The knockout stages of the Grand Slam of Darts gets underway on Wednesday evening on a night where the half of the draw where the players in Groups A-D will battle it out. That means that when the action concludes in Wolverhampton we will know half of the quarter final line up.
The big names who began the tournament in this part of the draw have all come through, as have a trio of exciting youngsters, so we should be in for a high quality evening where the standard is likely to increase now the format has increased to the best of 19 frames.
Ryan Joyce vs Rob Cross
The opening match of the second round sees the Group D winner Ryan Joyce taking on the Group C runner up in Rob Cross in what looks like it could turn into something of a titanic tussle if both can replicate the form they showed in the opening round.
Joyce was very good in that group stage, winning his two matches that mattered and doing so in one of them with a 108 average. He wasn’t as good in the third game and while he had already qualified by that point, it isn’t automatically easy to turn on the form tap so the early stages of this one will be important for him. Cross looked very good in his first two matches but then ran into a train in James Wade in the third group game but ‘Voltage’ did enough to seal his passage into this next stage. I think Cross will win this, and given that I’m on him outright I hope he does, but I’m surprised the odds are as skewed as they are. Nevertheless I don’t Joyce will quite have enough over this distance.
James Wade vs Rowby-John Rodriguez
The second match of the night is where the trio of youngsters begin to come to the party. One man who isn’t a youngster is James Wade but he faces the very promising Rowby-John Rodriguez in what could turn into the pick of the matches across the evening.
Wade was labouring through his group, winning one and losing one of his first two group matches, both without really impressing but he certainly impressed in his last game when he averaged over 111 in destroying Cross. Those first two matches contained a number of missed doubles which is becoming a thing in his games more and more so he’ll need to sort that out. Rodriguez played very well in the group stage, winning two of his three matches and averaging more than 100 in the match he lost. He looks in very good form, scoring heavily and finishing well but it is one thing to do that in a best of nine sprint, it is a different thing entirely to do it over 19 legs, however if he can then there is every chance he wins this with Wade’s scoring still lacking consistency and those missed doubles continuing to be a concern. I think there’s enough value on the Austrian to come out on top here.
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Gerwyn Price vs Bradley Brooks
The world champion Gerwyn Price takes on the world youth champion Bradley Brooks in match three of the night in what might be described as a clash between the present and the future but Brooks will be keen to show he is here now not just in the years ahead.
Price dominated his group and had it won from a pretty early stage but he couldn’t come through the section with a perfect record as Martin Schindler offered signs that he could be a little vulnerable if put under pressure. Brooks deserves a lot of credit for coming out of a group that contained Jonny Clayton and Mervyn King and what will serve him well is he was put under pressure in his final match and held his nerve. I don’t think Brooks beats Price over 19 legs but there were certainly enough signs in those group matches to suggest he’ll play well and be as competitive as he’s allowed to be in this contest and that makes me think he’ll cover his 3.5 180 line. He hit three in his last two group matches, both of which had just eight legs. This one is guaranteed to have 10 and probably nearer the 15 mark. That line looks very small.
Jonny Clayton vs Nathan Rafferty
The final match of the evening sees the man of 2021, Jonny Clayton, going up against someone who might well be the man of many years to come in the form of the youngster Nathan Rafferty, who has impressed plenty of judges this week so far.
If you look at the averages of Rafferty so far they have been nothing to write home about at this level but what he has shown is poise and sometimes that is more important than an average. He has played knockout darts this week against an established opponent in Krzysztof Ratajski and that will serve him well here but I expect the youngster to have met his match in this one. Clayton isn’t just your ordinary player at the minute. He’s a great player who is oozing confidence and is likely to go to the next level now the format has extended. I expect Clayton to win this, it is just by how far but I’m in no rush to take any handicaps given that Rafferty has performed with credit.
Tips
Back R-J.Rodriguez to beat J.Wade for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with Boylesports
Back him here:
Back B.Brooks – Over 3.5 180s for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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