The second round of the World Grand Prix concludes on Thursday evening when the two quarter finals in the top half of the draw will be determined when four more matches take place inside the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
We’ve already seen the likes of Michael van Gerwen and the world champion Peter Wright progress to the quarter finals and on Thursday evening we will find out whether the world number one Gerwyn Price can follow them.
Martin Lukeman vs Ross Smith
The opening match of the night offers up a big opportunity for two of the form players on the tour this year to go deep into a TV major when Martin Lukeman takes on our one remaining outright bet in Ross Smith.
Both men had solid wins in the opening round. Lukeman dumped out the fancied runner of James Wade, although I think it is fair to say Wade didn’t really show up in that match like we know he can. Nevertheless, it was a big win for Lukeman and he’ll be looking to back that up here. Smith came into this event in good form and showed signs of it in his win over Andrew Gilding in the first round. He has experience of this tournament in the past and looked pretty comfortable with the format. I’m hoping he is good enough to win this one because the draw is opening up nicely for him but I’ll just watch with my outright head on rather than bet on this one.
Daryl Gurney vs Madars Razma
The second match of the evening sees the former champion Daryl Gurney looking to make it back into the last eight of this tournament once again when he meets a Madars Razma who is in the last 16 of a TV major for the first time in his PDC career.
Razma saw off Ryan Searle in the opening round which was a good win but there was nothing in his performance that screamed out that he is a genuine runner this week. I suspect he is going to be there for the taking for Gurney because Razma doesn’t score that consistently, we often see him heading down to the 19s to try and find some scoring, and he isn’t known for his doubling prowess either. Gurney clearly fits this format and that is half of the battle. He took care of Rob Cross in pretty good style in the first round and should kick on from there. We’ve seen a lot of matches in this round go the distance but I don’t envisage this being another. I think Gurney wins this with a fair bit to spare.
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Gerwyn Price vs Joe Cullen
The pick of the matches on the fourth night of action in the tournament sees the 2020 champion Gerwyn Price going up against The Masters winner Joe Cullen in a clash between two men who competed in the Premier League earlier in the year.
They faced each other four times in that competition with two wins each but overall in 2022 it is 3-3 with their most recent meeting coming in the quarter final of the World Series of Darts Finals last month. Price won that 10-8 and although Cullen lost it does show that he can certainly push the man who began the week as world number one. Whether he can do it in a format he hasn’t really ever played well in though remains to be seen. Price was probably the most impressive performer in the first round and a repeat of that should be enough to get the job done here but you have to respect Cullen enough to leave betting on this one well alone.
Nathan Aspinall vs Danny Noppert
The final match in the second round of the competition sees a form horse in Nathan Aspinall going up against the man who lifted the UK Open title back in March in Danny Noppert, with a place in a quarter final in which they winner here will be favourite to win, the reward on offer.
Noppert took care of Gabriel Clemens in the opening round in a solid if unspectacular fashion. Aspinall saw off Michael Smith in a match which didn’t really hit the heights of the billing but when they walked onto stage shortly before midnight it was probably never going to. Aspinall was solid when he needed to be and is actually the top seed on the Players Championship Order of Merit this season so he is having a very good year. This will be a landmark year for Noppert too after his UK Open triumph but there have been one or two signs that his form has tailed off since the disappointing loss in the semi-final of the Matchplay. These two generally deliver tight matches when they meet with three of their 10 meetings going to a deciding leg or set and four others finishing 6-4. Aspinall won 3-2 when they met here in 2019 and I see a similar result here with him just a little sharper in all departments at the minute.
Tips
Back D.Gurney (-1.5 sets) to beat M.Razma for a 3/10 stake at 2.15 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back N.Aspinall to beat D.Noppert for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back him here:
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