It is quarter final night at the World Grand Prix on Thursday when the eight remaining players take to the stage to battle it out for a spot in a major semi-final inside the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.
Most of the big names negotiated the second round which means we are left with four intriguing quarter finals, some with unfancied names and some with household ones. This should be a really competitive night of darts.
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Simon Whitlock vs Benito van de Pas
The opening quarter final is what the bookmakers consider to be the closest of the four when Simon Whitlock takes on Benito van de Pas for the right to face either Mensur Suljovic or Peter Wright in the semi-final.
Both men eased through their second round matches without dropping a set. Whitlock waltzed past Richard North while van de Pas stormed past Gerwyn Price in a performance that was probably the pick of them in that round.
The Dutchman should be full of confidence going into this one having won their last three meetings and I can certainly see value in him but the better bet may be for the match to have more than 16.5 legs. I expect this to go four sets if not all five. If it does go five this line will surely cover but three tight sets will cover it too. With what is at stake that is what I expect to see.
John Henderson vs Raymond Barneveld
The surprise package takes on the seasoned campaigner when John Henderson meets Raymond Barneveld for the right to take on Robert Thornton or Daryl Gurney in the last four.
Henderson has dumped out Michael van Gerwen and Alan Norris this week and once he has slipped into his gear he has looked very good. If he’s on it this is a tricky night of work for Barneveld, especially if the Dutchman starts a bit slowly.
The case for both winning can be made here and that never represents an easy betting heat. Rather than work out the inner workings of the Barneveld mind I think I would prefer to sit and observe this one.
Mensur Suljovic vs Peter Wright
The pick of the quarter finals is the penultimate one when Mensur Suljovic takes on Peter Wright in the only battle of two seeds in the entire last eight. Both these men are going along nicely at the minute so this should be some match.
Wright leads the head to head between these two 6-3 but both of them will know what Suljovic is 2-0 on the big stages and their last meeting was as recently as a couple of weeks ago when Suljovic beat Wright in the Champions League on his way to winning that tournament.
In my eyes the winner of this match will be crowned the champion on Saturday night. Given that I backed the Austrian before a dart was thrown I’ll sit back and hope that he comes through this one.
Robert Thornton vs Daryl Gurney
If both Robert Thornton and Daryl Gurney are on top of their game then the final match of the night could be an absolutely belter as both are heavy scorers and they will definitely both think they can win the tournament.
Thornton may feel in his mind that he is on a freebie here having only made it in when Phil Taylor pulled out but Gurney is big time now and the next step for him is to take down one of these huge events. He is certainly good enough.
I’m expecting a tight match here but under pressure both can be guilty of missing a key double so from a betting point of view I would rather bet on the 180s. Thornton’s 180 line is set at 3.5 for this match which is low when you consider he banged in nine against Chisnall in the previous round. No matter how well or badly Thornton plays he surrounds the 60. I expect him to plough in at least four maximums regardless of how the contest ends.
Tips
Back S.Whitlock vs B.van de Pas – Over 16.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
Back R.Thornton – Over 3.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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