The second round of the World Grand Prix comes to an end on Wednesday night when the bottom half of the draw play down to the quarter final stage inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester when four more matches take place.
This was meant to be an evening when Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson were due to be back on the stage but they were all dismissed in the opening round. That means it is Jose de Sousa and Jonny Clayton who headline the action.
Ian White vs Darius Labanauskas
The opening match of the night sees two unseeded players looking for a place in a televised quarter final when Ian White takes on the debutant Darius Labanauskas for a spot in the last eight of the tournament.
White overcame the challenge of Gary Anderson in the opening round, although I think it is fair to say the Scot wasn’t really at the races in that match so we might find out more about ‘The Diamond’ in this match. Labanauskas was getting a good going over until he turned his match against Brendan Dolan around in the first round so he might also be flattered to be in this stage of the competition. That doesn’t really give me a lot to go by from a betting point of view. There is a case for Labanauskas being an ounce of value but if White comes on for the run then he should be too good. I wouldn’t say I’m strong on either man here so this is an easy one to leave alone.
Rob Cross vs Krzysztof Ratajski
It might be the match of the evening is the second one onto the stage when the former world champion Rob Cross takes on a man who many believe is a winner in waiting in these big events in the Polish ace Krzysztof Ratajski.
Cross was very good in seeing off Peter Wright in the opening round so the question now is whether that was a flash in the pan or the start of a strong spell of form from ‘Voltage’. We’ll only know the answer to that question after this match. Ratajski won his first match in this tournament at the third attempt when he saw off Nathan Aspinall and looked pretty good in doing it. If Cross is about to launch a patch of form then he is value in this match but if he isn’t Ratajski has the class to take care of him. I’ll prefer to watch this one and get the answer to that question rather than chance a bet on it.
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Danny Noppert vs Vincent van der Voort
The penultimate match of the evening is an all-Dutch affair. It should have included Michael van Gerwen in action but instead it is his successor Danny Noppert taking on Vincent van der Voort for a place in the quarter final.
Both these men will be very aware that the big names have shot out of their half of the draw and there is a spot in the final up for grabs now as well as the huge benefits that come with it with regards to a qualification spot for the Grand Slam as well as the money for their ranking. That means this one might be a nervier affair than it might have been before. Noppert has to battle the inevitable comedown after beating MVG while van der Voort probably has a bit to find on his first round win. This is another one to watch and observe rather than bet in.
Jose de Sousa vs Jonny Clayton
The last match of the second round is a repeat of the Premier League final when the only seed remaining in the bottom half of the draw, Jose de Sousa, takes on the man who beat him for that title in Milton Keynes back in May in Jonny Clayton.
De Sousa got the job done against Glen Durrant in the first round but he didn’t play well. I suspect there was an air of Durrant bringing the Portuguese down to his level and nobody can play their best when their opponent is clearly struggling, especially when that person is a friend, so I do expect to see more from de Sousa here but in his press conference after the win over Durrant he did suggest he was having one or two health issues and that is a bit of a concern for me. Clayton isn’t. Although Callan Rydz wasn’t the toughest first round draw because he was on debut, Clayton played very well hitting his doubles in and out well and scoring heavily. The health issues might explain why the form of de Sousa has dipped a little and I fancy Clayton can take advantage of that here.
Tips
Back J.Clayton to beat J.de Sousa for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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