The first round of the World Grand Prix concludes in the CityWest Hotel in Dublin on Monday evening when the top half of the draw is played down to the last 16 stage. We saw plenty of drama and turnarounds on the opening night on Sunday and much more of the same is expected here.
As with Sunday there are eight matches in a packed evening on Monday with the two biggest names in the game right now both in action on a potentially tantalising night of arrers in the Irish capital.
First Four Matches
The opening match of the night looks a great one when Dave Chisnall takes on Robbie Green and they will be followed by James Wilson playing Mick McGowan. Mensur Suljovic will look to kick his campaign off with a win when he takes on the Northern Irish star Daryl Gurney while Michael Smith and Alan Norris round off the first half of the night.
Last Four Matches
The second half of the evening begins with Joe Cullen facing Simon Whitlock before the big names really come out to play. Phil Taylor faces Steve West in the first round before Michael van Gerwen plays Steve Beaton. The final match of the first round has Peter Wright going up against the recently married Brendan Dolan.
Betting
It wasn’t the best opening night of the tournament for me but that is par for the course with this format sometimes. I was reluctant to go too mad in it because everyone is nervy and I’m still reluctant to get too involved but there is one bet I can’t ignore on this set of matches.
The bet in question is for Simon Whitlock to beat Joe Cullen. Whitlock goes into the tournament full of confidence after landing the Players Championship title on Saturday in which he took care of Michael van Gerwen in the last 16 before running out to land the title. That comes a week after a nine dart finish in another tour event so the Australian has captured a rich spell of form right now.
In fairness his opponent has shown some of his best stuff recently too with two runs to finals and three others to semi-finals in 2016 but it has to be said that has tailed off slightly since the summer so Whitlock may well be getting Cullen at a good time. This is Cullen’s tournament debut which is another negative so there is much to like about the Australian in this one.
Tips
WON – Back S.Whitlock to beat J.Cullen for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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