The Masters darts continues and concludes on Sunday with a busy double session day of action in Milton Keynes as the opening event of the season draws to a close. The quarter finals take place in the afternoon session with the evening seeing the semi-finals and final.
We saw some excellent darts in the first round of the tournament and with the line up we have going into Sunday we should be set for much more quality to finish the competition. As ever in these tournaments time restrictions will deny us the chance of previewing the evening session but we’ll cover the quarter finals in full.
Peter Wright vs Raymond Barneveld
The first quarter final should be a cracker between two of the best players in the game when Peter Wright takes on Raymond Barneveld over the best of 19 legs for a place in the semi-final in the evening.
Both men were solid enough in the first round ploughing in some big scores and taking shots out at the right time and were that to continue here then we should be in for a really tight contest. Neither player gives much up so I don’t see there being much more than a break of throw in this either way which leads me to thinking that over 16.5 legs is a good thing here.
Mensur Suljovic vs Rob Cross
The world champion Rob Cross is back in action in the second match of the afternoon. He takes on a Mensur Suljovic that he holds a 4-0 head to head lead over and who he will be looking to come past to make another TV semi-final.
Cross is the overwhelming favourite to win this match and I expect him to come through too. Suljovic did well to fight off a Michael Smith fight back in the opening round but he didn’t look too convincing with it. If Cross gets ahead he could power clear here but I respect Suljovic enough to keep my powder dry in terms of chasing handicaps.
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Gary Anderson vs Gerwyn Price
The grudge match of the afternoon comes in the third match of the day when Gary Anderson takes on Gerwyn Price in what would have looked a mismatch a couple of years ago but suddenly looks a whole lot closer.
Price was very impressive in the opening round taking care of a heavy scorer in the form of Daryl Gurney and he will be looking to repeat that in this match. Anderson struggled in the first round and is clearly not 100% fit which is a massive worry for him both here and in the year ahead.
I’ve a sneaky feeling that Price will win this match but the fact Anderson has no time for him might see the Scot fight the pain barrier and produce his best so rather than go with the Welshman to win I’ll take him to hit more than 4.5 180s instead. He ploughed in eight 180s in the first round and a couple of other three treble scores so five maximums shouldn’t be beyond him here.
Michael van Gerwen vs James Wade
The final match of the afternoon sees the world number one Michael van Gerwen taking on James Wade in what looks like it could be a one-sided quarter final but which doesn’t always play out that way as far as Wade is concerned.
Van Gerwen has won the last nine meetings between these two men but Wade is usually competitive within those matches which makes it hard to back the Dutchman on a handicap. That said if MVG is on it he could win with a fair bit in hand so leaving this alone and enjoying the contest looks the way to play this one.
Tips
Back P.Wright vs R.Barneveld – Over 16.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Bwin
Back G.Price – Over 4.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Bwin
Back them here:
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