The second round of the World Grand Prix gets going inside the bio-secure behind closed doors bubble at the Ricoh Arena on Thursday evening as eight men go in search of the win which will move them into the quarter final of the competition.
We’ve seen plenty of seeds fall by the wayside so far in this tournament and Michael van Gerwen will be looking to avoid being the latest one to depart on Thursday. There are some big names on show though on what should be a decent night of action.
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
The opening match of the second round sees the World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh taking on the lowly ranked Dutch player Dirk van Duijvenbode in a clash where the winner will face either Gary Anderson or Danny Noppert in the quarter final.
Van den Bergh was very convincing in the first round in overcoming the challenge of Michael Smith whereas van Duijvenbode took advantage of a very ordinary performance from Mensur Suljovic in a pretty low key match where between them the pair missed a staggering 36 darts at a finishing double. Clearly if the Dutchman doesn’t improve against a player playing better he is going to be left behind here but I’m not a massive fan of taking short prices in this format so I’ll sit this one alone.
Mervyn King vs Simon Whitlock
It has been a whirlwind 48 hours for Simon Whitlock who has gone from not being in the tournament to playing a last 16 clash against Mervyn King for a place in the quarter final of an event he has already made the final in.
Both these men looked in excellent touch in the first round. Whitlock’s performance in beating Chris Dobey was especially commendable given his short notice to prepare but often when you are in his situation you are playing with the house money and swinging freely so to speak. King isn’t doing that but he is clearly in pretty good nick and full of confidence after a decent run in the German Darts Championship and a very convincing win over James Wade where all parts of his game were in good order.
This might prove to be the tightest match of the night but I think King is being a little underestimated in terms of the odds here. He too has made the final of this event in the past and has no weakness to his game. Whitlock played well in the first round but consistency isn’t his forte and I would still worry about him in a close contest. I’ll go with King here.
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Gary Anderson vs Danny Noppert
The penultimate match of the night sees Gary Anderson looking to make progress against a Danny Noppert who was pretty good in the first round once he got going in a contest which could be the sleeper for the match of the night.
Anderson cruised last Rob Cross in the first round and that was a pretty decent form guide as it goes but Noppert arrived here in decent touch and continued that impressive form when coming from behind to see off Ryan Searle in the previous round. Anderson is a favourite here which is fair enough and completely understandable but I’m hoping the shocks continue here because I’m on Noppert to win this quarter and he would probably be the favourite to do that if he can come through here.
Michael van Gerwen vs Devon Petersen
The pick of the matches on the first night of second round action comes in the final game of the evening when the world number one and defending champion Michael van Gerwen meets the recent German Darts Championship winner Devon Petersen.
Both these men played very well in the opening match and it could be that the one who is able to replicate that will come out on top here. There were a few doubts over van Gerwen heading into this week after a series of poor results while Petersen is in the form of his life and the South African will fancy the job here you suspect. I wouldn’t be surprised if Petersen wins, and indeed I hope he does because I’m on him outright for this quarter and he’ll be a huge favourite for that if he wins this match.
Instead of backing Petersen to win again I like over 7.5 180s here. Petersen is scoring incredibly well at the minute and I sense van Gerwen will be out to put in a major performance here having picked up confidence in his win over Ratajski in the first round. We’re looking at four or five sets in this match so all we are needing is one 180 per player per set for this to cover. That looks well within range for these two heavy scorers.
Tips
Back M.King to beat S.Whitlock for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back M.van Gerwen vs D.Petersen – Over 7.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Sky Bet
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