The 2020 Grand Slam of Darts final takes place behind closed doors in the quarantined bubble at the Ricoh Arena on Tuesday evening when Jose de Sousa meets James Wade for a huge first prize and the Eric Bristow Trophy.
We were guaranteed a new name on that trophy as early as the semi-final stage and we now know it will be the former major champion Wade or it will be the first TV title for the rising Portuguese star de Sousa when they battle it out over the best of 31 legs.
Jose de Sousa
This has been a breakthrough week for Jose de Sousa. To be fair to him it was coming because he has done the natural progression of winning on the floor and then on the European Tour and the next step was to take that game onto the TV stage and deliver the goods. He has done that this week. I actually don’t think we’ve seen his best game this week which bodes well for him but the one thing nobody can say is that he hasn’t deserved to make this final.
De Sousa started the competition in the Group of Death but having come through that he has seen off arguably the three heaviest scorers in the game at present in Dave Chisnall, Michael Smith and Simon Whitlock. Ironically he now faces one of the lesser scorers so it will be interesting to see what dynamic that has. There has been so much to like about de Sousa this week but the way he started wobbling at the finish line in the semi-final could be a concern.
James Wade
If experience is going to count for anything then James Wade is going to win this match. He is a seasoned campaigner at this level. He has won plenty of TV titles and lost in a number of finals. He has twice been beaten in this final, one as a favourite and one as an outsider so he has experienced it all. That may well serve Wade well should this final go close as he will be the one more comfortable in the environment.
Wade has shown incredible poise in this tournament already, not least in the semi-final when he overcame the World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh in a deciding leg and in that final leg you never thought he would lose it. That is Wade all over. He isn’t the flashiest but give him a chance and he’ll go through it. What Wade does well he is tons incredibly strongly and by and large his finishing is as strong as anyone out there.
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Head to Head
These two men have met twice in their careers with both meetings taking place last year. They were both on the floor and both won by James Wade. He won their first meeting in one of the earlier rounds of a Players Championship whereas their second meeting was in the final of one of the floor events. Wade won the first game 6-1 and the second 8-5 so he has had a fair bit in hand on both occasions. Just how much we can take from them remains to be seen though as de Sousa has kicked on again but this is their first TV meeting.
Betting
It is hard to look beyond James Wade in this final. These two men play a remarkably similar game. Jose de Sousa hits a few more 180s whereas Wade is probably the better finisher but I don’t expect there to be much in this final. That makes me think that Wade is the one to be on because we saw a glimpse of both men should this get close in their semi-finals. I wouldn’t say that Jose de Sousa fell over the line against Whitlock but there was an element of unconvincing about it whereas Wade powered home.
Whether that is form or experience who knows but I do think those two passages of play were telling. The other way I look at this final is if de Sousa gets in front you could see Wade dragging him back. Earlier in the competition de Sousa led Dave Chisnall 7-1 and in the blink of an eye it was 7-7. Something similar happened in the quarter final against Michael Smith too. The opposite is the case with Wade. Damon Heta shot off in front of him but Wade reeled him in and the only time he led Dimitri Van den Bergh was when he hit the winning double. Wade can win this from the front or behind. I’m not so sure de Sousa can so I’m with the Englishman here.
Tips
Back J.Wade to beat J.de Sousa for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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