The second night of the World Grand Prix dart tournament sees the first round of the competition ending inside the bio-secure bubble at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry as 18 more men get their title campaign underway.
We saw seeds fall all over the place on Tuesday night so that will focus the attentions of the big names who being their tournament on Wednesday, with none of them wanting to go the same way as the likes of James Wade, Rob Cross and Michael Smith.
First Four Matches
The action begins with a player who in normal times would be considered the home player when Brendan Dolan meets Kim Huybrechts but that isn’t the case with the tournament moved from Ireland so there is no crowd advantage for the ‘History Maker’. A run of good looking matches follow them beginning with Jonny Clayton, the recent German Darts Championship finalist, taking on Ian White. The match of the night follows that when beaten finalist from last year, Dave Chisnall, takes on the man he beat in the semi-final to get there in Glen Durrant. Former champion Daryl Gurney then goes up against Joe Cullen in another good looking match.
Later Five Matches
There is an extra match in the second half of the night after the rejig after the positive Covid-19 tests and they get going with the world champion on show as Peter Wright takes on Ryan Joyce. Gerwyn Price then begins his tilt for a first World Grand Prix title when he meets Jermaine Wattimena before the last seed on show on the evening sees Nathan Aspinall facing the excellent German prospect Gabriel Clemens. Those matches that were heldover and reconfigured sees Simon Whitlock replacing Adrian Lewis in the field to take on Chris Dobey while Jamie Hughes has a clash with Jeffrey de Zwaan, the man who has come in for Stephen Bunting.
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Betting
Three bets catch my eye over the course of the evening. I respect that Daryl Gurney is a past winner of this tournament but I think he could be vulnerable against a Joe Cullen who if we ignore that weird match against Vincent van der Voort at the World Series Finals has been in pretty decent touch of late. Gurney hasn’t been pulling up too many trees of late and while he tends to go well in the bigger events that is often when the draw opens up for him. Cullen beat Gurney are the recent Autumn Series and he looks overpriced to beat him here if he can get his starting double going early.
There is always a major shock in the first round and while we saw some seeds disappear on Tuesday none of them were major shocks. I fancy it will come on Wednesday when Jermaine Wattimena goes up against Gerwyn Price. On the Players Championship scene Price has been the best player in the game this year but this isn’t that situation. This is a behind closed doors arena which he has struggled with in past tournaments and of course the double start where his record is ordinary at best. He has lost in the first round on three occasions and looks a very short price to come through here. Wattimena made the quarter finals last year and this format is enough of a leveller to fancy him at a decent price.
Lastly I’ll go with Jeffrey de Zwaan who might not be as prepared for this as he would like but who is basically playing with the house money from the opening round here and doesn’t have a lot to lose against Jamie Hughes. If we are being honest neither player has been pulling up trees recently but de Zwaan generally shines on the big stage and his best darts come out as a result. If the Dutchman can get that starting double working well then I would give him more than an edge in the scoring department here. I like Hughes but he’s never won a match in this tournament and that inexperience could be his undoing.
Tips
WON – Back J.Cullen to beat D.Gurney for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back J.Wattimena to beat G.Price for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Boylesports
Back him here:
WON – Back J.de Zwaan to beat J.Hughes for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with 888sport
Back him here:
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