The third night of the World Grand Prix sees the second round of the event beginning, with those who were in action and progressed on Sunday night coming back to look for a spot in the quarter finals in Dublin.
That means we get to see the likes of Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Gary Anderson looking to make it into the last eight on what would appear on the face of it to be another good quality session of darts with the format moving up to the best-of-five sets.
James Wade vs Mervyn King
The second round of the tournament begins with the former champion James Wade taking on a man who has made the final of this competition in the past in Mervyn King, in what is the 48th time these two stalwarts will have met in their career.
Both men came through their first round encounters in deciding sets and showed their quality under pressure which will bode well for each of them in this match. The head-to-head between these two is only 24-22 in Wade’s favour so there is an evenness to their past meetings which probably makes King slight value on the match prices at 2/1 but I’m always reluctant to take on Wade in this format and as I’m on him for the quarter I’ll let that ride.
Michael Smith vs Ian White
The second match of the evening sees Michael Smith looking to make it into the quarter final of this tournament for the first time, when he goes up against a man in Ian White, who is having his best season on the stage, even if his results have been on the European Tour circuit.
Both these men came from a set down in their opening match to come through in a decider which will give them both the belief that they can get the job done with their back against the wall here. It sounds silly but ultimately this one is going to be settled on the doubles. Neither player particularly excelled on them in the first round so whoever tightens up on them will win. The value is with White here at odds against but I’m on him for the quarter so there is no point in going in again in a 50:50 contest.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Jeffrey de Zwaan
The third match of the night sees Michael van Gerwen taking on the man who could be considered his nemesis in the form of Jeffrey de Zwaan, the player who sent him packing in two TV tournaments in 2018 and will be looking to do it again here.
There wasn’t a whole lot that was convincing about MVG in the first round but you often find the class rises to the top when they get over that nightmare format that the opening stage of the tournament is. To be fair to de Zwaan, he took care of Steve Beaton with the minimum of fuss and if he can get in well regularly enough we know he can live with van Gerwen. There is a part of me that is tempted to take the younger Dutchman here but rather than back him to win I’ll take the 6/4 that he wins a couple of sets. MVG should still win this match but he’s missing too many doubles to stroll past a competent opponent.
Gary Anderson vs Chris Dobey
The third evening of action concludes with the master taking on the apprentice when Gary Anderson meets Chris Dobey for the seventh time in their careers. Anderson leads 5-1 but in many ways that is irrelevant because Dobey became a man in their last meeting.
That was the last 16 of the World Championship at the end of 2018 when Anderson somehow got through in a deciding set 4-3 in a match which featured 28 180s. Since then Dobey has gone from strength to strength and looks a different player now. Anderson is trialling new bats this week which makes him vulnerable so I wouldn’t be surprised if Dobey wins this. He was very good in the first round against Ricky Evans and if he can get over that psychological barrier of beating his idol on the big stage he has a shot. Rather than chance that though I like over 7.5 180s here. We’ll get four sets in this one you would think so we need an average of one 180 per man per set. That is within reach of these ferocious scorers.
Tips
Back J.de Zwaan (+1.5 sets) to beat M.van Gerwen for a 4/10 stake at 2.50 with Betfred
Back him here:
Back G.Anderson vs C.Dobey – Over 7.5 180s for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betway
Back it here:
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