The semi-final line up for the Grand Slam of Darts will be confirmed on Saturday evening when the last two quarter finals of the event is played at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright made it through to the last four on Friday night and four men will be hoping to join them on Saturday.
We saw the quality ramp up a touch in the second quarter final on Friday night and that quality is expected to be maintained on Saturday night with two juicy matches in store over the best of 31 legs.
Chris Dobey vs James Wade
Chris Dobey has surprised the likes of Adrian Lewis, Scott Mitchell and Jamie Hughes to make it this far and now he takes on a James Wade who is looking to improve a very good record in this tournament. In truth Wade hasn’t been troubled in the tournament yet which might be to his advantage.
I think Wade may well win this match but I’m not convinced this will be the walk in the park that his last match was. I think Dobey has more about him than to just surrender meekly and we saw that he can handle the big occasion in the last round. We also saw him struggle to get over the finish line which could be his ultimate undoing in this match but getting there, or at least to 12 legs, should be within his compass given his solid throwing style and excellent poise. With the 4.5 leg start he’s my call.
Gary Anderson vs Raymond Barneveld
We’ve saved the best for last as the world champion Gary Anderson takes on Raymond Barneveld in what will be an epic if they both bring their best game to the stage. There is something about playing Gary Anderson that Barneveld doesn’t like and he admitted last month at the World Grand Prix the Scot isn’t his favourite opponent. Barneveld duly lost 4-1!
Things could be different here though. Barneveld doesn’t appear to be lacking belief this week and his Dutch compatriot Danny Noppert has just taken Anderson the distance in what was an absolute classic second round match. We know what to expect from Anderson and that is a really strong performance the question is whether Barneveld has enough about him to go with him.
Guessing that needs a better knowledge of the human mind than I’ve got but I do like one bet here and that is over 7.5 Barneveld 180s. He slammed in five against Durrant and four in all three of his group matches. He could have had a lot more but for final dart misses against Durrant too so I expect him to find eight in this one win, lose or draw.
Tips
Back C.Dobey (+4.5 legs) to beat J.Wade for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back R.Barneveld – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
Back it here:
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