The first half of groups conclude in the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on Monday night, meaning that by the end of the evening we will have the bottom half of the knockout draw confirmed.
Four men on show on Monday evening are already into the next round although they still have to win their group while towards the end of the evening we have a couple of matches that are effectively a straight knockout on what should be a great evening of arrers.
First Four Matches
We begin in Group G where the already qualified Gabriel Clemens takes on the BDO world number one Richard Veenstra who will be heading home after this match. The same equation is the case in our second match where Michael Smith is already qualified but will want to win the group when he faces the already out of competition Martin Schindler. That equation is also the case in Group E where the leader Dave Chisnall will look to wrap up the group when he takes on the ladies star Lisa Ashton. The first knockout match of the night completes the first half of the evening when the Northern Irish pair of Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan meet in a match where the winner will follow Clemens out of Group G.
Later Four Matches
The second half of evening begins with events in Group F being the centre of attention. Three men can still qualify and although Peter Wright has two wins thus far he will be vulnerable if he loses to Danny Noppert who will be through if he wins 5-3 or easier. Ryan Harrington then takes on the BDO man Wayne Warren who is already out of the competition, and a big enough win for Harrington makes him a challenger to qualify. There are no mathematics needed in the last two matches of the night. It is win or go home when Rob Cross plays Jamie Hughes in the penultimate match and for Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant in the last game of the evening.
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Betting
My attention comes in the final two matches in terms of a betting point of view. There are a couple of other tempting bets before then but I’m loathe to get involved in dead rubbers or matches where one of the players might be playing for a number of legs rather than winning the match. I’m sticking to the knockout clashes where Jamie Hughes might just be a shade overpriced to see off Rob Cross. Cross always strikes me as someone who prefers the longer formats. To quantify that he hasn’t been past the semi-final on the floor this season and only made two finals on the European Tour without winning either. The second best player in the game should be delivering a better return than that. In contrast, Hughes has won a European Tour event and made the semi of another and performed on the floor too. His BDO days will have him used to these sprints and with a little less pressure on him I’ll side with the home man here.
Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant are two players I really like and bookmakers can’t split them. To be fair on a normal week it is tough to separate them but there has been enough in their form this week to suggest that Aspinall should be the favourite here. He has been fantastic this week but ran into a Michael Smith that nobody was beating on Sunday. Durrant has looked a little edgy to me and missing a few more doubles than he would like and certainly than he can afford here. Aspinall looks confident to me and based on what we’ve seen this week he has to be the man backed here.
Tips
Back J.Hughes to beat R.Cross for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Coral
Back him here:
Back N.Aspinall to beat G.Durrant for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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