The second round of the World Grand Prix begins inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester on Tuesday evening when the players remaining in the top half of the draw battle it out for quarter final places.
The format has gone up to the best of five sets for the four matches over the course of the evening so we should see the players relaxing a little bit and producing their best darts, not that some of those on show had any problems with that in the first round.
Ryan Searle vs Luke Humphries
Two debutants open up the evening when Ryan Searle takes on the UK Open finalist Luke Humphries with both men eyeing up another televised quarter final in what should be something of a decent contest given the pedigree of these two.
I must admit I like Searle here. I took Humphries on in the first round and clearly that didn’t work out but it only didn’t work out because van Duijvenbode bungled some early darts at a double and that got into his head. Humphries was in the 30s for double percentage both for starting and finishing in that match and you don’t win many matches in this tournament being that low down. Searle was much better in the doubling, which we have to remember is more than half the game here, and scored heavily in one of the best performances of the week so far to take care of Dimitri Van den Bergh. He had to come through a deciding leg in that match so we know he is going well under pressure and given that there was 16 points between the two on the averages in the first round, Searle at even money has to be the bet here.
James Wade vs Stephen Bunting
The second match of the night sees two experienced campaigners going at it when the former champion James Wade takes on the World Championship semi-finalist Stephen Bunting in what should be an entertaining contest.
I think it is fair to say Wade wasn’t at his best in the opening round and there is no doubt that Bunting played much the better stuff. He averaged almost a ton even though he only had a starting double percentage of 36%. The big question is whether he can repeat that. If he can then you’ve got to think he will probably win this match but there were signs that Wade fancies the job here in his first round match and it won’t be lost on him that he is the only seed left in the quarter. Wade has a record here and a checkout reputation that has to be respected and as I’m on him for the quarter I’ll let that bet ride in this one.
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Gerwyn Price vs Mervyn King
Gerwyn Price continue his title defence in the third match of the evening when he takes on a man who has been all the way to the final of this fine tournament in the past in Mervyn King in what is the ninth career meeting of the pair with their head to head record currently sitting at 4-4.
There was no better performer in the opening round than Price both in the statistics and who he beat. He beat Michael Smith 2-0 with a 100.82 average and was solid both in starting and finishing on the doubles. That was a whole 25 points more than what King averaged in seeing off Martijn Kleermaker and so it goes without saying that the veteran needs a serious improvement and probably needs a bit of help from Price. King often plays the man though so I wouldn’t be surprised to see that improvement but I’d be favour Price to come through. The odds don’t interest me though.
Dave Chisnall vs Ross Smith
The last match of the night sees another man who has been all the way to the final of this event back on the stage when Dave Chisnall takes on Ross Smith, who will be continuing his debut in the competition here after winning his opening match against Joe Cullen.
That was a good win for Smith but I think it is fair to say that Cullen wasn’t at the races. Smith still averaged over 90 and hit his doubles pretty well in the main. Chisnall was up and down in his win over Mensur Suljovic. He dominated the first set but was ordinary in the second before Suljovic lost his form in the decider to allow him to progress. Even though Smith was the better player of the two in the first round I do think the experience will count for Chisnall but I wouldn’t say it is a confident enough feeling to place a bet on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an upset here but I don’t feel strongly enough about that to bet either.
Tips
Back R.Searle to beat L.Humphries for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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