It is quarter final day at the PDC World Championship on Saturday, with all four matches played out across two is likely to be two nerved packed, excitement guaranteed sessions of play inside the Alexandra Palace in London.
We lost the defending champion Rob Cross on Friday night but we still have two of the top four in the world on show on Saturday and a couple of men more than capable of winning this title if the chance gets placed in front of them.
Afternoon Session
Nathan Aspinall vs Brendan Dolan
From a very early stage in this tournament we were guaranteed to have an unheralded semi-finalist in the bottom quarter of the draw and we now know it will be either Nathan Aspinall or Brendan Dolan, who face off in the first match of the day on Saturday.
Dolan has actually come through quite nicely so far and while he hasn’t been spectacular he has been very solid, in keeping with much of his career in a lot of ways. Aspinall was made to really work to come through in the last 16 but he battled hard which suggests the occasion and the magnitude of what he could achieve this week hasn’t caught up with him just yet.
Everything points to this being a right battle. The occasion, the reward and the fact that they have both fought hard to get to this stage. Unless the occasion suddenly gets to one of them I don’t see this being won anything other than 5-3 or 5-4 either way.
Dave Chisnall vs Gary Anderson
The pick of the quarter finals sees Dave Chisnall taking on Gary Anderson in what should be an absolutely epic contest. The two met here in 2017 when Anderson prevailed 5-3 in this very round and he’ll be out for more here.
Chisnall eased through against Jamie Lewis in the last 16, and hasn’t dropped a set since his first match of the tournament which is stark contrast to the way Anderson has made it through. He had to survive match darts in the third round against Jermaine Wattimena and then came through an absolute classic against Chris Dobey in the last 16. Having backed Chisnall to win the quarter before the tournament began I’m already on him at a nice price here but based on what we’ve seen this week he should have every chance in this one.
There were 33 180s when these two met here two years ago and I’ve got to think there will be another barrel load here. There will be no funny games between these two. It’ll be rat-a-tat darts and I’m expecting the 180s to flow. I’m pretty happy to take over 21.5 180s here.
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Evening Session
Luke Humphries vs Michael Smith
The evening begins with the youngsters in action when Luke Humphries takes on Michael Smith for a place in the semi-final where whoever wins will be a massive favourite to come past either Nathan Aspinall or Brendan Dolan.
Both these men have had excellent tournaments so far. Humphries has announced himself on the world stage in a huge way while Smith has confirmed that his run to the final of the Premier League and the World Series Finals were no fluke and he is a deserved third favourite to land the title but you get the feeling that this is going to be anything but a straight-forward affair for Smith.
Whether Humphries has the game to win this match I’m not sure but he certainly has the talent to run Smith close. You don’t average 99.71 from 2-0 down to Rob Cross if you can’t play and Smith will miss some doubles to help him out somewhere along the line. This should be a great quarter final and win or lose I expect Humphries to get to three sets.
Michael van Gerwen vs Ross Joyce
The last of the quarter finals is expected to be the most one-sided and in fairness it would be a huge surprise if that isn’t the case as Michael van Gerwen takes on Ross Joyce for a place in the semi-final on Sunday evening.
Joyce should be out of the tournament by now. James Wade missed five darts at a double to dump him out in the last 16 and while you have to give credit to the low ranked man for capitalising on those misses and coming through we also have to appreciate that his highest average of 90.40 so far no longer cuts it in this tournament. He hasn’t even averaged 90 in the last two rounds and that will barely get him to a double here.
The romantic in me would like Joyce to put up a fight for the tournament he has had but I don’t see it happening. Adrian Lewis averaged a ton and had a scrap on to win a set against MVG in the previous round. It is hard to see Joyce winning one here.
Tips
Back N.Aspinall vs B.Dolan – Over 7.5 sets for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
Back it here:
Back D.Chisnall vs G.Anderson – Over 21.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
Back it here:
Back L.Humphries (+2.5 sets) to beat M.Smith for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with NetBet
Back him here:
Back M.van Gerwen (-4.5 sets) to beat R.Joyce for a 4/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
Back him here:
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