The group stage of the Grand Slam of Darts draws to a close on Tuesday evening and at the end of it we will know the 16 men moving forward into the knockout stages of the tournament at Wolverhampton.
The shocks continued to come on Monday evening and some big names bit the dust. A few more big names are under pressure to deliver the goods on what could be an intriguing and dramatic Tuesday session.
First Four Matches
It all gets underway with the form horse James Wade taking on the former Lakeside champion Mark Webster before Gary Anderson looks to continue his wonderful form when he takes on Steve Hine. The third match of the night is a straight knockout clash between Ian White and Michael Unterbuchner with the winner likely to face James Wade in the last 16. The first half of the action concludes with another straight knockout between Keegan Brown and Wesley Harms.
Later Four Matches
Michael van Gerwen gets the second half of the night up and running when he faces Joe Murnan. He needs to win to give himself the best chance of making it through while Jonny Clayton then plays Gary Robson to conclude that group. Krzysztof Ratajski then looks to book his place in the last 16 when he takes on Adam Smith-Neale before the match of the night closes off the group stage when Michael Smith faces Raymond Barneveld in a match the Dutchman will have to win by a decent margin in order to progress.
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Betting
I’m expecting Michael van Gerwen to make easy work of Joe Murnan. MVG knows he has to win to go through and that will focus his mind and in truth the only way Murnan is staying close is by using a hedgehog or the Dutchman missing a whole raft of doubles. I don’t see either scenario taking place so I’m pretty happy to be on MVG to win this 5-0 or 5-1 which would probably be the likely scenario even if he didn’t have to win.
I also expect Krzysztof Ratajski to come out on top in the battle of the last two Winmau World Masters champions when he takes on Adam Smith-Neale. Smith-Neale has looked a little like a rabbit in headlights so far this week and one decent finish against Barneveld aside he hasn’t really played anything like he can do. His finishing in the tournament apart from that has been terrible and he isn’t likely to outscore Ratajski significantly enough to get multiple visits at the double. The Pole knows he has to win this and with the right focus I don’t think he’ll have too many troubles.
Tips
WON – Back M.van Gerwen (-3.5 legs) to beat J.Murnan for a 5/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
Back him here:
WON – Back K.Ratajski (-1.5 legs) to beat A.Smith-Neale for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
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