The last day of darts in 2018 sees the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship taking place on what could be a very special night of action inside Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday evening. At the end of the night we will know the two men who will kick off 2019 playing for the title.
In a tournament absolutely stacked with shocks we were guaranteed a couple of players making it to this level for the first time from a pretty early stage. They form one semi-final while two of the best in the game make up the other one.
Michael Smith vs Nathan Aspinall
The first semi-final sees two of the younger brigade doing battle as Michael Smith takes on Nathan Aspinall over the best of 11 sets for the right to return on New Year’s Day to take part in their first World Championship final.
Smith signalled his intentions in this tournament in the first match he played and he hasn’t taken a backward step since then. He has dropped just five sets on his way to this semi-final and looks to be getting better the longer the competition has gone on. Aspinall is also getting better and while he was the only player not to average 100 in his quarter final he still averaged 99.72 and put in a thoroughly acceptable performance against Brendan Dolan and with a better rhythm in this one he should deliver another solid display.
It will be interesting to see if there are any nerves around here. Not only are the two playing for a place in their first world final but they are playing for another life changing £100,000. I expect Smith to handle the occasion better. He has been in the Premier League final after all. That said a 2.5 set handicap doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room so I will target another market.
His 180s line is set at 11.5 which looks perfectly achievable to me. He hit 10 in five sets in the last 16 against Ryan Searle and eight against Luke Humphries in the six sets of the quarter final. You’ve got to think we are going to get eight sets at the very least here so he’ll need three in every two sets to cover that. Given how heavy he scores that is a ratio he can certainly achieve.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
The pick of the two semi-finals is without a doubt the second one of the night as two former champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson do battle for the right to play to get their title back on Tuesday evening.
Matches between these two never disappoint. Both men go for it with the belief that they can beat the other one and generally little separates them. Not much is made of this rivalry but it is definitely there I believe. MVG has cruised through to this stage, dropping just four sets and averaging more than 100 on each occasion. Anderson has had to battle for his life in a couple of matches but he has survived to tell the tale.
I often think Anderson has every chance when he takes on van Gerwen but I don’t like him as much here. I think set play favours MVG out of the two and Anderson hasn’t really played well in the tournament. I’ve no doubt the Scot will deliver his best performance of the tournament in terms of average here but MVG looks to have another gear or two to come. The Dutchman suffered heartache in the semi-final last year and he’ll be out to avoid a repeat. I think he’ll win with a bit in hand just by taking advantage of the periods where Anderson struggles to hit the required heights.
Tips
WON – Back M.Smith – Over 11.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with BetVictor
Back him here:
WON – Back M.van Gerwen (-1.5 sets) to beat G.Anderson for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with 888sport
Back him here:
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