The latest darts major begins on Sunday night when the very best tungsten tossers in the world head to Dublin for the World Grand Prix. With the rise of the game and the events such as the Premier League, Grand Slam and Players Championship this tournament has started to get forgotten but whenever it takes place it is usually a decent event.
Recent Winners
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Robert Thornton
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Michael van Gerwen
2011 – Phil Taylor
2010 – James Wade
2009 – Phil Taylor
2008 – Phil Taylor
2007 – James Wade
The Format
We are in set play this week but there is a quirk to the tournament as each player has to begin each leg with a double as well as finish with one. That is the niche to this event which always sorts out the men from the boys and will most likely decide it again here too.
The first round is a real sprint over the best of three sets which is set up for shocks before the second round and quarter final are over the best of five sets. The semis are the best of seven and the title will be decided on Saturday night over the best of nine sets.
Top Quarter
World number one and defending champion Michael van Gerwen heads the field in the top quarter of the draw. He will face competition from Raymond Barneveld as the other seed in the section. The unseeded players look tasty in this part of the draw with Kyle Anderson the leading one of them. Alan Norris and Rob Cross are also in this quarter while Steve Beaton, Justin Pipe and John Henderson complete the eight.
Second Quarter
As always this looks like the competitive one in the draw. Dave Chisnall and Adrian Lewis are the seeded players but if there were 16 seeds the other seeds in this part would be quality too. It is a sign of the draw that Kim Huybrechts, Robert Thornton and Jelle Klaasen are all unseeded in it. Daryl Gurney is also unseeded too. Joe Cullen and Darren Webster complete the draw.
Third Quarter
2016 runner up Gary Anderson headlines this part of the draw with his good friend Michael Smith the other player who is seeded. This doesn’t look the deepest quarter of the draw although Simon Whitlock is better than an average unseeded player as is Gerwyn Price. Richard North, Christian Kist, Benito van de Pas and Cristo Reyes are the other players in what looks a fairly wide open quarter.
Bottom Quarter
Man of the moment Mensur Suljovic is one of the seeds in the final quarter in the draw. This one is loaded with talent though it must be said. Peter Wright is the other seed in it while Ian White, James Wade, Stephen Bunting and Mervyn King are all high class and seasoned campaigners. Steve West beat Phil Taylor here last year and will want another decent run and Ronny Huybrechts will hope to do more than make up the numbers.
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Outright Betting
The way the length of this format has dwindled and the fact that there are only eight seeds which makes the draw a lot tougher both to come through and to predict it is a hard outright market to go on the attack with. Given all that I am going to start out with just one bet but I might revisit it as the week goes on.
Clearly when betting in this tournament you have to recognise that hitting doubles is a massive priority so those frail on the outside ring need to be avoided. One of the best doubles hitters on the PDC tour at the minute is Mensur Suljovic and he has to be the bet here. In the last two weeks Suljovic has won the Champions League, made the semi-final of a Players Championship event and won the other.
The Austrian is in fantastic form right now and given that he is hitting doubles as well as anyone and is as reliable as they come on double 14 he looks a great bet at 28/1 to go better than his semi-final appearance in 2015. He’s a significantly better player now than he was then too.
Quarter Betting
I will chance my arm at a quarter bet for the tournament too. Considering he was never classed as a good double hitter Dave Chisnall has a better record here than you would expect. He made the final here in 2013 and was a semi-finalist last year before he ran into van Gerwen. Chisnall has the scoring power to see off anyone in this tight quarter and if double top can be his friend he can deliver the goods at 4/1.
Tips
Back M.Suljovic to win World Grand Prix (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back D.Chisnall to win 2nd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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