. Fitton did well to escape a group with Phil Taylor in it while Wright dominated his group. In fairness Wright looked much more confident and composed in the group stages but Fitton showed glimpses of form.
I suspect over the longer distance Fitton may find a rhythm and start pounding the 60 which he is famous for doing but even then Wright may well be too strong. If I’m honest I think most of the lines are about right here so I’ll sit this one out from a betting point of view.
Tips
Back G.Price (-1.5 legs) to beat B.Dolan for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Smith – Highest Checkout Over 91.5 for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back it here:
WON – Back M.van Gerwen vs R.Thornton – Over 9.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Betfair
Back it here:
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