The last 16 of the Grand Slam of Darts will be completed on Saturday night when a seriously good looking session of darts takes place inside the Ricoh Arena as eight top players battle it out for spots in the quarter final.
This event has gone up a notch from the group stages where the format doesn’t really allow for the best darts all the time. There are no excuses on that front here and with a number of the world’s best on show the Saturday session should be full of quality.
Michael Smith vs Rob Cross
The opening match of the night sees the two World Cup partners battling it out when Michael Smith takes on Rob Cross for the right to meet Jose de Sousa in one of the quarter finals on Sunday. They paired up to make the final of the World Cup and now they will be out to knock each other out of this event.
This doesn’t look like a bad way to get the action underway. Smith has struggled for a lot of the year but he clicked into gear in the Winter Series a week or so ago and has continued that form here. Cross continues to struggle badly and there are few signs of the player who won the World Championship and World Matchplay titles in the not too distant past. Even this week he has been very much up and down which is in keeping with what we’ve seen from him over the last 18 months or so.
These two have met twice over this distance this year with Cross winning 10-9 at the UK Open and 10-8 at the World Series Finals but Smith looks to be in much better touch here and as long as he doesn’t suddenly start missing a boat load of doubles once again he should win this match and win it with a bit in hand. He has averaged over 100 all week and Cross lacks the consistency to be there over this distance. I’ll take Smith to win and cover a 1.5 leg handicap.
Devon Petersen vs Damon Heta
The second match of the evening sees our pick for this third quarter in Devon Petersen taking on the Australian player who is making a big name for himself on the scene in Damon Heta, with James Wade waiting for the winner in the last eight on Sunday.
Petersen has gone very well in this tournament so far and won all three of his group matches without necessarily being at his best. Heta did enough in the group to come through but he looked on edge a lot of the time. Whether that is because he puts a lot of pressure on himself or the format shackled him a little I’m not sure but either way he will need to be a lot better than he has shown so far or else he will be heading home pretty swiftly.
I think the scoring power of Petersen will be too much for Heta here. The South African can be hit or miss on the doubles but Heta has missed plenty of them so far this week himself and he won’t get away with that here because he isn’t going to outscore Petersen over 19 legs. If Petersen hits his doubles regularly enough, and his scoring power will earn him a lot of chances, then I expect him to have a bit in hand in coming through here.
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Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
On paper the pick of the last 16 clashes is the third one on the evening when the world number one Michael van Gerwen takes on a Gary Anderson who always relishes the challenge of facing the Dutchman but whether it can live up to expectations remains to be seen.
Van Gerwen looks to be back to something near what we would expect from him but this is probably the acid test to that revival. Anderson always lays down a challenge to the world number one but how much of one he’ll be able to sustain with the leg injury that has clearly hampered him this week. Hopefully the day off will mean he is better but I can’t really be betting on this match with that unknown in play.
Gerwyn Price vs Nathan Aspinall
The last of the last 16 matches sees Gerwyn Price taking on Nathan Aspinall with the defending champion looking to maintain his quest for the three-peat and set up what would be a mouth-watering quarter final with Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Price hasn’t really been at it this week and has had to come from 4-2 down in his final group match to qualify but you sense now that he is out of the group he is going to go from strength to strength and Aspinall might have his work cut out here. If that is the case then if Aspinall is going to have any chance at all in this match he can’t afford to miss anything like the number of doubles he has been doing else he’s no chance. I expect Price to win this but I’d like to see him close to his best before I take him as if Aspinall does find some form on his doubles he’s more than capable of being a match for him.
Tips
Back M.Smith (-1.5 legs) to beat R.Cross for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
Back D.Petersen (-1.5 legs) to beat D.Heta for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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