A wonderful week at the World Grand Prix inside the Citywest Hotel in Dublin comes to an end on Saturday evening when the last two men standing battle it out as Michael van Gerwen takes on Dave Chisnall over the best-of-nine sets in the final of the double start competition.
In this tournament in particular it isn’t always the case that the two best players on the week make it through the final but this year that is very much the way it has turned out and it will be interesting to see how this title decider plays out.
Michael van Gerwen
The defending champion has taken his title defence down to the final match and he knows he has the ideal chance to enhance his stranglehold at the top of the world rankings with a win here. More importantly it will give him even more confidence to take into the busy period of big time darts which begun with this week. MVG has won this title four times so he knows exactly how to come through this particular occasion.
The Dutchman probably had his hardest game in the first round in terms of how close he was to going out. Jamie Hughes had him but couldn’t quite put him away and MVG has got better ever since. He blitzed Jeffrey de Zwaan in the second round and came through a top quality quarter final against Mervyn King before easing past Chris Dobey in the semi-final without even looking like dropping a set.
Dave Chisnall
This is the second time Dave Chisnall has made it through to the final of the World Grand Prix. He won’t need me to tell him he didn’t turn up for the concluding match in 2013 so his first task will be to get himself into this match and get into a position where he can showcase his talents. Amazingly Chisnall is still searching for a first major TV title but he is so close to achieving that here and if he needs inspiration Robert Thornton beat MVG in the final here four years ago.
Chisnall has had a very tough route through to this final but that might not be a bad thing. He is battled hardened having come through a deciding leg to beat Gerwyn Price in the first round. The second round was the only easy match he has had with Stephen Bunting offering no resistance. Chizzy then beat Nathan Aspinall in the quarter final and Glen Durrant in the semi-final to book his spot in this final.
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Head-to-Head
Dave Chisnall and his fans look away now because of all the opponents Michael van Gerwen has a good record against his one against Chisnall is probably better than most. These two have met 58 times in competition in the past with van Gerwen coming out on top in 47 of those to just the nine of Chisnall. There have also been a couple of draws in that time. Unfortunately for Chisnall, MVG has won 25 of the last 26 meetings with the other being a draw and in truth the Englishman hasn’t got close to the Dutchman very often.
If there is a crumb of comfort for Chisnall it is that he knows he has beaten van Gerwen on this stage, beating him in the quarter final in 2013 on his way to the final. Van Gerwen got his revenge last year when he beat Chisnall in the same round on his way to the title. This is the ninth final they have played against each other. Van Gerwen won the previous eight.
Betting
History would very much suggest that van Gerwen is a good thing in this final. I hope that isn’t how it plays out because I’m on Chisnall at 50/1 for this match having backed him before a dart was thrown in this tournament. He has secured the place money which is good so I will let that ride even though you’ve got to think he is likely to come second in this match.
I’ll take a couple of trends to continue here though. Michael van Gerwen has taken out a checkout over 129.5pts in every match he has played so far in this tournament and I see no reason why that won’t continue here especially with the big finishes being left more often as a result of the double start. Dave Chisnall has averaged more than 87.50 in all of his matches this week as well and he hasn’t been perfect on his doubles in any of them so I see no reason why he’ll slip below that here. He averaged 97 in defeat to MVG here last year. I would be surprised if he isn’t in or around the 90 mark here at least.
Tips
Back M.van Gerwen’s Highest Checkout – Over 129.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
WON – Back D.Chisnall’s 3 dart average – Over 87.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
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