We’re all set for a cracking day of darts at the Lakeside Country Club on Friday when all four men’s quarter finals as well as the two ladies semi-finals are played over two tantalising sessions of action.
The day begins with a really good looking men’s game as Wesley Harms takes on Jamie Hughes over the best of nine sets for a place in Saturday’s semi-final.
It would be fair to say neither have been at their best this week or shown us their best and that will be the task for both here as whichever one does will most likely win this match.
At least with Harms we have seen his best on this stage albeit in previous years. We can’t say the same for Hughes yet and I’m sure nobody will be more disappointed with that than the man from the Black Country.
Harms is a really solid player in that he’ll always play well and then when someone forces him to he’ll up his game. I’m not sure Hughes will be that man though. We’ve seen nothing like the best of Hughes’ scoring this week and his finishing has been flaky too.
Harms has won their last four meetings, all since Hughes established himself as a leading player in the game and with that in mind I’m fancying the Dutchman to come through here.
If the starter is appetising the main course is mouth-watering it has to be said. World number one Glen Durrant takes on the former champion Scott Waites in a really big name duel.
Durrant has cruised into this round without dropping a set so far. He has powered the scoring part of the legs and his finishing has been sublime but you could argue he hasn’t been under any pressure yet and it will be interesting to see how he responds when he is in this match.
Waites has certainly been under pressure and we’ve seen how he has responded to it. He was 3-0 down to Geert de Vos in the previous round and helped by the Belgian falling to pieces the Yorkshireman came through to win 4-3.
To be fair to Waites he played some decent stuff in those final four sets but if he starts off as poorly here he’ll be wiped out before he gets the chance to get going.
I don’t think he will come out of the blocks slowly. I think he only did that because he was billed up as a world beater before the de Vos match based on what he did in the first round but the start of that match was a reality check and I think we’ll see two great players bang on it right from the start here.
Given that I expect them both to be bang on it we should get a really close match here so I quite like over 7.5 sets in this one with 5-3 or 5-4 either way an extremely likely outcome.
Going into the evening and the first men’s quarter final sees Dennis Harbour taking on Jeff Smith with the winner facing either Scott Mitchell or Richard Veenstra in the semi-final.
Harbour is the surprise package of the tournament so far but he’s going to need much more than he’s shown us so far here. He will need more power in his scoring and much more ruthlessness in his finishing.
I’m not saying that isn’t possible but this is the biggest match of his life and you would think he is more likely to fade away than get better.
Jeff Smith won’t fade. He’s relentless. He isn’t the biggest scorer in terms of 180s but he hits plenty of tons and 140s and his finishing is incredible. He’s also a very good front runner so if he gets in front early he might not be for catching especially from a plodder which is essentially what Harbour is.
I’m expecting Smith to come through here and to do it with plenty to spare I have to say and the -2.5 set handicap is more than acceptable.
The last game is between the defending champion Scott Mitchell and the other surprise package Veenstra. Veenstra has played well this week. He edged out his fellow Dutchman Jeffrey de Graaf and then cruised past Martin Atkins who was woeful but he looks a rhythm player to me and he isn’t getting one of them here.
Mitchell has come through a couple of epics so far so we know he is playing well under pressure. He wasn’t at his best against McGeeney in the second round but playing a good friend is never easy and I’m expecting more from the champion here.
His first dart never went where he wanted it against McGeeney so to come through despite that showed good mental fortitude which we knew he had anyway. I expect him to be better here and have a little in hand come the end.
In the women’s tournament the shocks have kept on coming but I’m not sure there will be a shock in either semi-final. Both Deta Hedman and Aileen de Graaf have never lost to their opponents Ann Louise Peters and Trina Gulliver.
In fact Peters has barely ever got close to Hedman. Gulliver has gone the distance with de Graaf a few times but never got over the line. That match might be close but I’ve seen nothing to suggest Peters will get close to Hedman so the odds against on a 2-0 Deta win, just like it was when these two met in the semi-final in 2014, looks acceptable to me.
Back W.Harms to beat J.Hughes for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Skybet
Back G.Durrant vs S.Waites – Over 7.5 sets for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
Back J.Smith (-2.5 sets) to beat D.Harbour for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Titanbet
Back S.Mitchell (-1.5 sets) to beat R.Veenstra for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back D.Hedman to win 2-0 for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Ladbrokes
Blog darts YTD: +21.83pts
