Four men remain in the World Matchplay with the semi-finals of the second biggest ranking event of the year taking place in the behind closed doors setting at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, on what should be a cracking session of darts on Saturday evening.
We have a couple of world champions, a winner of the youth version of that crown and a beaten world finalist in the last four, so there is no doubting the quality that is on show and as such we should be treated to a special night of darts.
The Format
Much has changed in the world in recent times but the format of the World Matchplay hasn’t. The event begins with the first round over the best of 19 legs with the second round moving up to the best of 21 legs. The quarter finals take place over the best of 31 legs with the semi-finals the best of 33. The winner will then be determined on the second Sunday of the tournament in a best of 35 leg final. Each match in the tournament has to be won by two clear legs unless each player reach two beyond the scheduled winning number (12-12 in the first round, 13-13 in the second round etc). If that happens the next leg will be a deciding leg.
Day 7 Recap
We saw another excellent two quarter finals on Friday night as the semi-final line up was confirmed and for much of the evening it looked like both outsiders would come through. The first outsider won the opening match as Dimitri Van den Bergh held off a late charge from Adrian Lewis to run out a 16-12 winner. Vincent van der Voort looked like following him into the last four when he led Glen Durrant 12-8 but the former BDO world champion hit back to level at 14-14 and finally got over the line 18-16 in a dramatic contest.
It was another poor night for us from a betting point of view as Adrian Lewis never really looked like bringing home the money for us. He fell 8-2 behind early on and while he rallied hard he couldn’t ever get close enough to Dimitri Van den Bergh to pounce and get his nose in front, so that means we went profitless for the night, leaving us with a bit of work to do in order to make sure we finish the week on a high.
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Gary Anderson vs Michael Smith
The opening semi-final is between two men who know themselves very well indeed as Gary Anderson takes on the man he once took under his wing in Michael Smith in what should be a very entertaining and appealing contest.
Both men have been impressive in this tournament. Anderson has improved with every match he has played, both in his performance and in his averages and 180 hitting. Smith had a bit of a lull in his second game, although some of that should be attributed to the slow pace of Mensur Suljovic. In the matches he has been able to build a rhythm he has been very good and his 180 hitting has been insanely good in his last two matches.
I don’t think there will be a lot in this but I do think it is significant that Smith has won four of their last five meetings. He has finished better in all three rounds of this tournament and I think that carries some weight too so I’m going to take Smith to win this one. He has the bit between his teeth and can come out on top. I’ll also take Smith to hit the most 180s in the match too. He has won the 180s battle in the last three matches between these two and he is peppering the 60 here. He has hit 23 180s in his last two matches and is scoring big when the pressure is really on which bodes well for him. The 20/21 on him hitting the most 180s looks fair enough to me too.
Glen Durrant vs Dimitri Van den Bergh
The second semi-final sees two men who are looking for a place in their first PDC televised tournament battling it out when Glen Durrant takes on Dimitri Van den Bergh in what could be an extremely competitive encounter given what is at stake for both players.
Durrant had to battle very hard to make it into this semi-final. For the first 20 legs of his match against Vincent van der Voort he was pretty flat but when the push came to shove and the pressure ramped up he produced his best darts and it actually turned into a special performance. Given who he was taking on in his quarter final, for Dimitri Van den Bergh to get out in front and stay there even when Adrian Lewis was charging back at him knowing he was playing to be in his first major semi-final, you couldn’t not be impressed.
I think that means that we are in for a close battle here. Both men have hovered around the 100 mark for the averages for the week and they’ve both had similar checkout percentages. I think when the crunch time comes Durrant might just be a little too good but he’s a pretty short favourite. I think the better bet is over 29.5 legs as this one as a 17-13 or closer feel to it to me.
Tips
Back M.Smith to beat G.Anderson for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
WON – Back M.Smith Most 180s vs G.Anderson for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betfred
WON – Back G.Durrant vs D.Van den Bergh – Over 29.5 legs for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
Back it here:
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