The second round of the World Grand Prix comes to a close on Wednesday evening when the bottom half of the draw plays down to the quarter final stage and with the amount of stars on show we should be in for another good evening of darts inside the CityWest Hotel in Dublin.
After Michael van Gerwen, Daryl Gurney and Gary Anderson made it through on Tuesday it is the turn of the likes of Peter Wright and Mensur Suljovic to attempt to join them during Wednesday’s action.
Mensur Suljovic vs Ian White
It could be that the evening begins with the pick of the matches as Mensur Suljovic takes on Ian White in a battle of two good players who are in form and who generally produce tight tussles whenever they meet.
Suljovic is very much a danger to all this week but White was the runner up in a tour event in Ireland last week and is very much at the top of his game right now so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one goes to a deciding set, as they did in the first round last year. The odds for it look about right to me though so I’ll watch this one.
Steve Beaton vs Gerwyn Price
Two men who have a good opportunity to do their ranking no harm this week meet in the second match of the night when Steve Beaton takes on Gerwyn Price. Price has never been beyond this stage while you have to go back to 2005 for the last time Beaton made it beyond the last 16.
There is a clear chance for both men here and if we go by their first round performances Beaton would be the one we choose. I didn’t think Price played all that well at all in beating Danny Noppert although his statistics are skewed by one crazy leg. I fancy Beaton might cause an upset here but he’s been on my blacklist on TV for far too long and I’m not ignoring that here.
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Peter Wright vs Jermaine Wattimena
Two men who had good wins in the first round meet in the penultimate match in the evening when Peter Wright goes up against Jermaine Wattimena. Wright didn’t lose a single leg against Steve West in his opener while Wattimena only let Mervyn King have one.
Wattimena is a much improved player this year but this looks like a step too far to me. Wright looked in good form last weekend and continued that in the first round. He should have too much for the Dutchman in this one although that is fully reflected in the prices which means there is no bet to be had here either.
James Wilson vs Adrian Lewis
The final match of the second round looks an interesting battle as James Wilson takes on Adrian Lewis for the right to face either Peter Wright or Jermaine Wattimena in the quarter final. These two met in a tour match last week which Wilson won which will give him confidence.
Wilson also ran Lewis close at the World Matchplay earlier in the season and while Lewis is getting back to where he should be in the game he still looks an uneasy favourite to me whenever I watch him. It was evident to me that he enjoyed being the underdog against Smith but he isn’t that here.
I think Wilson will run Lewis close at the very least here, if not go on to win the match. Had I been having a good week I would probably have chanced Wilson to win but so much has gone against me so far that in a bid to rescue the week I’ll take the Yorkshireman on the handicap instead.
Tips
WON – Back J.Wilson (+1.5 sets) to beat A.Lewis for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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