We have reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay with both matches taking place on what should be a sizzling Saturday night of darts inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool as four of the world’s best battle it out for a spot in Sunday’s final.
Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson were early casualties in the tournament but the quality hasn’t lessened any in their absence and we are likely to get two extremely good semi-finals given the personnel on show.
Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney (H2H: 6-4)
The first semi-final of the tournament sees the two men who came through epic quarter finals on Friday night doing battle when the former world champion Rob Cross takes on the current Players Championship winner Daryl Gurney in a tasty looking match up.
Cross went toe-to-toe with Stephen Bunting in the last eight and showed his class with two devastating final legs to come out on top 16-14 in a brilliant battle. Gurney took the very best of Peter Wright and got stronger when it truly mattered to come out a 16-13 winner in a match which showed us that the Northern Irishman should be being taken a lot more seriously than perhaps he is.
I actually think Gurney is decent value here. He is throwing some excellent darts and has done all tournament. Credit to Cross for raising it when he needed to against Bunting but I still think he needs to go up again here. Gurney is top class and isn’t going to shy away now you wouldn’t think. I’m expecting a very tight match so over 29.5 legs is an automatic pick but I’ll take Gurney to edge this one on top.
Bet on the World Matchplay with Boylesports and get double winnings as a free bet on ALL markets if the final checkout is 100+! All customers! Click the image above to bet on this fantastic offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Glen Durrant vs Michael Smith (H2H: 1-1)
The second semi-final sees the BDO world champion Glen Durrant taking on the PDC world finalist Michael Smith for a place in a major final on Sunday. This is Durrant’s first real PDC major while Smith has never been to the final in Blackpool either.
Durrant has arguably been the player of the tournament so far, taking care of three former finalists to date in Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade. Smith has had a more comfortable route to the final but he hasn’t faced a seeded player yet. Durrant isn’t seeded in terms of ranking but he is very much one of the leading 16 players in the PDC and when he has had two years on the circuit that will show in the order of merit.
Initially I thought Smith was an ounce of value here but his missed doubles has become more of a concern the longer the tournament has gone on and that would concern me towards the death of what is likely to be a very tight match. Their two meetings so far were 6-5 and 6-4 and I’m expecting this to be every bit as close. I’d edge Duzza to win but at odds on I won’t back him. I’ll take over 29.5 legs instead.
Tips
WON – Back R.Cross vs D.Gurney – Over 29.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back it here:
Back D.Gurney to beat R.Cross for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Boylesports
Back G.Durrant vs M.Smith – Over 29.5 legs for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
