The second round of the World Grand Prix will be concluded on Wednesday night when the final four matches of the last 16 take place inside the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. This tournament was blown wide open in the first round which has made for some interesting and some nervy darts since then with more of the same expected on Wednesday.
By the end of the night we will know the eight men into the quarter finals who will be looking to pull out all the stops to make the final on Saturday night. We’ll go through the matches in the order they will take place.
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Gerwyn Price vs Benito van de Pas
These two men meet for the second time in successive years in this tournament. Benito van de Pas took care of Gerwyn Price last year when they met in the first round and he’ll be looking for a second successive tournament win over the Welshman.
I’m not convinced he will get it though. Price is a better player now. He has made a major final since the last time these two met and I get the feeling he is going to burst through in the next three months and do some stage damage. On the other side of that Benito looks to have plateaued and needs to find that extra gear to get to the next level. I fancy Price will have just too much here.
Mensur Suljovic vs Steve West
The second match of the night sees the Champions League winner Mensur Suljovic taking on the Dublin giant-killer in Steve West over the best of five sets for a place in the quarter finals on Thursday night.
These two have met on three previous occasions and Suljovic has won two of those matches. I think he will win here. I think he is a serious contender for this tournament now. His doubling is fantastic right now and the extension of the format should allow him to get his scoring going. I don’t think West will be overawed or anything but I expect him to be beaten. That said the odds and lines are about right so I’ll sit this one out.
Richard North vs Simon Whitlock
Two men who have a wonderfully opportunity in front of them meet in the penultimate match of the round when Richard North takes on Simon Whitlock. Both men came through impressively in their first round although there is no doubt that the Australian played the better darts.
The two met twice in 2017 and North has won on both occasions but this is big time darts and experience could be a big thing, especially in this format and that makes me think that Whitlock is a good thing. I don’t think he’ll win going away or anything but I do expect him to win. The prices are nothing special though so I’ll leave this one alone.
Peter Wright vs Mervyn King
The final match of the second round sees the tournament favourite Peter Wright going up against a familiar foe in Mervyn King for the right to face either Mensur Suljovic or Steve West in the quarter final on Thursday night.
Wright might be the favourite for this tournament but he has an appalling record and has never been beyond this stage of it at any point. There is no doubt that King is the inferior player of the two but this format offers him his best chance to end a run of six defeats in a row against Wright.
I’m not sure if King will win this match but I certainly think that he can keep it close. He is a very good double hitter and if Wright struggles at any point King will jump all over it. If it gets tight the recent experience of stage wins make assist the Scot but King will have covered a +1.5 set handicap by then.
Tips
Back G.Price to beat B.van de Pas for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back M.King (+1.5 sets) to beat P.Wright for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Coral
Back him here:
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