The second round of the World Grand Prix concludes on Wednesday night when the eight players yet to compete in the last 16 do so as we finalise the quarter final line up inside the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.
We’ve already seen the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Ian White make it through to the last eight and on Wednesday it will be the turn of Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall to look to make progress.
Danny Noppert vs Nathan Aspinall
The first match of the night sees two men who will be looking at the week ahead and fancying their chances going at it when Danny Noppert takes on the UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall for a spot in the quarter finals.
Both these men had straight sets win in the opening round but it was without a doubt Aspinall who looked the better of the two. When you consider that he was competing in the tournament for the first time, his performance against Vincent van der Voort was a real eye catcher. He averaged over 90 which given the format and everything else was a good effort. Noppert saw off Daryl Gurney but without taking anything away from the Dutchman, Gurney tossed that one away. Nevertheless, Noppert has the potential to improve so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a cliff-hanger. I’ll sit this out.
Dave Chisnall vs Stephen Bunting
The second match of the night sees two men whose best televised results have come at Lakeside thus far in their careers battling it out when Dave Chisnall takes on Stephen Bunting in what should be a juicy contest.
I was encouraged by Chisnall’s performance in the first round for a couple of reasons. Firstly because I’m on him to win the tournament and I expected his draw to open up if he could win that first round but a 92.5 average in beating Gerwyn Price with the pressure on was a really top class performance. Bunting came through against Jonny Clayton in the first round but no winner of their opening match averaged less than him. Bunting’s doubling wasn’t great and his scoring was bang average. I am not normally a backer of my outright bets in matches but I can’t ignore Chisnall to cover a 1.5 set start here.
Bet on the World Grand Prix with the sponsors Boylesports to get double winnings as a free bet on ALL MARKETS if they final checkout is 100+. ALL CUSTOMERS! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware
Rob Cross vs Glen Durrant
The match of the night on Wednesday evening is the third one onto the stage when the World Matchplay champion Rob Cross takes on the BDO world champion Glen Durrant in what is a serious heavyweight contest.
Both these men overcame sizable challenges to come through the first round with Cross beating Suljovic and Durrant seeing off the form horse that is Ratajski. Both players played well but have room for improvement in them so this is a very interesting contest. I’m a huge fan of Durrant as everyone who follows these previews will know. That said Cross is class. As a darts fanatic I’m hoping this lives up to the hype but the prices look about right so I’ll just watch what should be a cracker.
Peter Wright vs Jermaine Wattimena
The final match of the second round sees two lively players meeting when Peter Wright looks to push for another big TV title when he takes on a Jermaine Wattimena who is a much improved player these days.
Wright eased past Max Hopp in the opening round while Wattimena battled back to see off Adrian Lewis which was no mean effort, albeit one which we saw coming having backed the Dutchman to do that. You wouldn’t say either man was brilliant in that first dig so this one is likely to be won by the player who improves the most. To be fair you’d expect that to be Wright but his record here is enough to allow me to let him win if he is good enough.
Tips
WON – Back D.Chisnall (-1.5 sets) to beat S.Bunting for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Betfred
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
